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THE

TRINITY
FOOT BEAGLES

1862-1912

\\J\^KEfl

JOHNA.SEAVERNS

Webster Family Library of Vsterir.ary Medicine
CuiPiKi-^OS School ct Veterinary Medicine at

Tun:

North Grafton, TM 01 536

THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

? =c:

THE TRINITY

FOOT BEAGLES

AN INFORMAL RECORD

OF CAMBRIDGE SPORT AND SPORTSMEN

DURING THE PAST FIFTY YEARS

COMPILED BY

F. CLAUDE KEMPSON, M.A.

AUTHOR OF
THE GREEN FINCH CRUISE* AND ' THE MISADVENTURES OF A HACK CRUISER

ILLUSTRATED

LONDON
EDWARD ARNOLD

I 9 I 2

All rights reserved

PREFACE

My apology for compiling these annals is that we thought they
would be interesting. "We" consisted of T. Holland Hibbert,
Master; Peter Clarke, Whip and Secretary; and myself; and the
inspiration came to us homeward bound on the box seat of the
Beagle Brake, coming, I think, down the steep descent of Castle Hill
towards Magdalene Bridge. Further conversations revealed the fact
that there had been an abortive attempt to construct a History, and
that the materials were at our disposal. So a letter to llie Field
was drafted, and signed by the Master, in which we said that a move-
ment was afoot to compile a history of the Trinity Foot Beagles.
We stated that a considerable amount of material had already come
into our possession, and that any reminiscences of the condition of
the pack and of sport attained, records
of memorable runs or incidents in any
way connected with beaghng, would lie
welcome.

It was added that at the unani-
mous wish of the present Executive,
the Kev. F. C. Kempson had undertaken
to edit and arrange the materials.

The response to this appeal is to be
found in the text. Whether the matter
is as interesting as we have thought it

'^ _ From Drawing by A. H. Penn

would be is for others to determine. in t.f.b.c. boou.

15

pn\

VI

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

From Drawing' by A. H. I'l'iin in T.F.B.C. Book.

^0—6:0

The willingness of the response brings us to the second function of

a Preface — acknowledgments.

With so many kind and helpful

contributors it is diflicult to know

where to begin, and invidious to

select names, but some must ])e

mentioned. Mr. Charles Hoare and

Dr. Fenwick have helped us to piece

together an outline of the almost

forgotten Foot Drag ; Lord Ernest

St. Maur has taken great pains over

the hunting in the days of " Pat "

Currey ; and we are indebted to the

Eegius Professor of Greek, Dr. Henry

Jackson, for the personal memoir of

our Founder, which is an evident labour of love. The other

lengthier and more detailed contributions are Mr. P. Burges's

account of " Mother " Hunt's
time, Mr. J. S. Carr-Ellison's
of his (and my own) day,
and Mr. Kenneth Walker's
Eeaveley ytirn. But the
shorter Memoranda and
letters are no less valuable
in their way, and as it is
impossil)le to name all here,
I have adopted the device
of printing in capitals the
name of every contriliutor as
it appears in the Index.
In tlie matter of illustrations I have to thank Mr. 0. P. T.

Hawkes for some pen-and-ink sketches of his time, and the T.F.B.

Club have provided a num1)er of clever sketches from their Minute

From Drawing by A. H. I'enn in T.F.B.C. Bool<.

PEEFACE

vu

Book. Special thanks are clue to Miss Burges for the initial letters
of the chapters, and for three drawings which occur on pages 68, 108,
and 110.

The sources of photographs are too numerous to mention, or to
make it possible to thank contributors separately. By the way,
the taking of the " official " group on the Backs (it used to be in
Hills and Saunders' garden) is _^

rather an event sometimes, and
I have a sketch by me of the
photographer trying with the
aid of a tin trumpet to personate
the blaster so that the hounds
may hold their heads up and look
pleasant.

There are two other " after
thoughts." I have suspected
T. H. H. of drawing a very unflat-
tering caricature of myself as
" Our Host at Manea " (see p.
201) and then rubbing it out. I
have since asked him and he says,
" / didn't draw ' Our Host at
Manea,' but I did rub it out
before you saw the book and
before I knew you well enough
to know you would not mind !
You nearly saw it, I remember, and it did make me hot avoid-
ing it.— T. H. H."

The other relates to veterinary details in the " Farmers' Book,"
Chapter VIII., to wit, the prescription for mange. I have tried it
myself — I mean for my dogs — which is but fair, seeing that two
puppies brought it from the kennels. My gardener asked for some
for himself as he was gettincj bald !

Frciiii Drawing by A. H. Penn in T.F.B.C. Book.

VIU

THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

All beaglers should wish good luck on his marriage to T. Holland
Hibbert, in whose Mastership this work was begun, and to G. W.
Barclay, whose season is just beginning as it appears.

We are living among changes of which no one knows the end,
though we can see that those who inherit the feudal tradition of
public service must adapt themselves to new conditions. Should
any under these circumstances object to our \vriting lightly of trivial
tilings, will they remember that truth is sometimes spoken in jest ?

tmXt lu».S
cx*v Ktv/r n>y*

^ItO \>rr\.'y

From Drawiii'' bv A. H. Peiin in T.F.B.C. Book.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

PAGE

The Barbarians .......... 1

CHAPTER n

The Foot Drag 26

CHAPTER m

"Pat" Currey 52

CHAPTER IV
The Ancien Regime ......... 75

CHAPTER V

"Mother" Hunt . . . . . . . . . .101

CHAPTER VI
"Bob" 133

CHAPTER VII

"Fresher" Pease and "Judy" Carr-Ellison . . . .151

ix

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

CHAPTER Vni

PAGE

The Farmers' Book . . . . . . . . .176

CHAPTER IX

Modern Beagling .......... 207

CHAPTER X

After Dinner .......... 245

APPENDIX

List op Masters and Whips, 1862-1912 ..... 271

INDEX 277

LIST OF PLATES

FACE PAGE

I. Coloured DraAving by A. H. Penn from T.F.B.C. Book . . Frontispiece

II. Poitraits 26

HI. Portrait? 134

IT. Hound.-; 178

V. Portraits : Gi'oup at Eeaveley . . . . . .246

■' ■■■■■■■■■ '.. • . ..:'' -i ■!.

Ph.^tographer impeksoxating the Master !

THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

CHAPTEE I

THE BARBARIANS

There was a youth, and a well-beloved youth,
And he was a squi-er's son.

Old Emjlish Ballad.

T is beyond doubt that primaeval man hunted
wild animals for food, and later, perchance,
learned to cook them : that was in the
days of barbarism. As time went on, and
men learned to grow crops and to keep
sheep, the necessity of hunting disappeared,
but not the joy of it. For example, the
Patriarch Isaac was a lover of savoury
meat : this, as is shown in Holy Writ,
could be more easily procured from among
the kids of his flock than from the beasts
of the wild, and when skilfully dressed,
was quite as good to eat. Yet he had a son,
Esau, who was a cunning hunter and man of the field, and preferred
the more difficult and adventurous methods of stocking the family
larder because they were "good hunting." Esau was, moreover, a
thorough sportsman in his good qualities as well as in his defects ;
unfortunately he is not the only sportsman w^ho has sold his birth-
right for a mess of pottage ; but he had none of the meaner vices
of his more respectable brother, whose enlightened self-interest
outran the limits of common honesty.

1 B

2

THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

^^

In our days there are the same diverse types, though their

conditions of life are not what they then were ; for now it is the

tillers of the soil and the keepers of sheep,

farmers and landowners, who are by instinct

and tradition sportsmen, while the mantle of

Jacob has fallen upon the town - dwellers who

frequent shops, offices, counting-houses, and

other like places. Hunting dates back, as we

have seen, to the days of barbarism, and if its

proper connections be in truth barbaric, then

Matthew Arnold was right in dubbing the

English gentry who still hunt, kill, and eat

wild things (and who are therefore survivals

^f barbarism), " Barbarians " ; while the respect-
able black-coated folk of orderly
business habits he calls " Philis-
tines." Jorrocks distinguishes,
after his inimitable and im-
mortal fashion, between " Peer-
age Folk " and " Post Office
Directory Folk " ; but the line of class cleavage no
longer corresponds with that between Esau and Jacob.
For there were both sporting and serious -minded
people in Peerage and also in Post Office Directory
circles: for example, Roger Swizzle and Sebastian
Mello were the two apothecaries at Handley Cross.
Under whatsoever social system we may have
lived, may live, or may be about to live, Esaus and
Jacobs, hunters and stay-at-homes. Barbarians and
Philistines are likely to survive as long as mankind
continues; and while this is so, the diverging of
thought and habit will exhibit itself iu the
microcosm of University life. Before, however, we
beo-in to consider this matter which so intimately
concerns such a history as ours, it may be well to consider more
broadly some of the pecuhar characteristics of English sport.

A Barbarian.

A Philistine.

THE BAEBAEIANS 3

England, or rather the British Isles (for we must be just to poor
ould Oireland !) are the first, or indeed, in the narrower sense of the
term, the only hunting country in the world. It sounds like a
paradox to say that this is due to our poverty in beasts of chase ;
but it is the truth. Cave lion, elephant, rhinoceros, Irish elk, and
buffalo went out in the Stone Age. In the Middle Ages there were
deer and boar in abundance, and even wolves and bear. We have
now only the fox and the hare, except for Exmoor and the New
Forest, where wild red and fallow deer still survive. And so " bold
Eeynolds " has come into the kingdom of his " betters " ; but for this
poverty he would still have been treated as mean thieving vermin,
and the hunting of him had been as shabby a business as ferreting
rats out of a pig-stye. As things are, though still a thief he has
risen to be " Thief o' the World," and the hunting of him " the sport
o' kings and the image o' war with only twenty per cent o' the
danger " ; and we must own that Muster Reynolds has fairly won
his spurs if you consider the number, speed, and quality of the
hounds, and the skill and horsemanship that are needed to make
him cry " Capivi " ! And what a brave show the sportsman makes
clothed in scarlet with other delights, such as tops cleaned, as Mr.
Delme Eadcliffe did not say,^ with "champagne and abricot jam,"
so that, as with King Solomon's throne, " the like has not been seen
in any kingdom."

Compared with fox-hunting, the taking of the hare must always
seem somewhat tame, and the turning out of

All the King's horses and all the King's men
to chase so small and timid a creature, may seem akin to break-
ing a butterfly on the wheel : nevertheless it must be confessed that to
Trace the circling mazes of the hare

is truly, though the truth was said in sarcasm, " a highly scientific
amusement," and when " Sarah " is hunted afoot with beagles it is
more than that, it is good, hard, strenuous sport. One does not hunt
to run as thrusters hunt to ride, for plugging over a heavy plough

1 What he did say, and I have it on the authority of his own grandson, was that
the then correct colour for tops was something between that of champagne and of
apricot jam.

THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

on your behind legs is not the exhilarating thing that it is to be
going one's best on a good horse in that indescribable state of super-
confidence known as having ones " blood up " : contrariwise one
runs to hunt. But incidentally the running is good, and you must
be young and sound to keep going day after day ; and you run to
see "good hunting." Beagling, therefore, is a sport for youthful
Esaus, not only because of the wholesome and comparatively
inexpensive exercise which it provides, but also for the knowledge
of hound lore which it affords. Not that it is impossible for the
middle-aged and heavy to see the fun : on the contrary, as hares
seldom run straight, it is possible for such to forecast the line and
so bring themselves in by the use of their brains. The Univer-
sities therefore being a place of meeting for undergraduate youth and
crabbed donnish age, beagling should be a form of hunting peculiarly
fitted for those sportsmen, usually of modest
means, whose studies or whose life-work takes
them to Oxford or Cambridge. This brings us to
consider the position of sport in the Universities.
During the Lent Term of 1912 a long, sym-
pathetic, and carefully written article appeared in
the Cambridge Review dealing with the " Ethics
of Sport," from the point of view of the large
part which sport appears to play in University
life ; it concluded, mirahile dictu, with the follow-
ing paragraph : —

" Another charge which is frequently brought
against sport is that it tends to brutalise those
who participate in it. As regards certain forms
of amusement which are commonly called sport,
the charge is a just one. Killing for the joy of
killing (sic) is morally unjustifiable, and the day
which sees legislation against fox-hunting and
the shooting of birds will be a creditable one for
the English nation. Such ' sports ' should be
relegated to the memories of the past : they
are utterly unworthy of their name."

Middle-aged and Heavy.

THE BAEBAEIANS 5

The explanation of course is that the article was written by
a Philistine, to be read by brother Philistines who have adopted
and developed a vast system of athletic contests, which have nothing
to do with field sport ; and he bewrays incidentally the animus
of the Philistine towards the Barbarian — Jacob's sense of smooth
respectable broadcloth superiority over his red-necked brother Esau.
A close study of the article will reveal the fact that this natural
perennial feeling as between the two types of human nature is rein-
forced not only by the fact that the Universities are run almost
entirely by Philistines and principally for Philistines, but also from
the classic traditions of the Academic World.

Our Public Schools and Universities attach, and rightly, at least
as much importance to the development of " character " as they do
to the imparting of either useful or ornamental knowledge :

Mens Sana in corpore sano,

to use a hackneyed expression, is the finished product of the
system. And the lines on which this goal is approached are classic
and stoical : the moral functions of " sport " being those learned from
the Hellenic athletes and philosophers. The Barbarians on the other
hand are young squires who come from a landowning race whose
traditions are rather mediaeval and feudal than classic, and it is for
this reason that the squires are " barbarous " sportsmen rather than
" cultured " athletes. One of our most painstaking contributors.
Lord Ernest St. Maur, of Trinity Hall and Burton Hall, Loughboro',
who is of course an unmixed " Barbarian," contributes an anecdote
which is not only amusing but interesting, because it is typical of
the uninterest and ignorance with which we feudal Barbarians are
regarded by the classic Philistine.

" I remember on one occasion," he says, " I was exercising the
pack with Charlie Thompson, when I met one of the Dons of my
College, who stopped and asked me what the ' curious coloured dogs '
were that I had with me. I told him they were beagles — small
hounds. He asked what we kept them for. On telling him that
we hunted hares with them, and followed them on foot, he expressed
great surprise and said, 'Do you mean to say that human beings

6 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

follow a hare on foot with those little short-legged dogs by way
of sport ? '

" On being told that this was so he said, ' Marvellous ! but of course
with no expectation of capturing the hare. Greyhounds I know do
capture hares, and, I believe, were used by the Ancients for that
purpose ; they are fleet of foot, and dogs capable of great speed, but
it seems impossible that these dogs could ever hope to overtake a hare.'

" I tried to explain to him that beagles ran by scent, and not

by sight, and that we not infrequently did 'capture' a hare. He
thanked me civilly for my information ; but I feel certain that he
was by no means convinced, and looked upon the pack of beagles as
another sign of the eccentricity of the ordinary {sic) undergraduate."
This story exactly presents the attitude not so much of the
average Don to undergraduate eccentricity as of the ordinary
Philistine, whether Don or undergraduate, to the barbaric beagler,
Beaglers are not exactly eccentric as undergraduates, it is more true
to say that we are eccentric to them. A recent Master, T. Holland
Hibbert, found this out for himself. I used sometimes to look in at

THE BAKBAEIANS 1

8 Bridge Street where he kept with Peter Clarke, who was junior
whip and secretary, in my spare time between giving a ten o'clock
lecture and the hour for starting in the brake. This by the way
sometimes led to an offer of luncheon consisting of bun loaf, butter,
and cold water, to which I contributed the sandwiches I had brought
in my pocket, and once he found me a whisky and soda ; though it
was, strictly speaking, " agin his conscience." Peter Clarke, who was
treated as a sort of fag, used to be sent out to buy the bun loaf After
our luncheon we were one day going round to the Pitt to join the
brake when "T" said, "You know all these people in the street
think we're mad. There's a fellow who used to sit next me in the
'Labs.' ['T' took the Natural Science Tripos] who said, 'I say,
what do you wear those things for that I saw you in the other day ? ' "
He meant of course the T.F.B. uniform, and did not know a velvet
hunting-cap when he saw one !

The gulf that is fixed between Barbarian and Philistine is further
widened by the fact that when the former do play cricket they
form a club of their own, and go out to play their humbler Barbarian
brethren in the outlying villages.

But we have not yet exhausted the weight of the academic
prejudice arrayed against us.

The Universities were originally, as were also Winchester and
Eton, and some other pre-reformation schools, ecclesiastical founda-
tions. There have been many ecclesiastics including Bishops who
have been keen sportsmen, nevertheless the official view is that the
"sporting parson" is inconsistent with sacerdotal propriety; for
"Jacob" lived even in so sporting a period as the Middle Ages,
and there existed then as now the allied prejudice against military
service. The Spectator has drawn attention to an Eton Statute
(Number XIX.), clean contrary to the Beagles, which runs as follows :

No Scholar, Fellow, Chaplain or other Minister or SerA^ant of the
College shall keep or have hunting dogs, nets for hunting, ferrets, falcons
or hawks.

The Spectator complains that notwithstanding this "the Eton
Beagles still remain in defiance of the Founder's prohibition of Sport."
All this is trotted out in the " humanitarian " interest, of which more

8 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

anon ; but the intention of the Founder was not humanitarian — as
the prohibition is directed against persons who were in those days
all tonsured " clerks," and the motive was not very far removed from
that of the Puritans, who disliked bear-baiting, as says Lord
Macaulay, not because it gave pain to the bear, but pleasure to the
spectators. Of course the ecclesiastical atmosphere of all such
ancient foundations is a thing of the past. The prejudice, however,
survives though the rational motive for it is long forgotten.

The result of all this is that Sport holds no recognised position in
University life, and that the Barbarians form a minority, self-
sufficient and aloof, like " Stalky and Co.," who instead of saying,
" Yes, Sir ! " and " No, Sir ! " and " Oh, Sir ! " and " Please, Sir ! " and
playing cricket and football for their house at appointed times, went
exploring in Colonel Dabney's coverts and made friends with his
retainers. And the analogy is the closer in that from the way that
M'Turk reported the keeper for attempted vulpicide, he at least was
as full-blooded a Barbarian as the Colonel himself.

The aloofness is a fact in my judgment as regrettable as the over-
exaltation of athletics. The latter are of course free from anything
like professionalism in the ordinary sense. They are as high-toned and
whole-souled as their Greek prototypes who, so we were told at
school, gained no prize other than a quickly corruptible crown of
laurels. But it always seemed to me that the victors of those days
made a fairly good thing of it. They received handsome testimonials
from their fellow-citizens, and had the further joy of being made a
fuss of ; and the case is not altogether different with a modern game-
playing blue. He is a personage with grounds for a good conceit of
himself, he is interviewed and illustrated by the enterprise of modern
journalism, and, if he turn dominie, sometimes gets a rather
better mastership than he could ever aspire to on learning alone.
The sportsman on the other hand, who matches himself against the
cunning of animate and the forces of inanimate nature, has no
reward beyond the pleasure of the sport itself, the triumph of endur-
ance, and of survival where there is danger, and perhaps something
extra good to eat, such as a snipe or pheasant. The sportsman more-
over, in his contests with nature, develops his powers of observation

THE BAKBAEIANS 9

and self-reliance, his sympathy of hand and eye, and his patience,
sometimes under conditions of risk such as never occur in any
mere game. Fortunately there are signs of reaction, though in a
somewhat unexpected quarter. These show themselves in the effort
to teach open-air life, observation, resource, etc., to boys from
elementary schools under the guise of " scouting," which has much
in common with field sport. Above that grade Education with a
capital E does nothing. This is a pity, although practical difficulties
can be freely acknowledged. Field sports occupy much space, while
all the games of all the boys can be played, under the eye of discipline
too, in one or two fair-sized flat grass-fields.

None the less, except for humanitarian objections which will be
met and answered later, it would seem that from the point of view
of "character" the field sports of the Barbarians form at least as
good a school as the games of the Philistines. I will indeed venture
further, and say something of the character to which the former have
already attained in spite of their aloofness in our cold, miscompre-
hending little world.

" These men are not vicious," said a man who knew, anent the
Barbarians, to another so deeply Philistine that he thought all hunt-
ing men went to Oxford. " They have been brought up to country
life, and while up here must find some outlet for their country tastes."
I must apologise to my brother Barbarians for printing the truism
with which this paragraph opens, but my point is that the Philistines
are abysmally ignorant in these matters, and I speak from experi-
ence, as I count several Philistines among my friends, and some of
them have at least a subconscious sentiment to the contrary. All
sport, at least all English sport, has a quality of horsiness ; horses
have a concern in horse-racing ; horse-racing is mixed up with the
ignoble herd of touts and sharpers, therefore all sport is tainted, and
they call it " Nehushtan," poor dears ! All sportsmen are not sharps
like Soapey Sponge, Jack Spraggon, or Sir Archibald Deepecarde,
nor flats such as Waffles or Sir 'Arry Scattercash, but natural
honest men like John Jorrocks, who in spite of his vulgarity and
"samples o' tea" was a good -hearted old fellow at bottom; or the
vastly superior hero of " Nimrod's " rather dull and humourless Life

10 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

of a Sportsman. The best witnesses, however, to the character of
University Barbarians are the Proctors ; and of the attitude of the
latter to the former I have a tale to tell.

It has been said that wheresoever Englishmen are gathered
together, there you will find a race-course, and to this rule Cambridge
is no exception : University Steeplechases are held at Cottenham in
both October and Lent Terms. Now, steeplechasing is formally pro-
hibited by edict of the University, and yet the Cottenham meetings
are held, with no pretence of secrecy, under Grand National Hunt

A Proctor.
By S. P. Cockerel in T.F.B.C. Book.

Eules, and bills announcing the date, place, and terms of admission
are posted up on the public hoardings and the windows of motor
omnibuses. The edict is, in fact, treated in the usual English
fashion ; that is, it is not enforced, but held in reserve until the evils
which it is intended to suppress make their appearance. But this is
not a mere assumption, the ipsissima verba of a Senior Proctor may
be quoted to demonstrate the fact.

As Cottenham attracts what are technically known as " People," ^
it is made an occasion for one or more balls. Balls keep the young
out of bed and out of bounds long after midnight, when they should
be refreshing themselves for another day's lectures ; wherefore balls

' Classifiable as sisters, cousins, and aunts.

THE BARBAEIANS 11

may be arranged only with the knowledge and consent of the Vice-
Chancellor. These balls have various titles. There may be a Hunt
Ball or Drag and Beagle Ball, or a Pitt Club or Athenaeum Ball,
which are all alike except for the crest at the head of the circular
and the name of the Hon. Sec. who sells the tickets, and the Com-
mittee which " reserves to itself the right, etc. etc." On one occasion
it was proposed to call one of these functions a " Cottenham Steeple-
chase Ball," to which proposal the Vice-Chancellor, as Miss Jane
Austen would have said, " readily assented." Notices of the holding
of this ball were therefore publicly displayed, and read by the Senior
Proctor, who was pained, and sent for the Master of the Beagles, and
there was an interview, of which I cannot give a verbatim report,
but only the headings.

Steeplechasing (ut supra) is forbidden by edict. A ball not
merely held in honour of, but openly named after, such an event was
too cynical a disregard of the law. It was difficult to believe that the
Vice-Chancellor could have sanctioned the revels under such a name.
The Proctor understood that it was to have been a " Pitt " ball.

But no ! the Beagle Master had the matter in black and
white, with the V.C.'s sign-manual thereto. Would he produce it ?
With glad alacrity ! The putting in of the permit was something of
a facer. A Proctor cannot well veto a Vice-Chancellor's dispensa-
tion. Yet if the matter went through, a great step would be
taken toward repealing the edict by contrary custom. So long as
" Cottenham " was conducted as at present, there would be no inter-
ference, but the Proctorial Body would be hampered in the putting
down of horse-racing should need arise. He explained the difficulty
quite frankly. Would the Beagle Master help him out of a hole ? An
he would, the Drag and Beagles would attain to an odour of even
greater sanctity than they occupied at present. Would it put any
one to any inconvenience if the gathering were rechristened the
Drag and Beagle Ball ? If this were agreed to he, the Proctor, would
himself pay the cost of printing fresh bills and tickets. To this
reasonable and courteous proposal the Beagle Master cheerfully
assented, and the business concluded with every expression of mutual
civility.

12 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Now it seems to me that any class of young men who can be on
such terms with the Higher Authority must form a desirable and
wholesome element in the world in which they move, even though
they be not in the first flight when the Tripos lists come out. In
the matter of character the Barbarians have done better than
" Bogey." But this is not all. Cotteuham is an " open " meeting and
does attract, as the Beagle Master himself said, some " perfectly awful

H. C. Backhouse (T.F.B.) eides at Cottenham.
By "A 1" in T.F.B. C. Book.

touts." And that a body of very young men, only a year or two
removed from schoolboys, should so manage the assembly as to merit
the very high compliment conveyed in the above interview, suggests
that in years to come they may do the State some service, if not in
the Cabinet, yet in the less showy but quite useful public business of
their own countryside. Wherefore the University, whose function
I take it is as much to send Men into the world, as to pick out a few
pundits for home consumption, ought to take up a more interested
and encouraging attitude towards the Jesus Lane Barbarians. But
it does not : it lias not even a " corporate mind " on the subject !

THE BAEBAEIANS 13

I once consulted two Dons on the situation, both men in a posi-
tion to know something of the matter, and received the following
contradictory judgments.

No. 1

The undergraduate who hunts, whether with foxhounds. Drag, or
Beagles, is an essential waster, and but for the most guilt-edged of
good behaviour could not be tolerated. Nohow !

No. 2

The undergraduate who hunts has, owing to his Chesterfieldian
character, such great potentialities for good that his aloofness from
the general body of University doings is " selfish " and a loss : he is a
valuable academic asset run to waste. Contrariwise !

Thus "Tweedle Dum" and "Tweedle Dee." To whom the following
answers should be given : —

To Tweedle Dum

The judgment on the Barbarians that they are of no use to their
university or colleges either as athletes or intellectuals, that is as
not being good Philistines, is narrow-minded and wrong. A young
man with brains, and Barbarians have brains, is not meant merely to
glorify his college by Tripos and Scholarship, nor one of brawn to
humiliate his Alma Tanta ^ by becoming a victorious blue : but to
be educated with a view to his future use in the wider world. I
have always understood that I was to " praise famous men and our
fathers that begat us""- for that they founded an University for the
benefit of undergraduates, not because they begat undergraduates for
the benefit of the University. The Barbarian attends his lectures
when suitable, or coaches when they are not, passes his examinations
and pays his fees at least as regularly as the average Philistine, and
will be tolerated as long as he continues so to do ; and the former
certainly needs no more of the margin that is wisely granted for

1 Tanta is Latin for "aunt," from the French tante. Ahua Tanta is, of course,
the Sister University.

- Ecclesiasticus xliv. 1.

14 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

high spirits, noise, and an occasional change of headgear with a good-
humoured and forbearing police than does the latter.

To TwEEDLE Dee

Any class of young men of naturally " good influence " who set
themselves dehberately to exercise it with a conscious intention of
doing good would become a set of insufferable prigs. Their aloofness
is due to deep-seated causes going back to the difference between
Esau and Jacob, which difference was so fundamental that it
manifested itself even before they were born. So perhaps (?) the
aloofness is better as it is, and is best left alone anyway, especially
if the undergraduate is meant to be useless now in order that he may
be useful hereafter — an opinion not far removed from common sense.

However, perhaps we should be wiser if we didn't bother
ourselves over such high matters as the place of Barbarians in a
modern University, which is a subject proper to the " heavy "
Keviews. Things are what they are, the consequences of them will
be what we will be, and moral observations in a Beagle Book are not
likely to make much difference. We Barbarians are sons of Esau,
country bred and used to country ways, and we must find something
congenial to do while we sojourn among the courts and cloisters of
Jacob. So what sport is to be found by such

As range the bleak East Anglian plain
Whose centre is in Jesus Lane ?

For those who care for coarse fishing there are plenty of pike in
the rivers and drains of the fen.

Shooting, except such poor and otherwise dubious sport as is to be
had on the introduction of touts and dog-stealers, is scarce, though
there are places not to be too particularly indicated where snipe and
duck may be found. There is plenty of good shooting about, but that
is so good that it is out of the question for undergraduates. In fact,
Cambridgeshire shooting bears considerable analogy to

... the little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead,

THE BARBAKIANS 15

Wlio when she was good
Was very very good,
But when she was naughty she was horrid.

Hunting, however, is simple. All you have to do is to find where
hounds meet, pay your cap or subscription, and turn up. If it be
fox-hunting you must have a horse, but that, if you can pay for him,
Mr. Hopkins will provide over the telephone. It is cheaper if you
hunt regularly to bring a horse or horses up from home. I once
tried to persuade my father that if he would let me bring the horse
I rode at home up for the term, the amount he would save on his
keep at home, and what I should save by hacking him out to beagle
meets instead of driving, would exactly balance the cost of keeping
him ; but he did not see it. Perhaps he thought that with a horse I
should not do enough work, and in that case I have no doubt that
he was right. But to hunt with beagles is within the reach of such
Barbarians as are even poor, five pounds a term being the utmost
that can be spent on the actual hunting. And further, except for
occasional train meets, the beagler who is industrious can put in a
fair morning's work, as the brake seldom starts before 12.15. From
1 o'clock to 5 is spent in beagling, and then after a pleasant tea at
the inn the brake takes you home to bath and dinner, when if
not too sleepy you can resume your work.

Economy, however, is not the only advantage of beagles over fox-
hounds for the young. With the latter an undergraduate can never
be more than a private subscribing member, whereas with beagles he
may become a whipper-in, if not a Master, and so have a finger in
the pie; and an undergraduate of means can have all the interest
and invaluable experience of hound management and yet get in a
day a week with the Fitzwilliam ; and between the two an observant
young man can educate himself for the responsible business of a
Master of Foxhounds, and this is as it should be, for an University
is, in the language of ancient times, a studium generate, or place where
you can learn anything, and therefore as the general includes the
particular, a place where you can learn to be a Master of Foxhounds ;
and as Cambridge affords, unofficially perhaps and unbeknownst to
herself, these educational opportunities, something has been done for

16

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

the Barbarians after all ! And further I know a case in which the
advantage has been deliberately made the most of.

Once upon a time there was a young man whose father sent him up
to Cambridge. He was not to spend too much time in fox-hunting, but
diligently to learn hound- work with the beagles, of which by diligence

Early Stages in the Education of an M.F.H.

A T.F.B. Member goes a proper cropper with the " Fitz-Billy.

By "Al" in T.F.B. C. Book.

he rose to the mastership, and handled his hounds regularly four days
a week, getting up at six in the morning so as to ride and yet put
in some work for an examination. On the other two days he went
fox-hunting. After a four years' course at Cambridge he was to go
into a Cavalry Eegiment. " And then," he said, " father thinks I will
do to come home and take the hounds." A fine career for a young
Barbarian! These last words are not "wrote sarcastic": I mean
what I say. The man who can manage all the multifarious businesses

THE BAKBAEIANS 17

connected with the hunting of a pack of hounds with tact and
efficiency, and makes time to take some part in county business, is
doing much to oil the wheels of life and make his countryside a
kinder and more genial and therefore a happier and better place for
all sorts of men to live in. The same qualities are wanted in other
and more strenuous spheres, and new openings are being made.

A Kadical War Minister has turned the old Volunteers into a
Territorial Army. It may for lack of men under the existing system
of voluntary enlistment be but a skeleton army, but the skeleton
may yet make flesh and stand on its feet as genuine an army as that
of Ezekiel's vision. In the meantime he has done his best to utihse
the natural genius for leadership which the English gentleman
possesses, by turning all the old school cadet corps and the poor " Bug-
shooters " into Officers' Training Corps, and at Cambridge there are
opportunities of learning the work of every branch of the Service.
Naturally cavalry work specially interests those who hunt and love
horses, and the cavalry unit of the Cambridge O.T.C. is most zealously
taken up by the " bloods," who turn out at unearthly hours to learn
their work before breakfast.

There is other work for poor Barbarian " younger sons " who have
to turn out and earn their livings, and whose experience and tradi-
tion of leadership is available for that administrative work which
is the " white man's burden." Also, as life at home becomes more
socialised, there may be more of such work for men with the instincts
and training of a country gentleman to do at home, and should
Barbarians take some of the headship now in the power of the
capitahst Philistine, the future might not be so bad. Here is a
story which shows how the matter appears to working-class men who
have practical experience of Barbarian government — I mean blue-
jackets. An ex-naval officer, a shipmate of mine on a yacht, fell in
with some bluejackets at a seaport town on the East Coast. In the
course of a general review of their conditions of service they said
explicitly that they wanted full-blooded gentlefolks for "orficers."
The working class were " all right," and gentlefolks were " all right,"
but the middle classes were " rotten." Sometimes they had middle-
class officers who came into the Service to make a living. There

C

18 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

were officers in the Army, and these did not make a Hviug, so why
should they in the Navy ? Etc. etc. Money seems to come into the
estimate here, but the motive of the demand seems to be " Set some
one over us who is in no way ' on the make.' "

I have further heard it rumoured that if the rank and file of
railway workers were officered by the class which naturally produces
" orficers," instead of by " non-coms.," who have climbed over their
shoulders to place and power, there would be less trouble. It
sounds as if there were " something in it." At any rate a whole-
some feudal relation between gentle and simple is one that need
not be confined to the Navy, the Army, and landed estates, or, if
you want a specific instance, the excellent relations which exist
between T.F.B. and Mr. Eobert Floate. A Barbarian of tliese parts,
F. Bagnall of Little Shelford — there is no reason for suppressing his
name — told me that he was talking to some local railway men, all
socialists, who were grumbling that the Services were not more
democratic — they wanted the men to elect their own officers — when
an old Eadical platelayer in the corner said, " Ah ! but you know
men will follow a gentleman anywhere." And being myself a
cleric with Barbarian traditions I am fain to hope that, as thank
God is the case with a good many old members of T.F.B., a fair
percentage will accept the burden of the cure of souls. It is fitting
that a iKidre should understand his people, and therefore that among
the sons of Esau the priest should himself be of the Tribe.

What, you may ask, is the point of all this rambling discourse ?
I answer that we are concerned with the history of the Trinity Foot
Beagles, and tlmt a history is no mere chronicle of events, but is
concerned with their meaning. " T.F.B." is the central feature of
field sports in our unsympathetic University, and those who beagle
are representatives of the whole body of Barbarians who come
hither for their education, after which they are meant, equally with
the Philistines, to go out into the world and do something. Now I
grant that there are some life jobs which are best done by Philistines,
but am also convinced that there are others which call urgently for
Barbarians : a class who have proved themselves in after-life to have
been not altogether wasters.

THE BAEBAEIANS 19

So far we have only had to concern ourselves with Philistine
prejudice, but there are also the attacks of the Humanitarians, who
contend in copy-book phraseology that

Barbarians practise Barharity.

Beaglers having a clear conscience and not concerning themselves
with controversy may be content to ignore the challenge, although it
often takes the form of

Beaglers ^practise Barharity

that is a specific attack on the form of hunting which is our
immediate concern, and in face of which attack our feelings have
been accurately expressed by Mr. H. S. Gladstone in his beagling
diary, in his comment on the Spectator s observation on Eton beagling
to the effect that : —

" The most cruel forms of sport seem indeed to have always been
a staple form of amusement in the school." And that " these Eton
brutalities {sic) are condemned by the modern spirit of humaneness."

On which Mr. Gladstone says : —

"I cannot say that I feel guilty of brutality as 'condemned
by the modern spirit of humaneness.' My education has taught
me that beagling is the most scientific and sporting way of taking
the hare."

And so say we all !

Though so many Cambridge beaglers have been old Etonians,
we are not, of course, directly concerned with the barbarity of Eton
sport, but the only sport there practised being the hunting of hares
afoot with beagles, beagling is stigmatised as a sport of peculiar
cruelty, and all beaglers are involved. Also, if this book should fall
into the hands of Humanitarians, for review or otherwise, there will
surely be some sort of outcry against ourselves, and I propose to
meet the accusation, remarking that those who are bored with the
subject are quite free to skip the rest of this chapter. Wherefore to
begin !

There are so many sportsmen in the world who are humane men,
in thorough sympathy with animal life, and who detest mere wanton

20 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

destruction, that that modern spirit of humaneness which is opposed
to all " blood-sports," as they are elegantly called, does not represent
the common consent of civilised man on the subject, but is the
expression of the sentiment of a mere party. The sportsman has
therefore, prima facie, some locus standi among decent folk. But
for a satisfactory solution there must be discussiou : no head
counting can conclude the matter.

It so happens that, as I write, a copy of the Animal World falls
into my hands, which contains a sympathetic review of a book which
pictures the bodily suffering and mental agony of the hunted hare,
and side by side with it a Natural History article on the manners
and customs of the youthful cuckoo : which latter must appear from
the humanitarian standpoint peculiarly brutal. The young cuckoo
when first hatched is a poor creature, but he grows rapidly, and as he
does so his back becomes somewhat hollow. With the wings raised
this forms a sort of cradle into which the cuckoo, still blind and
naked, hoists his fellow-nestlings one by one. As soon as each
victim is comfortably seated the cuckoo, with a powerful leg-drive
from the nest bottom, neatly projects it into the outer world to die of
cold and hunger. So far we are dealing only with Nature as left to
herself ; but listen to what follows.

The naturalist who tells the tale wanted films wherewith to
display the matter through the bioscope. So he sallied forth to the
nest at what he hoped would be the right time, but was too late :
all the fledgling sedge-warblers were already on the floor, and the
cuckoo had the nest to himself. Was the naturalist daunted ? Not
a bit of it ! He got a fledgling sedge-warbler from a nest adjacent
and put it in with the cuckoo, expecting, as this bird was older and
stronger and had its eyes open, that he should witness a very superior
tussle — and he was not disappointed. The cuckoo got to work at
once, and struggled and wriggled till the warbler was on his back,
and then — shove ! But by this time the warbler began to realise
that he was in a tight place and fought for dear life : he caught
himself on the edge of the nest and worked his way back into the
nest again, and so the struggle continued, while the naturalist took
mental notes and kept the bioscope camera ticking. The records

THE BAEBAEIANS 21

obtained were, I believe, thoroughly successful ; indeed the Animal
World published a selection of them, one showing the half-fledged
warbler clinging like grim death to the margin of the nest.

Xow I will ask any unbiassed person whether such an exhibition
in any material feature differs from a cock-fight ? Here were two
birds set by the hand of man to struggle for life. It is true that
when defeated the borrowed warbler found soft falling, into the
naturalist's handkerchief arranged like a net under a trapeze-artist,
and was restored to his own nest when the show was over. But
(and this of course is from the humanitarian point of view !) the poor
little bird did not know that it was only a sham fight : it fought
and struggled and was in terror as truly as if failure actually meant
exposure and death. Of course in setting two cocks to fight the
interest is emotional, the motive being the excitement of the fight
and of backing your opinion with cash. When you set a blind
cuckoo to fight a half-fiedged sedge-warbler the interest is more
intellectual ; but from the humanitarian standpoint is it any the
less brutal ? I trow not. But that is not all. There remains the
bioscope which shall preserve the incident for the delight of children
at a popular lecture : not before bad little Barbarian Eton boys who
are born in the country and bred up among grooms, gamekeepers,
and other such vassals, but good little Philistines from Kensington
and Bayswater, who being fed up with plum-pudding and panto-
mimes are in the latter part of their Christmas holidays taken to
polytechnic lectures to improve their minds and keep them out of
mischief. Of course, if you really go into the matter, the ousting
of the sedge-warbler by the cuckoo cannot be " cruel " unless the
ordinary proceedings of Nature, and therefore the Author of Nature,
can be condemned of cruelty. This last is of course absurd,^ and the
habits of the young cuckoo being the work of God are good and
edifying to observe. But if so, then the hunting habits of dogs who
pursue game by scent, being also according to nature, must also
be edifying to observe, and there can be no brutality in the act of

^ There are those who say that Nature is cruel and that thei'efore God cannot be
good. But this is drifting into too deep water. A Beagle Book is not the jilace for
theological discussions.

22 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Those liunian beings wlio set tlieiu to it,
And ride or run to see tliem do it.

You cannot consistently weep over the cruelties inflicted on the
hunted hare and make a display of the murderous habits of little
cuckoo.

It was the worthy Philistine, Dr. Watts, who once inserted in a

hymn the lines —

Let dogs delight
To bark and bite.
It is their nature to.

Those lines are the full justification of fox-hunters and heaglers who,
as I have said,

... set them to it,
And ride or run to see them do it,

though the Doctor evidently considered the doings of such too base
for the Philistine proprieties of a black-coated respectability ; and I
doubt if he saw the necessary consequence of his dictum, which if
Socratically driven into a corner he would have had to admit.
Thus :—

Socrates. You say, sir, that as the pleasure of dogs in barking
and biting is in accordance with their nature, their so doing is not to
be interfered with.

Dk. Watts. Most certainly.

Soc. Your saying, however, implies that you regard such barking
and biting as base and vulgar, and therefore to be regarded by man,
who is of a higher order of being, with no more than a contemptuous
indifference.

Dr. W. That, sir, was the impression that I desired to convey.

Soc. Being a writer of hymns, am I to infer that your Doctorate
is in the faculty of Divinity ?

Dr. W. Your assumption is correct.

Soc. Then I suppose you would maintain that all things are as
God made them, and that so long as they follow the dictates of nature
they are good and admirable ?

Dr. W. Most certainly : no Christian man could do otherwise.

THE BARBAKIANS

23

Soc. You have already said that the barking and biting of dogs
is in accordance with their nature. Do you mean that in so doing
they are as God made them ?

Dr. W. Yes, that must be so.

Soc. Being as God made them, the barking and biting of dogs is
good and admirable ?

Dr. W. Ye-es.

Soc. Yet you have implied that men are to regard, or rather

/

Socrates and Dr. Watts.

ignore, as base and vulgar, that barking and biting of dogs which, as
the work of God, is good and admirable. They are, in short, to despise
the work of God ?

Dr. W. (after an awhivard pause). Sir, I had not hitherto thought
of the matter in that light. But I now see that the barking and
biting of dogs, being according to nature, cannot be base or vulgar,
but when well and worthily done, is deserving of the admiration of
men of sense and piety.

Soc. I congratulate you, sir, on your candour. Nothing is more

24 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

becoming to a man of learning and piety than that, having unwit-
tingly placed himself in a false position, he should honourably confess
his mistake. AVere you then to call upon a pack of hounds to follow
with their musical barking the trail of those beasts which they are
naturally quaUfied to pursue, and on overtaking the same to bite and
slay them, you must see that in directing them you would be doing
nothing contrary to reason or morality. I grant, sir, that such action
might not commend itself to your personal taste, and that your habits
of life have not trained you for such activities, but I hope that when
you hear of others, such as those junior members of your University
whose birth and training has been among such pursuits, and who
maintain, as I have heard, a pack of most excellent beagles, you will
confess their sport to be wholesome, manly, and laudable, and them-
selves a credit to whatsoever society they may belong.

It may further be premised that in the struggles of nature animals
do not and can not suffer as we might do in their place. The problems
of animal psychology are too technical and too complicated for dis-
cussion here, but it may be said : —

(1) That pain is the disagreeable consciousness of injury.

(2) That the possession of a consciousness, such as alone makes
pain possible, by animals is at best very doubtful.

The same lack of consciousness precludes the possibility of the
mental agonies of fear. It is, of course, true that animals display
the outward cries, expressions, and gestures of these emotions, but
these can occur reflexly, and may be, and prol)ably are, older than
the conscious states associated with them in man. It is very ques-
tionable whether animals experience pain. And be it remembered
that animals do not think, but that their actions are based on the
inherited impulsive response to recurring situations which we call
instinct. A hen partridge is often in the presence of danger, and
always shams cripple in the same way to decoy the enemy away from
her young. She must act on impulse and not on a thought-out scheme
of mimicry. And creatures which have not much conscious thought
can have no more conscious feeling.

The argument here brietl;)^ indicated clears nature, and therefore

THE BAEBAKIANS

25

])y implication the sportsman, of cruelty. Nature's killing is not
cruel, but frees wild life from the troubles of old age, disease, and
natural death ; and the sportsman does no more than take his part
in such killing, and in so doing gains his sympathy with wild life,
of which, by the way, he mitigates the conditions by the close time
which he grants his game in the breeding season.

Having said thus much I may venture to carry a sting in my
tail. The man who believes himself to be inflicting pain on brute
creatures, even if they actually feel none, and takes pleasure in what
he thinks he is doing, is brutalising himself. But such an one is
never w^orthy of the name of sportsman who though a killer never,
pace the Gamhridge Revietv, " kills for the joy of killing." And if no
sportsman then no beagler, for all beaglers are sportsmen.

Having thus, I hope, cleared the air, we may proceed with the
annals of beagling and other sport at Cambridge.

CHAPTER II

THE FOOT DRAG

Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and honnd.

Oliver Goldsmith.

HERE are various ways of beginning a
history : the Gryphon, for example,
told Alice to " Begin at the beginning,
go on till you come to the end,
then stop." Alice, if you remember,
was requested to repeat You are Old
Father William ; and the plan is
excellent both for little boys and
girls who have to learn repetition
and say it off in school, standing
primly with heels together and hands
behind their backs, and for village
concert nuisances who think they can
recite. But with a history things are different, and with histories
such as that of America, or Oxford, or Socialism, or the Trinity Foot
Beagles the method is impossible, because they have not ended, but are
still going strong, and probably will be for many a day to come. Even
with a novel the plan is not always good. The author starts with a
description of the terraced lawns and pleasant glades of a country
house in summer, or the back blocks of Australia, or a house in the
Five Towns, or an Indian bungalow, or the Sahara, or the cabin of a
cargo schooner, according to the scenery he can best describe. The
stage being prepared, enter a He and a She, who after various compli-
cations are to be married and live happily ever after. Or they are

26

PLATE II.

Lord Ernest St. Maur.

THE FOOT DEAG

27

already married and beginning to live happily ever after when a
Tertium Quid of some sort intervenes and makes everybody miserable
including himself. But often you are so bored with the preliminaries
that you never get into the tale at all. Sometimes, however, you
start a book in the middle, get gripped, go on to the end, and then
search erratically in the earlier chapters to find how they arrived at
the situation with which you started. Some story-tellers know
this trick and formally begin in the thick of the fray and then
liark back. Homer knew it, for example, and so begins the Odyssey
with his hero's entanglement with

and then sets him a -telling that fascinatress in the first person
singular how he got there. In an actual history such as ours it is
more natural and even necessary to begin in the present, which is the
middle, not the end, describe the going concern, and then piece
together its history from the frag-
mentary memories, letters, and other
scraps of information which con-
stitute the original documents.

The Trinity Foot Beagles are a
subscription pack managed by under-
graduates and hunting such of the
country round Cambridge as is suit-
able, on four days of the week and a
bye, in the October and Lent Terms.
There is no formal constitution, no
committee, nor any meeting of the
subscribers, nor a balance-sheet, nor
is there any positive connection with
Trinity College. Any member of the
University of any college whatsoever
can find out where hounds meet and
put in a first appearance. If he is
pleased with the sport he can continue to turn up, provided he pays
a subscription. He then receives a card of the meets, to which he

V

A First Appearance.

28

THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

nK

A Master.

can either find his own way or pay for a place in the brake which

starts from the Pitt. He can make friends with his fellow-
subscribers, or can keep to himself; he may get
caught up into the company of the zealous, who
include Master and Whips, or he may form one of
an independent coterie of more dilettante sports-
men. If keen and capable he may become a
Whip or, with sufficient means, even Master, or
he may remain a private beagler all his days.
The pack has consisted since 1888 of about
twenty -two couple of working hounds divided
not into a " dog " and " bitch," but into a " fast "
and a " slow " pack ; with kennels in a by-lane off

the Histon Eoad which have been in occupation since 1880 : in

charge of Bob (Mr. Eobert Floate), who has been

kennelman since 1883. The hounds are thoroughly

well hunted and show excellent sport ; good dis-
cipline is kept in the field: all who go through

gates are careful to shut them, and the hunt is on

the best of terms with the farmers. There is a

certain amount of etiquette as to dress and so on,

but not now so strict as it was twenty years ago.

Master and Whips turn out in a smart and

workman-like uniform, the usual velvet hunting-
cap and green velveteen coat, with hunting-stock,

white breeches, and black stockings and shoes.

An ex-Master wears his old coat with a tweed cap

if he come back from his estate, or regiment, or

business as a more or less critical onlooker.

Pleasant dinners and other social amenities are

by the way. The pack is well represented at

Peterborough and other hound shows, and more

puppies are bred than can be drafted into the pack.
As to cost. The private subscriber pays thirty

shillings per term, and a further twenty-five if

be takes a place in the brake ; so that with petty

An Ex-Mastejj.

THE FOOT DEAG

29

disbursements such as tea at the inn, which is a great feature
of driving days, two terms' sport cannot cost more than £7. The
tradition of making beagling a sport for undergraduates of no
more than moderate or even of limited means is therefore well main-
tained. Whips pay a subscription of £10 for the season, and the
Master the difference between his income in subscriptions and from
the sale of surplus puppies and the cost of maintaining and hunting
the hounds, which difference, of course, must vary with the Master's
care for economy and his success in attracting subscribers ; but in

Fearful Heavy Weather.
Anon, from T.F.B.C. Book.

any case it must cost the Master more than it does his whips. This
also is thoroughly just, for the amount of fun you get out of such a
pack increases the more you have to do with it, and it is but right
that your share of the cost should increase in proportion.

Two sorts of country are hunted in, or rather three— plough
country, woodlands, and the fen. The fen is sheer flat black peaty
soil reclaimed from a state of swamp in which it must have afforded
marvellous wild-fowl and mixed rough shooting. In its present
cultivated condition it is perfectly open, the peat-like soil is not
sticky to run in, the fields are divided by dykes full of water which
have to be jumped clean, hares are few and strong, and the vast open
space of the fen is strangely and compellingly attractive, so that

30 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAOLES

the fen is a beagler's Paradise. The remaining plough and " wood-
land " are euphemistically termed, by the fen folk at least,. " high
country," and this the wildest local patriotism could hardly describe
as picturesque. There is hardly any grass, but only cold, grey, and
most adhesive plough. What I here call the " woodlands " are really
fruit sardens, that is, orchards of standard trees with a pretty
dense undergrowth of currant and gooseberry bushes planted between
the rows. The number of these thickets which have been planted in
the Histon and Cottenham districts has greatly increased since the
big jam factory has grown up at Histon Station, and the beagling
thereabouts has become very like woodland fox-hunting in miniature.
I have said that on the whole sport is good, but had better give
a more detailed description from among material collected, which
includes a poem ^ describing a good day, and a prose extract from
Mr. H. S. Gladstone's diary of a representative bad one. Here are
the verses : —

THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Of all national sports,
Of all manner of sorts.
There is one which must stand quite alone ;
You may talk of a chase,
Or of rowing a race,
But beagling will e'er hold its own.
And I'll vow that the Trinity Pack
Can never be thought to be slack.
When the men at its head
Are the best ever bred
At getting hounds back on the track.

Clioi'us (please).

Oh ! well I recall
Those grand days at " The Hall,"
When we gaily set off in a thaw,

' It has been a great surprise to me to discover how iiiuch poetry is written by
beaglers.

THE FOOT DKAG

31

Down some small crowded street,

To a far-distant meet,
Where we straightway proceeded to draw.
Just think of the fine hunting morn
And the merry " toot toot " of the horn,

With a loud " Tally-ho ! "

As we see the hare go
From a field which the hounds haven't drawn.

We shall have to go fast
(If we hate to be last),
For " Pussy's " a clinker to-day ;
Look ! There she goes now.
By the edge of that plough,
While the hounds are quite three fields away.
There's a check ! Well, they won't stop for long !
Look ! there they are off again strong !
For close to that gate
They have hit it off straight.
It's seldom that Walker ^ casts wrong.

Chorus.

It's the deuce of a run,
And I'm pretty well done,
But " Puss " can't be far off her death ;
It's lucky, by gad !
For I think every lad
Has pretty well used up his breath.
Why now, in that field on the right,
One can see a most glorious sight :
Hounds are in the same field,
And poor Pussy must yield.
And our pups shall be blooded to-night !

Chorus.

^ Nigel, younger brother of Kenneth AValker.
iu succession Masters of T.F.B.

Both

Pretty well done.

32 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Oh ! Haste to that yell,

Which is Pussy's death-knell,
E'er the hounds begin breaking her up ;

When the trophies are got

AVe soon give the whole lot
To the pack — and a bit to each pup.
Well there ! It has been my endeavour
To show that our beagles are clever.

And I think that the most

Of you'll join in the toast
Of " The Trinity Beagles for ever ! "

Chorus

Then Hurrah for the Trinity Beagles,
They're as swift and as clever as eagles ;

And a man must run hard

If he'd not be debarred
Seeing " Pussy " rolled o'er by the Beagles.

Hugh S. Gladstone.

From the literary standpoint better work has no doubt been
done. Many of the Ingoldsby Legends, for example, show greater
ingenuity in rhythm and originality in rhyme, and the swiftness
of the eagle is a standard for comparison warranted by Scripture
itself, but I doubt if ever any one would have employed the imperial
bird as a model of cleverness for any man or beast except a beagle,
with which "eagle," of course, rhymes perfectly. Verses have also
been written containing more of the essence of poetry. However,
it is a vivid presentment of a good run, it is full of the zest of
sport, and it has genuine " local colour."

" The small crowded street," for example, is Bridge Street, and no
other in the world,^ and one can see the brake threading its way

' The Lane is also small. But it is aloof" and leisurely, and never thronged. Odi
profanum vulyas et arceo, said Horace, and had lie gone to Cambridge instead of
Athens would have loved and sung of Jesus Lane.

THE FOOT DEAG

33

through the medley to the music of a yard of tin, and so out to
Swavesey, or Willingham ; or best of all to Overcourt Ferry, where
we cross, brake and all, on a floating bridge or " grind," with its
quaint bits of chain, with a T-shaped handle at one end, and a disc at
the other for hauling on the hawser which warps the huge grind over,
and put up at Mrs. Hemington's pleasant inn. I once stayed there
for a term to read after I had taken my degree, and shot snipe and
fished for pike,^ and came in now and again to a coach, and to do
" Lab." work. But I am getting reminiscent and personal. Yet it
is to the point that the poem has made me so, and I maintain that
in spite of faults in technique it is good
descriptive stuff, and thus in some sense
at least literature. Now for the prose
from the Gladstone diary : —

" On Monday, November 15, met at
Bottisham Swan. Drawing on the left of
the Newmarket Eoad from the village,
we got a hare on foot, which took us over
the Wilbraham Eoad, where we lost her
after about twenty minutes' run. Drawing
again towards Bottisham, and crossing over
to the other side of the Newmarket Eoad,
we were some time in finding, and at last
as we were nearing Wilbraham a hare got
up in some turnips, and took us towards
Wilbraham, and then across the Wilbraham
road towards Bottisham, where after about
twenty minutes' run we lost her. After
this we drew till we went home. ~

" Scent was perfectly terrible. A most rotten, joyless day."

<5)(:a

Who does not know those days, and were they ever better
described ? The tedious repetition of the names of places and all
the boredom of the details of a run of days gone by help to rub
it in, " A most rotten, joyless day " ! And yet where there is

^ I once caught one. Experts get good sport.

34 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

never disappointment there is no sport. Good days are those which
exceed expectation, or they would not be good ; and the red letters
of the good days would not stand out in bold relief were there not
the deep black shadows of the rotten, joyless ones.

" Comparisons are odorous," as a general rule. Nevertheless, one
can never describe anything that happens at Cambridge without
the question arising, " How do they manage these things at Oxlbrd ? "
This topic of perennial interest descends even to the smallest matters,
and such material details as, for example, kitchen management. 1
remember once in my early youth, when I was making abortive
attempts to enter Woolwich, passing through Oxford on my way up
to town from my home in Herefordshire. It was Exeat Day as we
should call it, and swarms of undergraduates got into the carriage
and talked weird slang about " toggers " and other obscure mysteries.
I remember feeling on that occasion a sort of secret pride, and saying
to those undergraduates in my thoughts, " You are 'Varsity men, no
doubt, and that is a very fine thing to be, but I shall be an officer,
and wear a blue tunic and a helmet with a gold knob atop, and
spurs ; and I shall ride through my native county with my Battery
on the march, when we go to the Black Mountains for target
practice, while you will be mere civilians ! " That was an " odorous "
comparison, such as one is wise to keep to oneself, for the comfort of
one's secret self-conceit is apt to be spoiled by publication ; and the
world so seldom takes us at our own valuation. I, however, sacrifice
myself to history, and confess the consequent fall ! I also remember
in the midst of the pandemonium one of the undergraduates saying,
" I wonder how they manage at Cambridge on these occasions," and
my thinking, " Yes, of course, there is a place called Cambridge, and
it has a station with a platform, and somethiug of the same sort
must be going on there too." The thought was the more vague
because I " was Oxford," as schoolboys say, in those days. Why such
isolated and trivial events stand out so vividly from an otherwise
blurred memory 1 cannot say, but they do ; and this one is worth
preserving, because it shows how utterly different frora one's expecta-
tions actual life is. Who could have then dreamt that I should
have come to be a 'Varsity man and a civilian, and to make com-

THE FOOT DEAG 35

parisons (I hope, iuodorous) of beagling at the two Universities
with my intimate knowledge of the matter from the Cambridge side ?
In most matters, inter- University comparisons are less than
iuodorous: they are, from an almost exact correspondence, insipid.
Take rowing, for example. Exactly the same round of events recurs
every year on both the Isis and the Cam. The only differences
are that Oxford has barges and we boat-houses, that the tow-paths
are on diverse sides of the rivers, that our sisters, cousins, and
aunts have further to go, to Ditton Corner and the Pitt Lawn, to
see the summer races, and that we take our freshmen out in crock
eights, while the Oxford rowing authorities employ fours. Add to
this the hackneyed remark that Cambridge has nothing which
corresponds to " the High," and the fact that Oxford has no " Jesus
Lane" and a certain difference of "manner ";i and that is all the
difference there is till you come to beagling and field sports generally.
The root of the difference is made manifest in the tliree following
letters received in answer to my inquiries (for the inevitable com-
parison) as to beagling at Oxford.

Christ Church, Oxford,
Nov. 10, 1910.

Dear Sir — In answer to your letter, the Ch. Ch. Beagles are
confined to Christ Church. They are not exactly a subscription
pack, as they are supported by a grant out of the College Amalga-
mated Club subscription, i.e. one subscription to cover all College
games and sport, beagling, hockey, football, rowing, cricket, etc. The
Master and Whips are always House men. The Ch. Ch. is the
oldest of the three Oxford packs. The present pack was started in
1875. There had previously been a pack of beagles in 1859, which
had given way to a pack of harriers by 1866. The harriers were
given up by 1872, and the kennels were empty till 1875. In 1886

1 A witty description of the difference is ascribed to the late Dr. Mandell Creighton
as follows : "An Oxford man walks down the street as if the world belonged to him :
a Cambridge man as if he didn't care a damn who the world belonged to." A critic
laughs at this as I write. She say.s it is a "chestnut." But it is a good chestnut,
and must stand !

36 THE TBI NIT Y FOOT BEAGLES

the whole pack, with the exception of puppies at walk, had to be
destroyed owing to dumb madness. The standard was then raised
from 13 to 15 inclies.

We have now fifteen couple, with few exceptions stud-book
hounds. Our kennels are at Garsington, five miles from Oxford.
Our kennelman is Jim Clinkard, whose family have held the position
for many years. We hunt Tuesday, Tliursday, and Saturday— half
days ; i.e. we always leave Oxford at 1.15 p.m. wherever the meet.^

Our country is mostly South Oxfordshire, but we also have a few
meets in Bicester and Old Berks country.

The other two packs, as in your letter, are the New College and
Magdalen, and the Exeter.

I hope you will find this information sufficient, but I shall be
glad to let you know about anything else you need.— Yours sincerely,

(Signed) F. W. M. Cornwallis.

II

New College and Magdalen Beagles

blaster: 13 Broad Street, Oxford,

Lord Congleton. ^^"v. 18, 191L

Dear Sir— In reply to your letter, I have written the following
few remarks about our beagles. If you would like something fuller,
I can easily let you have it

The New College Beagles were started in 1896 by P. W. Nickalls :
they were supported entirely by members of the hunt and confined
to undergraduates of New College. In October 1897 H. E. Ward
took them over, and in January 1898 C. P. Nickalls (now Master of
the Springhill) became Master ; in 1899-1900, M. A. Sands ; 1900-1,
Hon. J. F. Trefusis ; 1901-2, Hon. H. L. Bruce. In 1902 it was
found that the Members of New College could not afford to run the
pack l)y themselves, and Magdalen College accepted the offer to join
with th(;m. From that time onwards the pack has been the joint
property of the two Colleges, and has been known as the " New
1 Looks as if thev never cut 12 o'clock lectures !

THE FOOT DEAG 37

College and Magdalen Beagles." A few outside followers from other
colleges have occasionally been allowed to join at a subscription of
£2 : 2s. per annum. In 1908, thanks to the efforts of the Master
(Mr. M. V. B. Hill) and many old members of the hunt, new kennels
were erected on a fine site at Camner, above Oxford, and hounds
were moved from the old kennels at Tilbury in October 1909. From
thenceforth the pack has steadily improved : hounds are a nice level
lot, just over 15 iuches. They hunt five days a fortnight (Wednesdays,
Saturdays, and alternate Mondays) round Oxford, in the South
Oxfordshire, Heythrop, and Old Berks countries. There is a very
fair proportion of grass in the country, and scent is usually good.
Hares are very strong even in the earlier part of the season. Twenty
to thirty followers is the average field. Most meets are within ten
miles of Oxford, and the field finds its way out by brake or motor. —
Yours truly,

(Signed) Congleton,

III

Exeter College, Oxford,
Nov. 13, 1911.

Dear Sir — I received your letter asking for information about
the beagles.

They are rather a scratch lot, and we run them on about £140 a
year. We hunt twice a week round Woodstock, and have about two
meets a season in Blenheim Park.

As a College pack our beagles have been going for about ten
years. AVe have had excellent sport this year, but in places it has
been spoilt by the great number of hares.

We seldom leave Oxford before 1 o'clock, and do not often get
more than three hours' hunting. We ask for a subscription from
Exeter men of 5s. to 10s. a term, and £1 a term from out-college
members. By this system we get nearly the whole College to sub-
scribe. If there is anything else I can tell you, please let me
know. — Yours truly,

(Signed) Hugh B. Hill.

38 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Here there is scope for reasonable comparison. The difference
lies in the relationship of field sports to College life, a difference
which cuts both ways ; also there are symptoms that at Oxford
more deference is paid to lectures.

At Exeter ^ almost every member of the College supports the
pack. To do so is as necessary a piece of College loyalty as to support
the Boat Club. At Christ Church the Beagles are on the " Amalga-
mation," and take rank among the College games. New College
maintains a pack at its own cost, and charges for five years, and then
admits Magdalen as a high contracting party to join forces with
them. I have further a dim idea that other colleges have from time
to time maintained packs of beagles, and especially that there was a
pack at Oriel in the seventies and early eighties.

That colleges should take a corporate interest in sport, which is
maintained for its own sake, as there can be no competitive tests
between colleges, is a fact to be envied : the weak point would seem
to be that it puts the sportsmen at other colleges who cannot afford
fox-hunting at a disadvantage, as two of the packs but grudgingly
admit out-college men to share their sport, and Christ Church excludes
them altogether : it would seem better for such to be able to hunt
with a pack which has no connection with any college than to mix
up in the affairs of a foundation other than their own. Again, the
maintenance of a pack of beagles in whose doings only a minority
will even take an active and understanding part, is an effort for so
small a community as an average-sized college, and available resources
are not used to the best advantage, that is, in the most economical
manner, in keeping up three separate establishments, when a single
institution able to put two alternate packs into the field and hunting
four days a week would provide as much sport for all who wanted to
see it. I note also that all three packs seem to gravitate towards
South Oxfordshire country, which may mean the inconvenience of
overlapping.^

However, the system which grows up naturally in any place is

^ E.xeter, as I since hear, is joining; forces witli Balliol.

^ A second letter from Mr. Coruwallis informs me that there is some overlapping
of country between the Christ Church and New College packs, but that the Exeter
country is quite isolated.

THE FOOT DRAG 39

probably that best suited to that place. A bird in the hand is worth
two in the bush, and a live dog is better than a dead lion, or for
that matter than one which may some day be begotten and born.
So also a system in actual existence is in spito of its drawbacks better
than an imaginary replica of one without those drawbacks, which you
see in working elsewhere : it is an ill business to swap horses in the
midst of a stream. The incorporation of love of sport into College
life is a most enviable trait of Oxford life, but it would be absurd for
us to attempt to imitate it. Our own tradition of independence and
self-support should never be sacrificed. Moreover at Oxford, as has
been said, they have no " Jesus Lane."

Here then is beagling at Cambridge as a going concern, free and
independent, well appointed and well organised on a basis of tradition
without red tape. We have a good pack of hounds well suited to the
country, well-built kennels, good strenuous sport, and Bob Floate as a
perpetual retainer, and a most agreeable network of dining societies.
How did it all begin ?

The actual origin of the Trinity Foot Beagles, like that of the
Universities themselves and the British Constitution, is "wrop in
mystery." This must be so, because all institutions that, like T.F.B.,
are sound and permanent have started from small and tentative
beginnings, and have so been able to grow to the actual conditions
by which they are surrounded. There is no flourish of trumpets,
and no records are kept, because those who are concerned with
humble beginnings have no idea that they are " making history."
Natural growth, moreover, allows for mistakes which can be turned
to profit as valuable experience. Those ventures, on the other hand,
which spring into being ready-made in an atmosphere of puff and
paragraphs are in great danger of coming to nothing. They are
much too " well thought out " to be adaptable. Trinity Foot Beagles,
therefore, being of the order of things that have " kinder growed," all
we can do is to observe the first visible signs of growth as recorded
in chance saved letters and the confused memories of " oldest
inhabitants," and from these, with the help of analogy and well-
tempered imagination, to reconstruct the past. Where shall we
begin ? With the first actual record ? With the evolution of

40 THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

hunting as we know it, and the point in its development at which
beagling sprang into being ? Or where ? What say you to motive ?
" I was always keen on hunting something," writes a beagler, J. S.
Carr-Ellison, who was Master of " T.F.B." in the eighties, and after-
wards for a time amateur Whip to a pack of North Country foxhounds.
The same was true of myself ; I am a hereditary Barbarian. My
earliest memories are of my father in a red coat. I still recollect him
coming in pink to see me at a Cheltenham dame school while he was
getting a day or two with the Cotswolds, and the smell of his cigar.
Then came my own pony, on which I rode with him to the meet, and
was afterwards chaperoned by his groom on covert hack for such
sight of the fun as was compatible with getting home in time for
nursery dinner. Then came " bad times," when there were no horses
or ponies, and I and some schoolboy neighbours used to follow the
hounds, North or South Herefordshire, on foot. Sometimes we
trained to the meet, but as often walked, and always came home
afoot, sometimes as much as ten miles. I did not see as much of the
sport as I should, for I am very near-sighted, and in those days the
fact was not discovered, so that I had no glasses, and all was a
blur; but still I was keen, and the taste for hunting was never
crowded out. Then good days came again, and I rode a horse and
was also given a single-barrel gun ; and, having proper glasses, could
see what I was doing. Then followed Cambridge days. Here I
knew no way of getting sport of any kind, so having always loved
and been used to boats of all kinds I took to rowing, consoling
myself with an occasional afternoon's hacking, and once with a
day's rook shooting. For the latter I forgathered with two home
friends, George Atlay (St. John's) and E. Harington (Clare). I
had, I remember, a great tussle with my boat captain ^ to get free to
go, and only did so on condition of getting back to go out in the
eight late in the afternoon. So Atlay and Harington went forward
in a trap with rifles, cartridges, luncheon, etc., and I followed after
on "jolly Jack nag," who was, by the way, the most ill-conditioned
screw I have ever ridden. Yet, brute as he was, I made him go to a

1 A strict Pliilistine. I remember him objecting to a man as an improrer person to
liold authority in the Gains Boat Club on the ground that lie kept a dog-cart ! ! !

THE FOOT DRAG 41

tune he little cared for, to get back in time for my river slavery. All
three of us afterwards became more or less " sporting parsons." Atlay
went out to the Universities' Mission in Central Africa, where,
needing a holiday, he w^ent off for a shooting expedition, and his
camp being rushed by some tribe on the warpath he was killed.
Hurried as the matter was, it is known that he deliberately did
nothing to defend himself, as his doing so would of course have
compromised the Message he went out to give. Harington became a
keen beagler, and is now a parish priest somewhere in our native
parts. My boat captain, by the way, clearly regarded my desire for
sport and my taking desperate measures with a horse to secure it as
neither sane nor proper, though he ate some of the rooks in a pie
afterwards. But we will return to rowing, as it leads by devious
courses, though you might not think it, back to beagling.

If you work your way into Park Street, whether from Eound
Church Street or Jesus Lane, you will find yourself on a well-worn
track which debouches on Jesus Green and Midsummer Common,
where it leads to the grinds, by which, if a rowing man, you cross
daily to your boat-house. In crossing the Common an isolated
block of mean buildings and little gardens, bordering the tow-path,
confronts you, enclosed by a whitewashed brick wall, on which is
inscribed in vast and once conspicuous letters

E. CALLABY, DOG FANCIER

The whole enclosure is, goodness knows why, called Fort St. George,
and is by the grind which takes you on to the Caius Boat-house and
to the Third Trinity, Magdalene, and other dressing-rooms. The
upper end of the enclosure is a public-house with a bowling-green.
The remainder was Mr. Callaby's premises, where dogs could be
bought or kept, where there was a rat-pit, and rats at sixpence a
head, on which you could try your terrier, and stalls in w^hich " tow-
path gees" could stand while waiting for the coaches who should
bestride them. In those days there were no bicycles and much
more (and worse) tow-path riding than is now the case. Some of us
rowing men would go in, while waiting about in sweaters and shorts

42

THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

to try our dogs. Mr. Callaby himself was quite a link with the past :
he wore a top hat, a wiiite spotted blue choker over a Gladstone
collar, a short black cut-away coat with side pockets, and tight-
fitting trousers. His dress was just that of " The
Fancy," in the days of Tom Sayers and the Benicia
Boy. He had very thick leather gloves for hand-
ling his rats. He was very old and skinny in the
eighties, and is now, of course, dead, and his establish-
ment broken up. Yet the big black letters of his
name and vocation are still on the wall just as they
were. The place carried one back to the coarser
days of the early Victorian and half- mythical
aquatic undergraduate, who was some sort of a
survival in amphibious guise of the athlete sports-
man of the Eoad and Regency days, and drank
and fought with bargees at riverside inns, and kept
fighting dogs. The type is caricatured in Verdant
Green. All this testifies to an innate desire in man
to hunt something somewhere, if it be only, as Lord
Randolph Churchill said, a rat in a barn. This
brings me to a necessary digression.

I had among my pupils a thoroughly nice little man who was
poor, belonged to a small college, and was in every way undis-
tinguished. He played Rugby football of a technically humble sort,
but was a countryman and at heart a sportsman, to whom hunting
or "killing somezing"^ was a necessity of life. To satisfy his
instincts he kept ferrets in the backyard of his lodging-house, and
secured facilities for ratting in farmers' stackyards. Somehow he
came to confide in me, told me of his ferrets, and consulted me as to
their health and care, and confessed to a desire for beagling, and
wished to know how to proceed. I told him, " You have only to go
out, and if you like it pay your subscription. You need not go

' The quotation is from tlie following yarn, a French criticism of the English
character : —

" In ze morning 'e get up and 'avc cold tol). 'K come down and 'avc rosbif for ze
breakfast. 'E go to ze vindow and 'e say, ' Mon Dieu ! 'tis a iine day ; let us kill
somezintr ! ' "

THE FOOT DEAG 43

when meets are far out and the early start will interfere with your
work [he was a medical student and had to work hard], but can
pick the near meets, when you can shp out on your bicycle a little
late if necessary." He never went, I suspect because he was a decent
fellow, sensitive and somewhat shy of introducing himself to a field
the major part of whom are a made-up party of fairly intimate
friends.

The point for the moment is that the sporting instinct will find
vent somewhere, and that undergraduates, whose opportunities of
sport are necessarily few, will, if they can do nothing else, at least
go ratting either in Mr. Callaby's and other like rat-pits, or in the
stackyards of the surrounding country. But where this is the case
there is always a desire for more reputable and legitimate sport,
which desire is exactly supplied by beagling. It is therefore a
remarkable coincidence that the wall which still bears the name of
" Callaby " should mark the site of the first identifiable kennels of
the Trinity Foot Beagles.

In this early stage they were not known as " T.F.B." or even as
" The Foot Beagles," and were just a " bobbery pack " —
Mongrel, pupjiy, whelp, and hound.

This was in the early sixties. But I had better give the original
documents.

ExTEACT OF Letter by Mr. W. W. Eouse Ball,
Fellow of Trinity College.

" I have been told by old members of the College that they
understood that a pack was kept by some Trinity undergraduates
in or about 1849, and was dispersed about 1855 or 1856. I have,
however, failed to get any precise information, and I cannot say if
this was so."

This contribution is valuable, as it corroborates other verbal
traditions of some sort of a pack of hounds having been kept for
hunting on foot, for many years before the days of W. E. Currey
and Mr. Courtney Tracey. The Farmer's Booh, whose heterogeneous

44 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

material has formed the chapter on Management, has a'continuous
list of Masters and Whips from 1870, and I have managed to fill up
the blank spaces before this as far back as to 1862. But spaces are
left for a Master and four Whips (should any beagler with antiquarian
tastes be able to disinter ancient documents) to such high and
far-off times as 1840, so that evidently some legend of the older
pack was preserved down to the time of J. S. Carr-Ellison (1888-89),
in whose hand the framework for records of those early days is
written. But the tradition is so vague, being nothing but nameless
hearsay, that there seems nothing for it but to accept defeat, and
start from the memories of the " Foot Drag,"' which begin after the
first interregnum in the early sixties.

Memorandum from Charles E. G. Hoare, Esq.,
of Newlands, Hatfield.

" To throw back nearly half a century with my notes of those
times long destroyed makes any information I can give you un-
trustworthy for accuracy, and I have no talent to make it amusing.

" The first beagles I knew of at Cambridge were some four or
five couple which my brother, E. G. Hoare, kept with old Callaby,
the dog-dealer, in 1864 and 1865. He used to run a drag, and,
except that he had two couple of blue mottled hounds, I cannot say
anything of them. In 1867 Mr. W. E. Currey, of Lismore Castle,
Ireland, then a young Don at Trinity, now, I am afraid, dead,
brought his pack over from Ireland, etc."

Here we must stop, as the rest of the Memorandum deals with
the pack hunted by " Pat " Currey, who was the founder of the
Beagles as at present existing, and whose times are dealt with in
the chapter next following. There was an interregnum of two or
three years between the Foot Drag and Currey.

A letter from Mr. Charles Hoare to his son, Mr. David Hoare, of
Barclay's Bank, Cambridge (a former Master of T.F.B.), throws more
light ou the subject.

THE FOOT DKAG 45

Letter

Newlands, Hatfield,
Dec. 18, 1910.

Dear David — I see they are preparing a history of the Cambridge
Beagles. I wonder if any one will remember your uncle, Eobert
Hoare, who had some five or six couples about 1863 to 1865, with
which he used to hunt a foot drag. Before that he used to have a few
couple of hounds whilst he was with a private tutor at Southreps, with
which he and a farmer named Wood used to pursue the Norfolk hares.

The pack which has gone on till now was originally brought to
Cambridge while I was up, I should say in 1867 or 1868, from
Ireland, by Currey, a Don at Trinity, commonly called " Pat " Currey.

I suppose you will hear all about the book, and you can make
use of this information if you like.

I remember some years ago a book came out on The Drag by, I

think, Pease, and, if I had known it, I could have given him the

tip on the start of that, as Harcourt Vernon, who was on the Eastern

Circuit, and used to dine or breakfast with me when the Assizes

were at Cambridge, told me about himself and A. C. Barclay, owner

afterwards of Bertram, going over and fetching the first hounds

from Bishop's Stortford in a cab, and their first run over Cottenham

Pastures, and the very lively dinner at Magdalene College the same

evening. — Yours affectionately,

Charles Hoare.

Another Letter

Newlands, Hatfield,
January 5, 1911.

Dear Sir— I have tried my memory to the utmost, but beyond
the very bald facts I am afraid I can do nothing. Of those whom I
can remember as running with Currey's hounds who are still alive are
r. W. Buxton, the present Lord Lawrence, and, I think, E. G. Bevan,
of Hemingford, St. Ives, Hunts, used to come with them. The
hounds got from Bishop's Stortford were a much older story.

46 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

[If the reader will refer to the previous letter he will find much
the same information, so that this letter would have been superfluous
did it not give one or two fresh details. I had mistaken the
narrative for an account of the arrival of an early pack of beagles at
Cambridge, through a careless reading of the text, and had written
to Mr. Hoare again in my thirst for further and fuller information. —
F. C. K.]

It was the foundation of " The Drag," a generation before my
time, and the dinner you mention at Magdalene College was after
their first drag, run over Cottenham Pastures, then all new double
post and rails. — Yours truly,

Chakles E. G. Hoaee.

Letter fiiom Mr. Courtney Tracey, M.O.H.

KiRKSTYLE, West End, Southampton,
December 12, 1910.

Dear Sir — In answer to your letter of November 30 (1910)
respecting the Trinity Beagles, I shall be very glad to give you any
particulars I can remember, but I kept no diary, and can only speak
from memory. You would help me much if you could let me know
when I left Trinity. I was there in 1862, and founded the pack, in
which I am still much interested. — Yours truly,

CouRTiNAY Tracey.

Another Letter

KiRKSTYLE, West End, Southampton,

Umlated.

Dear Sir — I am sorry I have been so long in answering your
letter of December 27 respecting the Trinity Foot Beagles. I
hoped to have found some notes on the subject, but have quite failed.

[Oh, these lost notes ! The burning of the Library at Alexantlria
and the destruction of mediaeval books at the " blessed Eeformation "
are as nothing to them. — F. C. K.]

When I started them my Whips were Bagnall, of St. Jolin's,
and Sir Henry Boy n ton, Bart., of Magdalene. There was a small

THE FOOT DEAG 47

meeting, at which we all subscribed a little money, and I collected
hounds where I could : some from my father, who kept a few couples
at Edenbridge in Kent, some I bought in London, some near Cam-
bridge, and some from an Oxford pack — I believe the Christ Church.^

We had no uniform, and hunted all round Cambridge, the
Observatory, Harston, Bottisham, and round Shelford. In summer
the pack was broken up amongst various frieuds. When I went
down I heard no more of the pack for some time, but they came down
to Mr. Muggridge one Christmas, and, owing to some misfortune, I was
written to and hunted them round Tunbridge Wells for a few weeks.

I did not even meet " Pat " Currey. I am enclosing the only
photograph I have of those days, so please return it. I have hunted
with many packs of beagles, but for the last twenty-two years have
been Master of a pack of Otter Hounds.— Yours very truly,

Courtney Tuacey.

Letter from Dr. Eenwick to T. Holland Hibbert

Long Framlington, E.S.O., Northumberland,
November 15, 1910.

Dear Holland Hibbert— I am afraid I have been rather long in
answering your letter ; and I don't know that I have much " valuable
information" to give you.

What was called " the Foot Drag " existed till (I think) Jan. 1864
Very little was known of them, and they were supposed to hunt a
drag; but I have reason to believe that they generally hunted hare, but
kept matters very quiet as they feared trouble with the farmers.

However this may be, it was, I am pretty sure, in Jan. '64 that
Tracey (now a Master of Otter Hounds) bought the pack and hunted
hares with them for the rest of the season, Bagnall whipping in to
him. There were only about five or six couple of hounds, and at the
end of the season Bagnall bought them from him and also got some
fresh hounds, and he hunted them the next season, Lloyd and

1 The earlier Clirist Church pack, which just about this time were turned into
harriers. Qy. Was it when the change was made that hounds were disposed of and
some bought for Cambridge ?

48 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

I whipping in to him. We used to meet at 1.45 or 2 p.m., and had
some very good fun, though we did not kill a great many hares. Our
principal meets were Station Bridge, Histon Observatory, Cherry
Hinton, and Coton so far as I remember. Once or twice we went
to Swaffham Prior and Combertou, and those days we met at 11 a.m.
and rode. After that season they were given up for certainly one or
two seasons; but somewhere about '67 or '68 Currey, a Fellow of
Trinity, brought a pack over from Ireland, but how long he kept
them I have no idea. It is rather a pity you had not gone to him
for information ; he lived in Cambridge, and only died last year.

I am afraid that is all the information I have for you.

I am glad to hear you have been having such good sport. . . .

Yours very truly,
(Signed) J. C. J. Fenwick.

Anothek Letter

Long Framlington, KS.O., Northumberland,
January 18, 1912.

Dear Sir — I don't know that I have much more information to
give you about T.F.B.

There was certainly an interregnum of one season (I think two)
between Bagnall's Mastership and Currey's ; possibly over three. After
leaving Cambridge, Bagnall went to live for a time in Northampton-
shire and was engaged, and I believe still is, in the iron trade. His
present address is Avishays, Chard, Somerset. He was, like myself
and Currey, an old Harrovian.

Lloyd was a Eugby man and was ordained soon after taking his
degree, and shortly after got the living of Abington, near Northampton,
which he resigned a few years afterwards, in order to take up a new
parish in Northampton with an immense accession of work and
practically no stipend. He also made a somewhat similar sacrifice
later in life to relieve an old clergyman. He had two other livino-s
during his time, and eventually retired, and died at Eastbourne. I
rather think his youngest son is a Fellow of King's, but I am not
sure.

THE FOOT DRAG 49

[His name does not appear in tlie Camlridye Review Eesidents'
List.— r. C. K.]

As regards myself, yes, I am a Northumbrian. I started practice
in London soon after graduating, and was for two and a half years
Medical Registrar at St. George's Hospital, when circumstances
induced me to return to the North, and I was for eighteen years
Physician to the Durham County Hospital, after which I gave up
practice and cam^e to live here.

My next dealings with T.F.B. were through my son, who was
a contemporary of Kenneth Walker, and I have always been glad to
see them, and give them a day or two on my ground, and I hope to
do so again. ^

I used to know Professor Jackson and Currey very well ; but I
cannot remember either of them coming out with the Beagles in my
time. Of course I had gone down some time before Currey brought
over his lot, but I once had a day with them when up at Cambridge
for some reason.

When Bagnall was Master the hounds were kennelled in a
yard belonging to a public-house at the Backs, just opposite the
Madingley Road end, probably the Merton Arms, I think in Tracey's
time at Callaby's.

I think I have answered all your questions as well as I can, and
I don't know of any further information that I can give you. —
Believe me, yours very truly, (Signed) J. C. J. Fenw^ck.

This letter gives a great deal of additional information, and is
especially useful in clearing up the problem of Bagnall's Mastersliip,
whose reply to inquiries is as follows : —

Letter

AVISHAYS, NEAIl ChaRD, SOMERSET,
March 5, 1912.

Dear Sir— My cousin, Fred Bagnall [of Little Shelford.— F. C. K.],
has forwarded me your letter asking for particulars relating to a little

^ This refers to the Reaveley visit in the latter part of the Long, which since
K. Walker's time has been an annual event.

50

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

pack of beagles which I kept at St. John's in 18G5. I had about six
couples, and we liunted hares. We could only get leave to go to a
few places, and could very seldom kill a hare.

Our record day was at S waff ham Prior, on a farm occupied by a
Mr. Watt, when we killed two hares, running each for about an hour.
We ran over part of Newmarket Heath with one hare. The hares
in those parts are very strong. We rode ponies that day. [The first
recorded Eiding Day. — F. 0. K.]

The beagles were a scratch lot, but there were some very good
ones among them. The puppies from one sold at high prices and
took a number of prizes. — I am, yours truly,

(Signed) H. H. Bagnall.

This letter, taken by itself, would give one to suppose that Mr.
Bagnall's was a private pack, having no connection with the Foot
Drag, especially as only hares were hunted. But
Dr. Fenwick's second letter makes the point clear
that this was the " Foot Drag." The number of
hounds further corresponds. This last is of im-
portance, as it will be seen in later chapters how
unreliable memory of events of thirty years past is,
and what extraordinarily conflicting statements one
receives concerning what is evidently the same
incident.

The affairs of this early time are, however,
simple and easily pieced together. A small scratch
pack was kept without much formality Ijy first
Robert Hoare, then Courtney Tracey, and finally
Bagnall, the series closing in 1865, and so leaving
an interregnum of one season, 1866-67, before the
present pack was started by Currey. But several
points are obscure. Was there an interregnum
between Hoare and Courtney Tracey, and were they
different packs? It is clear tliat Mr. Courtney
Tracey made a new start of some sort, and no reading of the docu-
ments can carry us any further, nor can their contributors be further

The Master of the
Foot Drag.

THE FOOT DEAG 51

importuued. We must, therefore, fain be content with what we
have got, which, by the way, clearly shows no connection with the
older legendary pack to which Mr. Eouse Ball alludes. That there
was such a pack is, however, suggested by the fact of there being
a corresponding pack at Christ Church at the same period. As I
have said, the two Universities have a most extraordinary faculty
for doing the same things at the same time, and in those days the
Eton Hunt already existed, and Old Etonians must have come up to
both places with a demand for University beagling.

At any rate we see that there were then, as always, those filled
with the " barbarous " love of hunting, and how from that motive
beagling arose and has since become organised, and that there are now
an increasing number of poor man's hunts all over the country. What
is bred in the bone must come out in tlie hoof.

'rc.v<

CHAPTER III

" PAT " CURIIEY

God rest you, merry gentleman !

Old Carol.

ITH the Mastership of W. E.
Currey the continuous his-
tory of The Foot Beagles,
as they were originally
called, begins, and there
are traces of the early
traditions of those days in
our present constitution.
Beaslincp had heretofore
been spasmodic, because
sport seems always to have
been provided by private
individuals who happened
to own packs of " little dogs,' and to bring them up to Cambridge.
The result of this, of course, was that, when the owner of the pack
went down, he as likely as not took his hounds with him, and unless
a successor with a pack could be found " the scheme fell through."
There was, for example, no beagling between 1855 and 1862, and
there was a second interregnum of one or two years before Mr.
Currey brought his pack up from Ireland. The vicious system, or
rather non-system, of private ownership still continued, but efforts
were made to secure continuity by purchasing the pack when
Currey gave up, and so the tradition arose that though each Master

52

PAT" CUEEEY

53

bought the pack from his predecessor, it was ahnost an unwritten
law that he would sell it to his successor and not take it away with
him when his term of office expired. The Master still owns the
hounds, but they are handed on from Master to Master without
payment, each being bound to hand on as many hounds as he
receives. There is still no committee and no formal guarantee. A
more constitutional system might in theory be better, but that which
we have works quite well ; and when no one man has been found

The Foot Beagles of the later Sixties.

ready to take the financial risks, the Mastership has been " in com-
mission."

The unique feature of the period with which we now have to do
is that Currey was not an undergraduate but a " Don " — a Master of
Arts and Fellow and Assistant Tutor of Trinity. Though, as I have
said, unique, Currey's connection with the Beagles is really only
another example of the truth that all the sport that is enjoyed at
Cambridge springs out of home trainiog and traditions. Of those of
us who have such traditions, very few become Dons of any kind, and

54 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

of these fewer still concern themselves with beagles.^ Currey was
true to type, but he was primus inter pares, on account not only of
his seniority, but also of his exceptional qualities of both intellect
and character. That such a man should have his place in our
history is a fact of which Cambridge Beaglers must always be proud.
"We have also to be grateful to his old and very distinguished friend
" The General," who is none other than Dr. Henry Jackson, Litt.D.,
O.M., and Eegius Professor of Greek, who has contributed a Memoir.
Professor Jackson is not himself a sportsman, and knew, as he said,
nothing of Currey 's abilities in that line. But in many ways the
information he gives is for that very reason the more valuable. We
know from other sources his capacities as a sportsman : Dr. Jackson
testifies to the manner of man he was. It is also a privilege to us
that it falls to our lot to preserve in permanent Ibrm the memory of
his life and character.

MEMOIK OF WILLIAM EDWARD CURREY
By Professor Henry Jackson, Litt.D., O.M.

I am asked to write something about William Edward Currey,
the Founder of the Trinity Foot Beagles. It is to me at once a
pain and a pleasure to comply ; for he and I were friends during forty-
eight years, and his memory is very dear to me. Of his management
of the pack I shall have little to tell ; for I was never a member of
the club.2 But I knew something of some of Currey's many interests,
and I appreciated his humour, his playfulness, and his charm.

Currey came to Trinity from Harrow in October 1859. I
remember well how one day in his freshman's year I saw him tugging
at an oar in a First Trinity Boat, and wondered who and what he
was. But it was not till November 1860, when he was beginning

^ A Cains Don, for e.xaiiiple, wlio is a (li.sliiiguislied classic, and who played Polo
for the 'Varsity, goes off quietly to the Shires for his hunting.

- Followers of the Beagles have never formed a chib or any sort of close 'corpora-
tion. Dr. Jackson's real meaning is, of course, clear, but it seems best to ajjpend a
note to avoid misunderstanding. Beagling friends have formed dining and other
sociable clubs, but — " that is another story."— F. C. K.

"PAT" CURKEY 55

his second year and I my third, that I met him at breakfast at
George Otto Trevelyan's. At Easter 1861, Currey was elected to a
scholarship; and thenceforward I played with him and I worked
with him during ten happy years. When I think of him as an
undergraduate and a bachelor, I am amazed at the multiplicity of
his occupations. He rowed : he ran with the Foot Drag : he hunted :
he was, I think, one of the first to join the newly established Eifle
Corps : he was a footballer before the Association game was invented
and played both the Harrow and the Eton Game: he acted, and
acted well, at the A.D.C. : he never neglected his music: he was
a member of two successive whist clubs which cared more for good
fellowship than for the niceties of the game: he was a member
of a tea club which had a joyous existence of a single term. There
were picnics up the river, at which he sang " The Widow Malone "
and "The Shannon Shore" with a delicate brogue, which added a
grace to the ditties of Lever and Thackeray. In the informal
debates which make so important a part in undergraduate life
Currey had a certain air of unreadiness ; I have heard him begin —
" Gad ! I don't know what to say ! " But he always had something
to say which was worth listening to, and his merry quips and dainty
Irishisms enlivened discussion, and often advanced it. The first
half of the sixties was for some of us a very good time, and " Pat,"
as we called him, did much to make it so.

With all these distractions, Currey meanwhile read classics
steadily and effectively, and Long Vacations spent with a few Harrow
friends in Scotland, Wales, or Ireland bore excellent fruit. He was
fourth, bracketed with the late Provost of King's, Augustus Austen
Leigh, in the first class of the Classical Tripos of 1863. He was
elected to a Trinity Fellowship in 1865, and held it till it lapsed in
1873. As an undergraduate he was supposed to be a good scholar,
but not a superlatively good one. Obviously he was not a professional
prize getter ; and no doubt his contemporaries took for granted that
a man so various could not be a distmguished specialist. I think
that they underrated him: but I think also that between his Bachelor's
Degree in 1863 and his Master's in 1866 his powers greatly developed
and matured. During these years he was taking private pupils, and

56 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

he may have found, as I did myself, that " the teacher listens and
learns with his class." Anyhow, when in December 1866 he and I
were appointed to be Assistant Tutors, and we began to discuss
together the details of our work, I found him a very remarkable
scliolar. In particular I delighted in the tact, insight, and judgment
which he brought to bear on all matters of interpretation. The four
years of our alliance as members of the classical staff of the College
were very pleasant to me, and they were not without result. Our
experience as "coaches" had taught us the value of translation
papers, both as exercises and as means of testing and directing the
students work ; so we immediately added translation papers to the
compositions supplied by the College. Our venture was completely
successful. For, whereas previously classical men had depended for
their training upon " coaches," and had regarded teaching given by
the College as a hindrance or a superfluity, within a year from our
appointment experience had shown that College Lectures could
provide for the reasonable needs of very nearly all the candidates for
the Classical Tripos.

During these years Currey continued to take part in some of his
undergraduate amusements, for it was characteristic of him that he
could combine several occupations, and do justice to all of them.
For example, when he was examining for the Classical Tripos, he
would fix a certain amount of work to be done in a certain number
of days, and, having saved a day upon his calculation, would joyfully
say to me, " General, to-morrow I shall pursue " : and here I may
note that he had quaint tricks of speech ; thus hunting was with him
" pursuing," and the beagles were " the little dogs." He still acted
at the A.D.C. He still sang songs at picnics at Haslingfield. He
still played wliist, not for love of the game, but out of sociabiHty :
and for the pleasure of his company whist players still forgave his
ignorance of " Cavendish " and " Clay."

It was, I think, in the first year of his Assistant Tutorship, 1867,
that he started the Foot Beagles.^ I knew little of the official

^ They were not at first nominally identified with Trinity, and one of the meet
cards of those days, contributed by Lord Ernest St. Maur, is headed simply The
Foot Beagles.— F. C. K.

"PAT" CUEEEY 57

doings of the pack : but sometimes when Currey took " the Httle
doo-s " for a walk, I went with him to the Merton Arms and accom-
panied him and them in staid procession along Queen's Road. I
believe that on one such occasion, when Dr. Percival Frost was
walking up the avenue into Clare with his specially privileged dog,
the pack shocked the College porter ^ by giving chase and bolting
through the College into the street. I liked to see on the screens a
notice signed by Carrey as Master of the Beagles side by side with
another signed by him in his capacity as Assistant Tutor; and I
remember how once, when I followed him into the lecture-room, I
found on the desk a notice of a meet which had dropped out of his
note-book. At that time nothing did more than Currey 's Mastership
of the Beagles to bring don and undergraduate into closer and
healthier relations. When, as sometimes happened, Currey was laid
up with gout, his place as Master of the Beagles was taken by his
faithful friend J. F. Muggeridge, familiarly known to some of us as
" the henchman."

I fear that we sometimes shocked traditional proprieties. The
then Vice-Master of Trinity once said to me,^ " I believe that I
passed you in the street to-day ; I never recognise any one who
wears a billy-cock hat": and I fancy that Currey disliked the
traditional tall hat as much as I did, and came under the like
condemnation. Possibly some may have been disturbed when, in
Hall, instead of saying stiffly, " The pleasure of a glass of wine with
you," he called out to me across the table, " General, let's liquor 1 "
Charles Astor Bristed, in his Five Years at an English University,
an admirable picture of Cambridge in the early forties, reckons
" irony," that is to say, self-depreciation, as a marked characteristic of
Cambridge. Currey was eminently ironical in this sense of the term.
But unluckily Cambridge men do not always understand Cambridge
irony, and I remember an instance in which Currey 's irony was
gravely misapprehended. A College tutor once told me that he

1 Later they shocked the Master in person by following a hunted liai'e into the
Clare Court (see p. 80). It is interesting to note that Clare has had the same
Master as now since before even the Foot Drag began. — F. C. K.

2 If he was shocked at "bowlers," what in the world would he have said of some
of the hatless and dishevelled "scallywags " of these latter days ? — F. C. K.

58 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

never sent his pupils to Currey's lectures because he had been told of
a saying of his, " I know nothing of Cicero's letters, but I suppose
tliat, with a good stout crib, and a fortnight's start, I can teach the
men something." The pupils were the losers: Currey was an
excellent lecturer, he made a careful preparation of his lectures, and
he had a " start " which was not to be measured by weeks or months
or years. And I can imagine that some who did not know him may
have misunderstood his subtle dictum that "the gentleman is one
who behaves as such when he is drunk."

It is said that " no one is a hero to his valet de chamhre " : but
Currey was idolised by his servants and the servants of his friends.
They would do anything for him. His bedmaker said of him, " Mr.
Currey must not marry : he will never find any one sufficiently easy-
going ! "

Early in 1870 it became plain to me that, though he continued to
do his College duties as well as ever, he was becoming restless ; and
I was not surprised when, in the autumn of that year, he applied for
and obtained an Inspectorship of Schools. I know very little directly
about his work during the next thirty years, but it was easy to see
that he was deeply interested in it, and in the people with whom
it V)rought him into contact; and I can have no doubt that they
in their turn, like every one else, were attracted by his gracious
personality. When his services in the Education Department ended,
the presentations made to him and to Mrs. Currey at a meeting
presided over by his old friend and pupil Mr. Walter Durnford, then
Mayor of Cambridge, testified to the regard which his subordinates
felt for him.

During the years of his Inspectorship of Schools he still found
time for music, sketching in water-colours, and books. In one of his
districts the railway porters knew him as "the gentleman who
fiddles," because he was in the habit of having himself locked up in
a compartment, that he might practise on his 'cello. His studies
during this period were various. He took up again Arabic, which he
had begun during an expedition on the Nile, in the middle of the
sixties. Erom Arabic he proceeded to Hebrew. Once, when he had
temporary work at Cambridge, I found liim in one of the liln-aries

"PAT" CUKEEY 59

studying the Arabic of Palmyrene inscriptions. From time to time
he returned to the Greek and Latin classics. He often spent his
vacations on the Continent, choosing places where he would find good
music and good pictures : and in this way he acquired a very com-
petent knowledge of the most important modern languages. Once,
in the Engadine, he attacked Eomansch.

His esthetic and literary interests were methodically and
seriously cultivated. But he did not talk much about them, and he
had no inclination to write. Once I persuaded him to join me in a
little note published in the Journal of Philology ; and I think that he
printed in the same periodical a Greek inscription which he had seen
in the course of his travels. I have always admired the ease and
simplicity of the compositions and versions which he contributed to
a volume of Translations from and into Greek and Latin, planned by
us in 1868, and brought out by us in company with Sir Eichard Jebb
in 1878. I believe that this is the sum total of Currey's literary
output. He read because he liked to learn : but, if I may use his
bedmaker's phrase, he was "too easy-going" to be a maker of
literature.

For some years he was Chief Inspector in charge of the East
Anglian District, living, first at Colchester, afterwards, on the death
of F. W. H. Myers, at Cambridge. I think that his promotion, and
the special responsibilities which it carried with it, pleased him ; and
I know that he was glad when Cambridge became once more his
home. He Uked his opportunities of meeting old friends, of frequent-
ing libraries, and of associating with musicians. About a year before
his retirement he had a very serious illness, from which he never
altogether recovered. He spent the winter of 1907-8 in Guernsey,
where he had a cottage. His intention had been to return to
Cambridge in the spring : but the alarming illness of his wife and the
operation which she underwent compelled him to prolong his stay
till far on in the summer of 1908. In the autumn he was in poor
health. Then, when he was convalescent, Mrs. Currey's health gave
way. His last illness was short, and he died at his house in Mill
Eoad on the 3rd of December 1908.

I doubt whether any one could convey to those who did not

60 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

know him any notion of Currey's fascinating and elusive personality.
I know well that I cannot. He was affectionate, lovable, chivalrous,
a very delightful companion, and a very true friend. H. J.

In the above Dr. Jackson has, as he says, drawn very largely on
a Memoir written by him for the Camhridge Beview. The following
letter, which accompanied it, is valuable as preserving several extra
touches : —

Trinity College, Cambridge,
June 16, 1911.

Dear Mk. Kempson — Here is the MS. And now I have some
requests to make.

(1) Please acknowledge.^

(2) Please send me any criticisms and suggestions.- You will
understand that I want to do this little notice as well as I can. For
it will be the only record of a quietly remarkable man. The sad
thing is that, though there are men alive who knew Currey before
1865, such as H. Yates Thompson, Belper, and Cobham, the men
with whom he and I lived in College during the years 1865-70,
J. H. Swaiuson, A. J. Butler, W. P. Crawley, and J. W. Clark, are
dead ; so that a great deal of what I write appeals to no one.^

(3) When you print, please return my MS., and send me more
proofs than one. I want to have at any rate one spare proof which I
can show to my wife, who knew and appreciated " Pat." Also I am
fastidious : and, though I have done my best to get the MS. into final
form, I can never be sure that I shall not see something which can
be mended.

I am very grateful to you for giving me an opportunity of saying
something about the friend who used to sign his letters,
" Yours, world without end, Pat."

Yours very truly,
(Signed) Henry Jackson.

1 Done !— F. C. K.

^ None seemed necessavy, so I sent none. — F. C. K.

^ This is "Cambridge irony," and no one will agree with it ! — F. C. K.

"PAT" CUEEEY 61

Finding that the Vice-Provost of King's, Mr. Walter Durnford,
had been one of Currey's pupils, I sent him Professor Jackson's
Memoir, asking if he could add anything from his own recollection,
and received the reply following : —

Letter from Mr. W. Durnford, Vice-Provost of King's College

King's College, Cambridge,
Feb. 22, 1912.

Dear Mr. Kempson — I really do not think that I can add any-
thing to Professor Jackson's reminiscences of " Pat " Currey which
you sent me, and which I have returned, as you requested, to the
Professor.

I coached with W. E. Currey for the Classical Tripos, I think in
1867, and got to know him well in that way. I came to him from
Henry Jackson, who gave up his private pupils, I fancy, on being
appointed Examiner for the Classical Tripos. Currey was a delightful
teacher, perhaps rather too easy-going for the ordinary under-
graduate, especially for one who had been under the sterner rule of
Professor Jackson. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with him as a
pupil, A little later I saw a good deal of him when we were both
acting at the "A.D.C." in a burlesque called Atalanta, when
" Pat " Currey played the part of " O'rion," got up as a stage Irish-
man, and sang Irish songs in a magnificent brogue.

I left Cambridge in 1870, and when I returned in 1899 was

delighted to find my old friend established there as H.M.'s Senior

Inspector for the Eastern Counties. His health was then frail, and

his official career was nearing its end ; but his humour, his patience,

and his incorrigible cheerfulness still survived. — Believe me, yours

sincerely,

(Signed) W. Durnford.

Currey's easy-going " undonnish " qualities seem to me to be
quite true to type. Those who come of agrarian and sporting stock,
and are brouglit up on such traditions, never conform altogether and
con amove, whether as undergraduates or as seniors, to the conventions
of academic life.

62 THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

In an interview with Dr. Jackson I saw one of Carrey's water-
colours, which was amateur work of the best kind. I also learned
that, when Currey was inspecting schools somewhere in the Shires,
he made many of his journeys on horseback, and sometimes was
able to coml)ine the inspection of a school and a day with the
hounds.

Mr. Charles E. G. Hoare, of Xewlands, Hatfield, helps us out with
some records of Currey 's hunting : —

"In 1867 Mr. W. E. Currey, of Lismore Castle, Ireland, then a
young Don at Trinity, now I am afraid dead, brought his pack over
from Ireland. I am afraid I can give little information as to the
hounds. These were certainly larger than those I had been used to
run with — Mr. Tanqueray's, of Heudon, which he got from Mr.
Honeywood, of Mark's Hall, Coggeshall, and are the subject of a
well-known print, 'The Merry Beaglers,' in which the Messrs.
Honeywood and a friend, Mr. Phellips, are depicted — and I should
say smaller than the Trinity Beagles when I saw them some years
ago. They would not, I fancy, be much thought of in these days of
Hound Shows, but they were a useful, hard-working lot of little
hounds, and Currey left them a great deal to themselves. He used
to ride an extraordinarily clever cob of about 14-2 or 3, a marvel over
fen ditches or anything else. Mr. Currey was a very kind and
genial Irishman, a good horseman, and, I should say, a very good
hare hunter, and I never remember him taking advantage of his
field, who were toiling on foot."

Scholar, sportsman, artist, humorist, good comrade, and, of
course, gentleman, I do not think any of those who belong to the
historically obscure Foot Drag days can feel unfairly passed over if
we treat their times as tentative and experimental, and, especially
as there was an interregnum, grant to Currey the title of Founder.
His position, as I have said, is unique, and that will be our best
method of expressing the fact. Professor Jackson, moreover, though
he disclaims all knowledge of sport, tells us more of our Founder as
a sportsman than he himself realises. An Assistant Tutor who takes
his duties seriously has, as is clearly shown, plenty of work to do,
and Currey had his literary and artistic hobbies as well ; and that in

"PAT" CURREY 63

spite of all this he should have made time to hunt, shows of itself
what a true sportsman he was : and he has earned the gratitude of
every beagler in that he gave of his hard-won hunting time to
showing sport to undergraduates. It is of course true that for Dons
as for undergraduates beagling has this advantage over fox-hunting,
that it does not monopolise a whole day. But a Don can manipulate
his time so as to get a day a week free, and on that day to hunt, so
that this in no way detracts from our debt.

The memory of Muggeridge, the " henchman," is also valuable.
He also is dead, and we have few records of him except one letter,
re the carrying on of the pack wlien Currey gave up, which is repro-
duced later. It shows something of the intimacy and affection wdiich
can exist between Dons and undergraduates who are alike sportsmen
and have the same home tradition. Among such, difference of age
counts for little. The relationship was of course made easier by two
facts — one fundamental, the other accidental. The one is, that no-
where can I find auy trace of our annals having been soiled with the
doings of the low-caste "sporting man." The other is, that the
Fellow-Commoner still survived. He was the University equivalent
of the parlour-ljoarder of the private schools of Thackeray's time,
who paid double for everything, and dined at High Table. We
may laugh at the arrangement now as a sort of snobbish molly-
coddling, but the position must certainly have helped to bridge
the chasm between seniors and juniors. These fine gentlemen, teste
Lord Ernest St. Maur, used to come out with the Beagles, but not
regularly.

I append here Lord Ernest St. Maur's recollections of the sport of
the period. Old runs are recorded, but the record of each is of com-
mendable brevity, and in bulk they give a good picture of the
average sport of that day, which differs very little from sport now
except that in those days there were fewer meets, and those, with
few exceptions, within walking distance of Cambridge. Also the
unwritten law that beagles must be hunted afoot was not then
observed. It must be remembered that beagling as we know it —
that is, as an organised su])scription sport — is of recent development ;
in the earlier days it was as private and personal as shooting.

64 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Kecokds of the " Foot Beagles " preserved by
Lord Ernest St. Maur, Trinity Hall

Burton Hall, Loughborough, Jan. 1911.

So7ne account of the Foot Beagles at Cambridge, collected from
my Diary, 1869-70.

Having hunted a pack of fourteen-inch foot beagles while at a
Private Tutor's in Wiltshire, between the time of leaving Harrow
and entering at Trinity Hall, it was only natural that I should
become a follower of the pack known as the (Trinity) Foot Beagles,
then belonging to " Pat " Currey (W. E. Currey, M.A., Assistant Tutor
of Trinity College, 4th Classic 1863, a Fellow 1865, and one of
H.M. Inspectors of Schools sul)sequently). " Pat " Currey, as he was
called by his friends, was a strongly built, line-looking man, with a
beard, and good features, about 5 ft. 11 in., as far as I can recall him
to my mind, as I never saw him after leaving Cambridge. During
the vacation he took the pack of beagles over to Ireland, his father
living at Lismore Castle, as agent for the Duke of Devonshire.
Currey had been at Mr. Pvendall's, of Harrow, before coming up to
Cambridge.

It was on Feb. 16, 1869, that I first went out with the "Foot
Beagles." I have some of the cards of the meets still, and I notice
that was the name of the pack in those days. There was no uniform

4^^^

From T.PM3.C. Hook.

for Huntsman or Whips, and the hounds were then kennelled at the
Merton Arms Inn, then on the outskirts of the town. The pack con-
sisted of about 18 couple of hounds, average height about 15 inches,
or rather more ; they had a good deal of colour, about three or four
couple being black and tan. The first day I was out a farmer

" PAT " CUEEEY 65

objected to us hunting over his laud, and we stopped the hounds,
but soou found another hare, which ran for an hour and then took to
the railway, and hounds were whipped off. On ¥eh. 20 I see we
killed the first hare very soon, and again the second hare ran the
railway line, and hounds were stopped on a train approach in o- ; we
met on the Fulbourne Eoad that day. We seem to have had a
blank day on Feb. 23 at Swavesey.

On March 3 we met at Waterbeach, 9 couple of liounds inside an
old coach, and 14 people outside. We do not seem to have had
much sport, but several of us found the fen dykes both wide and
deep.

On March 11, met at Comberton. Unfortunately the drao--
hounds crossed us, and the beagles got on the drag and ran it heel-
ways. Currey, being mounted on his cob, was able after some time
to stop them.

March 13, met at Fulbourne Station and ran for 2 hours and
10 minutes, crossing the old disused railway cutting, and lost our
hare. This is one of the few railways that was constructed and then
disused ; the sleepers and rails, I understood, were taken up, and sent
out to the Crimea for use of the allied forces during the war. We
had, I notice, 30 people out that day running with the beagles ; a cap
was taken, I believe one shilling a head, unless one was a subscriber
of £1. About this time I remember Charles Dickens came to
Cambridge and gave a reading from one of his novels. His son,
H. F. Dickens, now a K.C., was then an undergraduate at Trinity
Hall.

I see on May 12, 1869, I went to the opening service of the 7iew
clia'pel, St. John's College.

I met the beagles on Oct. 22, at Barton Tollbar; ran all about
there, over Coton Hill, for 2 hours and 15 minutes, but did not
kill.

On Oct. 25, 1869, met the beagles at the second milestone, Ely
Eoad ; drew a long time without finding, then found a fox, which we
hunted some time. He went to ground several times in drains, but
the beagles could get through too, and bolted him more than once.
We nearly caught him at last, but stopped, the hound being in the

F

66 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Cambridgeshire Hunt country. We then found a hare, and after
running her 1 hour and 30 minutes, whipped off in the dark.

On Oct. 30, met Currey and the beagles at Coton, Charlie
Thompson riding, as he was lame ; found a hare on the hill, ran
slowly for over an hour with a very poor scent and killed ; only two
other men out with us.

On Nov. 6, met Currey and Thompson witli the beagles at Merton
Arms, drew at Histon ; found and ran our hare fast at first, then
very slowly, and she laid up ; after some time managed to put her
up again, and ran into her in a hundred yards ; time from find to
kill, 55 minutes.

Nov. 9, met the beagles at Barton, ran for 25 minutes and killed.
Found again, ran fast for 50 minutes and whipped off in small
covert at Coton.

Nov. 16, met beagles at Hardwicke ; drew for a long time without
finding, but eventually finding, we ran for 50 minutes, and killed at
Barton. Thompson was hunting the hounds on a pony, Muggeridge
junior whipped in to him.

Nov. 18, met the beagles at Coton ; did not find till 4 p.m., then
ran for about 15 minutes and lost.

Nov. 20, found at Histon in some asparagus beds ; ran several
rings round there, then nearly into Chesterton, and whipped off in
the dark ; after running about 2 hours, on a bad scent, she laid up
several times.

Nov. 25, met the beagles at Swavesey ; after a long draw, found
a hare, ran to Longstanton very fast, but had to whip oft', as we got
among a lot of fresh hares. Walked home.

Nov. 30, met the beagles at Fulbourne Station; only Currey and
four of us turned out ; did not find ; walked home.

During the Christmas vacation I took my old pack, the Lydiard
Beagles, and had good sport with tliem in the Pewsey Vale, Wiltshire,
thus keeping in good running condition.

Feb. 8, 1870, met the beagles at Fulbourne Station, Charlie
Thompson hunting them; only W. H. Kodwell, H. C. Howard, of
Trinity, and Alexander, who after helped me to whip in, were out.
Found at once ; ran very slowly at first, then getting a view at her

"PAT" CUEREY

67

ran very fast for 40 minutes, when hounds suddenly checked and we
lost her.

Feb. 24, had a blank day with the Beagles at Fulbourne.

Too MANY Hares.
This drawing refers to a day at Caxton Gibbet in the spring of 1907 when there were "Swarms of
hares. No scent. Blowing a gale. Hounds could do nothing. Whoo-oop for the leveret ! " But it
is typical, and with the poor little leveret on the gibbet, symbolical of all such days. From T.F.B.C.
Book.

Feb. 26, met beagles at second milestone, Ely Eoad, Got our first
hare very soon. Found again, ran two rings, then up the railway
line to Histon Station ; shot back again and lost, after 1 hour 45

y?rr^^dcT^x=: r- "^ToU

From T.F.B.C. Book.

minutes; a bad scent; H. C. Howard and Stafford Howard, C.
Thompson, Alexander out, and six others.

March 1, took the beagles from the kennels with Currey to Coton,

G8

THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

but unfortunately got on the drag scent ; ran straight to Lord's Bridge
Station, then lost many of the beagles ; some came home by them-
selves later on, and some went with the drag to Granchester.

March 2, Thompson and I took the beagles to Coton, no one else
out ; ran for over an hour and lost. Very hot day, ground very heavy.

March 3, beagles met at Comberton, a riding day ; ran well for
50 minutes and killed.

March 5, met the beagles at Swavesey ; C. Thompson, H. C.
Howard, and liis brother Stafford Howard the only others out.

A Riding Day.

By Miss Barges.

Found a hare, ran fast for some tiuie ; hare laid up three times ; she
was put up again, and a greyhound coursed and killed her after
1 hour and 10 minutes; a lot of roughs out, which quite spoiled
our sport.

March 10, met the beagles at Fulbourne Station. Mr. Payne, the
farmer, found us a hare close to the line ; she ran down to the large
dyke, crossed it, and then back to the station across the bridge, over
the dyke, and then up into the open country ; then down the hill to
Mr. Townley's,^ where fresh hares getting up. Thompson, who was

1 Now dead. Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire.

"PAT" CUEEEY 69

riding, ^Yhipped off the hounds after running 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Lord Arthur Butler, Henry and Stafford Howard, Alexander and
March all out.

March 12, met at Coton ; could not find a hare.

March 14, met at Histon Station ; found at once in an orchard,
ran two rings, then across the park and gardens, and killed after 40
minutes. Found again just outside the park, ran several rings, and
kept recrossing the railway line ; then away to the Ely Eoad and
beyond Histon, where we viewed her one field ahead of hounds,
when she was at a drain and probably went to ground, after 1 hour
and 50 minutes.

March 18, met the beagles at Fulbourne Station ; found on the
grass common, ran two rings, crossing the road several times ; she
laid up in some cabbages, and putting her up the hounds ran into
her ; time, 1 hour 30 minutes. Found again, and after running again
for an hour and a half stopped hounds in Mr. Townley's coverts.
Mr. Townley was riding with us, and entertained us after the hunt.

March 24, met at Barton Tollbar, a riding day ; found 2 hares,
and killed them both.

March 30, met beagles at Granchester, a riding day ; we found
very soon, running pretty fast now and then, but the ground w^as
hard and dry, and we did not kill.

Nov. 2, 1870, met at Barton Tollbar; Currey was hunting the
pack, about 20 men out ; found after drawing for an hour, at the
bottom of the hill ; ran quite straight for 20 minutes towards
Hardwicke, then turned and came back to where we found ; viewed
her, raced her up to the top of the hill and killed her after a fast
45 minutes, without a check, and without her once laying up.

Nov. 11, met at Fulbourne; found, and ran for 25 minutes and
lost ; found again, but could not do much ; snowed a little.

Nov. 16, a riding day; found a hare at Newton, ran very
prettily for 1 hour and 15 minutes, and lost in Colonel Wales'
coverts ; about 20 of us were out.

I did not hunt with the Foot Beagles again, till they were
brought into Leicestershire by Mr. Edmund Paget during the
vacation. Our relations with the farmers round Cambridge were

70 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

friendly, and they were glad to see us on their farms, though in
these days we liad no farmers' dinners or other festivities by way of
making any return to them for their hospitality to us.

We appear to have generally hunted with the beagles two or
three days a week, but in March 1870 they seem to have been out
four days out of five.

When we had one man mounted it seemed a great assistance, as
he could watch the hare running the roads, which they often did,
and could stop hounds if a fresh hare got up in view.

The time of the meets was 1.30 or 2 o'clock — and of course a hare
is much more difficult to kill at that time than if she is hunted at
an earlier hour.

We seldom had any opposition to our hunting, by farmers or
others. Once, I remember, in the fen we had been running some
time, and our hare was about close, and squatted ; some rough fen
men joined in, and one of them sent his lurcher after the hare.
This roused the anger of the beaglers, and I remember one of the
undergraduates hurled a large stone at the dog with great precision,
and knocked it over. The owner was furious, and we expected a
fight. The stone-thrower told the man he was no sportsman, and
to go home with his d — d dog. The fen man then told us we were
all trespassers, and he should summon us. And it really did
transpire that the land belonged to him — anyhow, that one field
did. This shows that sportsmen should be rather particular when
hunting in a neighbourhood where one does not know tlie boundaries
of the farms, or the owners of land by sight. We, however, heard
no more about being summoned.

Here follow some observations from the same contributor, on
the habits of hares when hunted : —

"It is curious how hares vary in their habits, according to their
surroundings, and in the manner of evading pursuit. In a bank
and ditch country like Essex I have known a hare in front of
beagles run the ditch round three sides of a field to avoid being
seen. I was on another occasion hunting beagles in a country
where hares were coursed, and on the hounds coming to a shed I

" PAT " CUREEY 71

cast round in every direction without being able to hit off the line.
I discovered one hound was missing, and at last saw her come out
of a ditch. I went to her and found she had been digging at a
rabbit hole. I got a spade, and on digging down nearly a yard
found the hare, which we had been running over an hour. The
farmer told me that the hares there were perpetually being coursed
by greyhounds and lurchers, and often went into drains, under
gateways, and into holes. We often see questions in The Field
newspaper about hares swimming. This they will often do when
hunted, crossing canals and rivers, but they will also do it when
not hunted. I was standing on a canal bridge over the Kennet
and Avon Canal in Wiltshire (which is a very wide canal) one
summer's evening about 8 o'clock, when I saw a hare canter down
to the canal bank and swim across, without anything being in
pursuit of her ; and she appeared to be in the habit of thus crossing
the water, so quietly did she do it."

The following is from Archdeacon Scott, of Tunbridge Wells : —
" On Dec. 10, 1868, I remember a run from Fulbourne. Starting
near the Asylum we ran to the Gogs, and got into the Duke of
Leeds' park. There appeared to be hares by the dozen, and the
dogs got scattered in all directions, keepers swearing at us frantically.
We began to think we should never get our bow-wows again."

Here are some further "remains" gathered out of letters, line
upon line ; here a little, and there a little : —

" Currey was busy examining sometimes and doing other College
work, so that I whipped in more often to Charlie Thompson.
Thompson sometimes rode a clever white cob, and perhaps Currey
rode the same, but I cannot remember this distinctly now, though
1 remember to have seen him riding, as he sometimes came out late
and joined us while hunting. He and Thompson often rode home
to kennels with the pack after hunting, so as to be in time for Hall,
which they would have been late for if going home on foot. This
appeared to me rather hard on the hounds after a hard day's
hunting in that heavy plough country." — Loud E. St. Maur.

72 THE TETNITY FOOT BEAGLES

" H. E. Gordon, the 'Varsity cox (" Son " Gordon we used to call
him), was one of the Whips. This was in the winter of 1868-69." —
Archdeacon Scott.

There is another note which shows that in earlier days under-
graduates were less narrow and specialised in their sporting and
athletic sympathies. Many of the men who row must also be fond of
sport, and some of them sometimes have some spare days; one wonders
more of them do not put in such time with T.F.B. J. B. Close used
to be " at home " to beaglers and boaters on Sunday afternoons when
he lived at Little Shelford {vide Chapter X.).

From Archdeacon Scott, J. S. Snelgrove, of Kingswood, Tunbridge
Wells, has gathered some scraps of information.

The Archdeacon really knew nothing about hounds or hunting at
the time, but was asked to come out sometimes and bring a whip,
which he did, being always ready (jis he still is) for anything going
in the way of games or sport, if he has the time. Mr. Snelgrove
doubts if the hunting at that date were very scientific or much
organised. The Archdeacon is, he says, a very jovial person still, but
seems to have got out of touch with things. He did endeavour to
open up what Jorrocks calls the " bonded ware'ouse of his knowledge,"
and has told us in writing that

" One day the hounds met "

and that is all. " He was afraid," says Mr. Snelgrove, " even if he
wrote anything, lest some critical eye of his own time might see it
and say, ' What does he mean by writing this rot of what he knows
nothing about ? ' So we must be content with knowing that one
day undated the hounds really did meet."

This chapter must close with statistics furnished l)y Lord E.
St. Maur, who has been one of our kindest and most persevering
contributors.

" TAT " CUREEY 73

Letter

Burton Hall, Loughborough,
January 1911.

Dear ]\Ir. Kempson — I have found a list of the Foot Beagles, also
a letter ^ written by Muggeridge to my old friend Harry Duberly,
who frequently came out with the beagles, which shows that " Pat "
Currey offered to sell the pack in the autumn of 1869 to the
followers of the beagles at Cambridge ; but he eventually kept them
and brought them back to Cambridge. I enclose also one of the old
cards of the meets. The "cap," which I remember was collected
at the meets, was, about 1870, done away with, I think, and a
subscription of £1 a term substituted.

Did the brothers Henry and Stafford Howard buy the pack from
" Pat " Currey, and has that same pack been handed on as the Trinity
Beagles to the present time ?

Yours sincerely,
(Signed) Ernest St. Maur.

As to the question in the above letter, I may say in advance that
hounds seem to have passed from hand to hand always by sale till
Lord Milton's time. The continuity of the pack is the problem of
the chapter following, and is somewhat obscure.

THE FOOT BEAGLES

1869-70

3Iaster.
W, E. Currey, M.A.

Huntsman.
C. M. Meysey Thompson.

JFhips.
J. F. Muggeridge.
Lord E. St. Maur.

1 Held over till the next chapter.

74

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Followers.

Hon. E. T. St. John.

H. H. Bouverie.

Timons.

Mnggeridge.

W. H. Kodwell.

H. C. Howard.

E. Stafford Howard.

Everard.

Alexander.

Bussell.

Butler.

Darwin.

Lord Arthur Butler.

Marshall.

Walford.

Hounds (12 couples).

Barmaid.

Gamecock.

Bashful.

Gaylass.

Bloomer.

Gladsome.

Buxom.

Goneaway.

Countess.

Governess.

Cruiser.

Gravity.

Flourisher.

Harbinger.

Gambler.

Hasty.

Browne.

(^Mostly Trinity)

H. Duberly, jun.
Royds.
Forth.
Nankiwell.
J. S. Kane.
J. Newbold.

{Trinity Hall)

H. W. Blunt.

{Pembroke)

And others I cannot remember,

Hemlock.

Honeybee.

Melody.

Milliner.

Noble.

Ruby.

Silver.

Vocal.

<

<^ U^

CHAPTER IV

THE A NCI EN REGIME

Now from the Merton Arms drew out
Their chequered bauds, the joyous rout.

Adapted from Sir JF. Scott.

HE present chapter opens naturally
with a letter from J. F. jVIuggeridge,
the "Henchman," to H. Duberly,
written in September 1869. It is
of interest not only for the matter
which it contains, but also as one
of our very few original documents.
The proposal to buy the hounds was
abortive, as Currey carried on for
another season, but it shows that
the pack was founded, and that
there was a determination that
beagling should be continued under
less precarious conditions than heretofore. The seed of permanency
was most certainly sown by Currey. His success is probably due
both to his seniority and his genial, attractive personality. Beag-
ling, like all other hunting, "brings folks together as would not
otherwise meet," and in such cases it is by no means certain that
they will "mix." Undergraduates under such circumstances are
peculiarly shy, and a kind, genial Irishman, who by age and position
was above their lines of cleavage, was just the man to weld them into
a permanent though informal society, and his greater experience must

76 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

have been invaluable in establishing sound traditions of hunting
lore. The value of this is the more evident in that we are told that
Muo-creridjxe, thoufjh a most loyal and devoted " henchman," did not
possess any very great store of hunting experience.

It is interesting in this connection to note that the next great
step in the history of T.F.B., when proper kennels were provided,
was the work of a senior man. " Mother " Hunt did not come up to
Cambridge straight from school, but had done some " knocking about,"
and had seen something of " life," in America amongst other places,
before coming up to Magdalene.

Letter from J. F. Muggeridge to H. Duberly

TuNBRiDGE Wells, Kent,
i^eiA. 21, 1869.

Dear Duberly — I have had two letters from Currey about the
beagles. The first was written some time ago, though I have only
just received it on my return from the Continent. In it he said that
he did not think he should bring up the pack again to Cambridge,
and that perhaps he should give it up altogether. I at once wrote
back to him and asked him to let us have the refusal of them in case
he sold them, as I thought the Cambridge men would be only too
glad to buy them ; and I have now just received his second letter in
reply to mine. From what I can make out, he says he will bring the
pack up to Cambridge again if we will guarantee sufficient money
to keep them through the summer months, which, according to his
estimate, will be about £20 extra ; I daresay we should have to pay
£25. On the other hand, I understand him to say that he will sell
us the pack for £40 (13i couple of hounds), which is not at all dear ;
but then we shall have to add to that their keep, which for the first
year will bring it up to quite £80 + their journey from Ireland
+ their taxes to £97, which is more, I think, than we can raise
amongst the " lovers of true sport." I think, however, that we could
manage the first proposition, either by doubling the subscription (and
I fancy we shall have many more subscribers this season) or l)y those
most interested in the sport making up tlie difference amongst them-

THE ANCIEN REGIME

77

selves ; in either case I think the £25 could easily be raised. Please
let me have your opinion as soon as possible, and believe me, yours
very sincerely, j p MuGG bridge.

P.S.—l hear that the Cambridge Harriers have been given up. Is
this true ?

The expectation of an increased body of subscribers shows plainly
that the Lovers of True Sport were indeed forgathering, and, as
subsequent events prove, that Currey's work of founding a permanent
tradition was fully accomplished. For many years to come, to be
precise, until Lord Milton's Mastership in 1892, the hounds continued
to be the property of the Master, who, having bought them from his
predecessor, could do what he liked with them, and Mr. Harry
Howard, on going down, took his hounds home
with him, so that a new pack had to be raised ; ^
but raised it was, and since then the unwritten
law grew up that the outgoing Master should
hand the pack over at a fair price. Ownership
still continues, and the Master can breed, buy,
sell, and put down as he pleases, and can keep
surplus puppies to form the nucleus of a pri-
vate pack ; but he receives the hounds free,
and must hand on to his successor as many
hounds as he receives, as has been already said.

In the days with which we are concerned
the pack had not settled down to what may be
called " strict " beagling. There was no uniform
for Master and Whips except a soft green cloth
cap, and the Master often rode a cob, which
made it hard work for Whips afoot to turn
hounds to him. Also, there were no proper
kennels, but hounds were boarded out in hen-
yards, and unsystematically fed on College
scraps. P. Burgess tells us in one place that

1 Whether he took them all away is a little obscure, as
will be seen later.

A Whippeimn under the
A\CIEX RiGIilB.

78 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

each hound cost one shilling a week, and in another that they cost
two. Mr. Rouse Ball says that they paid ten shillings (!) a week each,
which was, as he himself says, expensive ; but it included the cost of
their conveyance to the meet in an open, two-wheeled market cart,
with no other shelter than a pig-net.

The hounds took their pension at one part of this period at the
Merton Arms, opposite Magdalene, and at another at the Plough and
Harrow, Madingley Eoad. There is some uncertainty as to details —
my informants have only their memories to rely on — so that sometimes
statements are conflicting.^ Under such circumstances it is supposed
to be a historian's duty to exercise his critical faculties in sifting the
evidence ; but this I do not propose to do. On the contrary, I shall
content myself, like Uncle Remus, by giving you the annals of this
uneventful time " as they was gun ter me." The discrepancies are
quite small, and the reader may enjoy exercising his own wits upon
their " reconciliation."

When Mr. Currey gave up his work at Trinity and became
H.M. Inspector of Schools, the Mastership seems to have gone into
" Commission " for a season — W. H. Rodwell hunting the hounds and
of course acting as Master. The arrangement was probably beneficial,
as, once a tradition is formed, it has a better chance of establishing
itself under an oligarchy than under a monarchy.

The subjoined letter from H. C. Howard, who became Master in
the year following, is our evidence. It was written in 1895, and there-
fore presumably to K. Walker, who was then Master, or rather hunts-
man, as the Mastership was again in Commission at that time, and
there was then an attempt to get a history of T.F.B. written, wliich,
however, came to nothing.

Letter from H. C. How^ard

Greystoke Castle, Penrith,
May 12, 1895.

Dear Sir — I am sorry to have been some time replying to your

letter, but have been away from home. I cannot quite recollect

1 Mine host of the Plough and Harrow, Mr. Free, sen., wlio drove the hounds out
in the van for many years, and whose son now does so, says that the hounds -were
never kept there, but always at the Merton Arms.

THE ANCIEN REGIME 79

who hunted the T.F.B. before I took them, but I daresay I could
find out.

I think it was in 1870 that a Coniujittee consisting of—
W. H. Eodwell,
Alfred Tabor,

E. Stafford Howard (my brother),
and myself,
took the hounds, and as tar as I remember Eodwell hunted them for
a season.i After that I hunted them till the end of the 1872-73
season.

Then G. H. Longman took them. He would be able to give you
a good deal of information. My Whips were—
E. Stafford Howard,
G. H. Longman,
G. Macan,
C. J. Cropper.

The pack I had at Cambridge I brought home with me after
leaving, and I rather think George Longman also took his pack away.

Yours truly,
(Signed) Henry C. Howard.

This letter seems finally to dispose of Lord Ernest St. Maur's
question : —

" Currey's pack consisted of about sixteen couple of IG in. beagles,
a good many being black and tan. I wonder if any of the old blood
remains in the present pack ? "

Reminiscences of C. J. Cropper

1872-3-4

My two first years at Trinity, Harry Howard was Master, Stafford
Howard was a Whip, also George Longman who had hunted the Eton

1 These are the names entered in the Beagle Book started by J. S. Carr-Ellison,
but the entry is in K. Walker's hand, and was probably coi)ied from this letter, and
is not therefore independent testimony.

80 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Beatles, and towards the end of my first Easter term Harry asked
me to carry a whip.

He gave us all whips engraved with his and our initials, and I
have mine still. Harry was never great on his legs, and he used to
ride a cob called Tom, and a horse called Ploughboy who was a fine
hunter.

There was no kind of livery, and the T.F.B. button was not even
thought of till 1874 It was somewhat hard work turning hounds
to a mounted huntsman, but we did it as well as we could.

In those days, when farming was on top of the wave, there were
two packs of harriers hunting the country— Mason's harriers and
Hick's harriers— and it was not by any means easy to get the meets
arranged for three days a week. We used to spend Saturday after-
noon in the Corn Exchange trying to fix up meets with the farmers
fur the next week or two, and got the cards out on Sunday.

The field was very small, about 10 to 20 ; often less. We had a
small waggonette which carried six of the Committee, and two ponies
used to take us to the meet as fast as they could scuttle. The rest
got to the meets on foot or in pony-traps ; there were no bicycles.

On one occasion we met in the Backs, and proceeded to draw the
fields where Grange Eoad is now and the football ground.

We didn't find till we got to the place where Newnham now
stands ; in those days there were no houses beyond the King's and
Trinity Gardens. We had quite a good hunt in the direction of
Coton, over the Trinity cricket ground, through Burrel's field, and, I
think, through Trinity Gardens across the Backs road and down to
the river just by Clare Bridge. When we got on to the bridge, there
was the hare in the water, and somehow she scrambled up the ivy,
got on to the bridge, and ran into the court. By this time Harry
Howard was off his horse, and running down the avenue blowing his
horn to get the hounds back and over the laidge. He got some of
them back, and ran across the bridge with them and laid them on, on
the grass in the court-yard. As he was doing so the master. Dr.
Atkinson, came out, but I can see him now in his tall hat and frock
coat running across the grass, where Harry was laying on his hounds.
He was in a blue rage : " such an outrage had never been committed

THE ANCIEN REGIME 81

in the history of the University." Harry couldn't see it, and wasn't
for drawing off the hounds. " Do let me kill my hare." " If it is the
hare you want, I'll buy you another and send it in this very after-
noon." But the Master got more and more angry, and managed to
turn us out, beagles and all ; some of us in real fear that our Uni-
versity career was over. But the Master, I suppose, cooled down,
and nothing more was heard of it. What became of the hare we
never knew.

Eiding days were a huge joy, and then we did turn the hounds
in rare style. We had a great day at Foulmire, another beyond Six
Mill Bottom, and another at Willingham Fen, a bitter cold day, with
sleet, I remember well, because the horse I rode got into a deep fen
dyke, and there I had to wait for more than an hour till the farm
men brought ropes and the horse was hauled out — a bitter cold job.

Harry Howard went down in the spring of '73. The pack was
his own, and he took the whole of them down to Greystoke and
showed great sport with them there, until 1876 when he became
Master of the Cumberland foxhounds.

George Longman was then appointed Master; but we had no
hounds, so we had to find a pack. A small pack of twelve couple or
so were for sale near Maidenhead, belonging to Mr. Eicardo. George
Longman and I made a journey to see them, saw them hunt and
bought them. How the finance was arranged I cannot remember.
They were bonny hounds, all black, white, and tan, and three or four
of them broken haired. I took some of them home and he took the
rest to Farnboro' Hill, his father's house.

When autumn came we had them all together at Farnboro', and
had ten days of hunting on the Hampshire Commons.

Then we had to get them to Cambridge. We hired a van to
take them from Waterloo to King's Cross. Somehow there wasn't
room for all, and I well remember having five couple of them, along
with George and myself, inside a four-wheeler, and our luggage on
the top.

The pack did very well, but I didn't see much sport, as I sprained
my leg early in the season and, except for a riding day or two, saw
nothing of them.

G

82 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Our Committee were — George Longman, Lord El^rington,
"Nutty" Leake, George Macan, Mowbray Howard, Peter Clowes,
Eorey McLeod, and myself.

Not only is the Clare story one of our best yarns, but it also
brings us into contact with one of the most venerable figures in
Cambridge, that of Dr. Atkinson, who was elected Master of
Clare in 1856 and who is Master still, the jubilee of his Mastership
having been observed with great state and ancientry some five years
ago. Think of it! His Mastership extends over more than the
whole of our history, for it goes back beyond the days of the Foot
Drag to the legendary pack of whose existence nothing remains but
the vaguest hearsay. This being so, the "outrage," now ancient
history, and the time ripe for telling tales out of school, I craved the
Master's version of the event, however uncomplimentary, approaching
him of course indirectly through the Tutor, Mr. Wardale, to whom I
sent an abbreviated version of the tale, receiving the following kind
but disappointing reply : —

Letter

Clare College, Feb. 24, 1912.

Dear Sir— I saw our Master to-day and asked him about your
story, but he had no recollection of it at all.

I am bound to say that it strikes me as a curious one. If the
hare got into the Court, it would naturally go right through by the
front gate, and if not the hounds would surely have killed it long
before the Master ^ could come out and interfere. Besides, it is
impossible, I think, for it to have got up on to the bridge on the
College side of the river, and it must have plunged in and then
turned back. Is it not more probable that it only swam the ditch
into the garden on the other side, and was being chased about there
when the Master appeared ?

I throw out this suggestion, as on the face of it the story

1 Of the College. It is confusing to have two dramatis pcrsonae filling such diverse
functions in a scene and yet bearing the same title.

THE ANCIEN REGIME 83

(amusing as it is) seems likely to create some distrust of its being
recorded precisely in these details. — Believe me, yours sincerely,

T. E. Wardale.

Now is it not annoying to have one's best tale raked so mercilessly
by the Higher Criticism ? But we will not be down-hearted ! Our
critic accepts the main fact that a hare was hunted on some part of
his College precincts, and that the yarn is amusing. The last is
enough. No good tale should be sacrificed, even to irresistible
criticism. Even if it be demonstrated that King Alfred never
entered a neatherd's cottage, and so can never have let the cakes
spoil, the tale must never be expunged from children's histories, and
though Sir R. Whittington, Knt. and Lord Mayor of London, never
had a cat, yet will the tale of the cat continue to be told, and so with
the Clare tale day.

But our critic lays himself open to criticism. His difliculties are
a ^priori, that is, based on what a hare is likely to do, and he calls
the hare " it " ! Is not that enough ? But there is more. He
expects a hunted hare to behave as a sober, betrousered man, whereas
she is not merely a she but a super-she. What she will do, where she
will go, and how she will efface herself, are matters so mysterious
that the incalculable ways of woman are obvious and elementary in
comparison. Further, from " internal evidence " of the language
(you see I myself know something of the jargon of historical critics),
Mr. Cropper's narrative bears the stamp of truth. So far as intention
is concerned all beaglers' narratives, seeing they have nothing to do
with fishing, are above suspicion, but Mr. Cropper's tale is not
merely that of a truthful man, but that of a chronicler who is both
an eye-witness and also possessed of a clear and accurate memory.

Seriously, it is a matter of regret that Dr. Atkinson should have
no recollection of the incident, and our critic might have maintained
that therefore no such event could have occurred, but this he has not
done. It may be that Mr. Cropper has got the wrong tiger, and that
it was some other " Don " who protested so vigorously. But every
man's mental record is at many points a blank, and this is probably
the true solution of the diflUculty.

84 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

But what became of the hare ? Here there is room for great
freedom of opinion. She might have gone to ground in one of the
staircases, to ultimately make a Sunday dinner for some bedder or
gyp. Or she may have got through and turned into King's, and so
back over another bridge, or she may have swum the river and so
escaped by Scholar's Meadow to open country, or some long-haired
Eabian — or whatever answered to a Fabian in those days — may there
have screened her from the brutal attentions of an embryo Squire-
archy, or (and this would have been poetic justice indeed !) she may
have run into the Clare kitchens and so found her way to High
Table to be eaten by the Master and Fellows ! Who can tell ?

After writing the above there came another letter from Mr.
Wardale as follows : —

Letter

Clare College, March 1, 1912.

Deak Sir — I asked our College Butler, who has been here since
1866 and has an extraordinary memory for old stories about the
College, whether he remembered about the Beagles and the hunt in
Clare. He at once replied, " Yes ! It must have been thirty-five or
forty years ago they hilled (!) the hare in the Master's garden across
the river, and the Master was terribly angry about it."

I asked him whether the huntsman requested leave to pursue
the hare, and he said that the hounds were eating it when the
Master came out. I am interested, and you will, I think, be so also,
as it agrees with the suggestion which I made in my letter to you as
to the scene of the incident. — Believe me, yours sincerely,

(Signed) T. E. Wardale.

Now what are we to make of this ? " What the Butler saw " was
clearly that which Mr. Cropper describes, but they did not see eye to
eye, for the Butler saw it in the Master's garden and also the hare
Ijeing " broken up," whereas the original narrative places it in the
Court, and laments that the hare was not brought to hand. The
whole episode, or rather the telling of it, makes a most interesting

THE ANCIEN BMIME 85

study in the psychology of memory. We carry away with us a vivid
recollection of some incident, and in recalling the scene unconsciously
fill in details of the mental picture from the imagination. It is now
clear that the indignant senior was the Master and no other ; also
that there is nothing impossible in any of the Cropper details.

The following notes from H. E. Cooke really belong to Mother
Hunt's time, but they are of interest at this point as showing what a
hare can do, and the second especially, in connection wuth the Clare
episode, as showing how she can climb ivy.

Memoranda by H. K. Cooke

One day an unusual incident took place. During a good run in
the Waterbeach country the hare crossed a long straight road. The
scent being catchy, Hunt holloa'd to Cooke (one of the Whips) to run
down the road and endeavour to view the hare. Cooke did so, and
having run about three-quarters of a mile down the road he viewed
the hare, very much beaten, coming slowly across a rough grass
meadow straight towards him. As Cooke heard hounds running he
did not holloa, but hid behind the hedge and watched the hare's
movements. She continued slowly in her course in a straight line
till she got to within 60 yards of the road, when she turned round
and ran back on her own line about 50 yards, squatted for a
moment, and then made five tremendous leaps, as shown in this
diagram.

In a few minutes hounds came in sight running pretty hard to
the point where the hare turned back and flashed right over the
road. Quite possibly the hare might have eluded her pursuers, but
unluckily for her a tail hound put her up, and the pack catching a
view, killed her in the same field.

This episode can be vouched for, and may be interesting as
showing what hares can do by subterfuge. I believe this is not an
isolated instance, but a hare is not often seen performing such a
trick.

86

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

II

On another day an amusing occurrence took place. A large
field turned up at the meet, and a good hare was quickly found.

Here

h"- l+UN-f

The Hare's Stratagem.

Copied faithfully from a sketcli plan by H. R. Cool<e, with Mr. Cooke anrl "Jlother" Hunt in
the positions indicated in the MS. Mr. Cooke says that the hare turned on her own tracks, but draws
her coming down one side of a hedge and up the other. Perhaps there was no hedge.— F. C. K.

There was a capital scent, and hounds having run hard for forty
minutes took the line into a grass field at the back of a large kitchen
garden bounded by a wall perhaps 16 feet high, near Trumpington.
Suddenly hounds threw up their heads, and apparently could make

THE ANCIEN REGIME 87

nothing more of it, though the Master cast all round and persevered
for some time. Suddenly there was a holloa back, and it turned out
that one of the field, an excellent sportsman, had viewed the hare
crouching amidst a cluster of ivy on the top of the wall. How the
hare got up there will always remain a mystery, as there were no
buttresses by which she could have climbed up, but even more
mysterious still is how the sportsman in question came to view her
there as he was extremely short-sighted, and was always obliged to
wear the strongest glasses, and even then his sight w^as much impaired.

These episodes show how unaccountable are the ways of poor
Sarah, and therefore that the Clare College Mystery may never be
solved. Whatever it be, however, it is fact of geography that Clare
College affords a convenient short-cut through from the Backs to the
centre of the town. The beagles had once before bolted through the
College when taken out sedately to exercise by a Trinity Tutor, and
the tale is told by a Eegius Professor. Here is another tale also old
enough for telling out of school, which, however, refers to boating
men. The tale was told me by a particeps criminis.

A party of these heedless and high-spirited creatures, being in
training and " full of beans," seized a hand-barrow when out for their
early run and rushed with it heedlessly through the College on their
way back to breakfast. At the same moment the Dean was
traversing the cross path in his surplice to early Chapel, where (i.e.
at the crossways) he arrived at the same moment as the hand-cart.
The front of the barrow caught the Dean a tergo just above the knees
and seated him neatly in the body of the cart, and the momentum
was such that their wild career was only checked as, adstanti janitore
stupefacto, they shot through the main gate into the street. Followed
explanations and apologies. But no one knew what had become of
the hand-cart.

It remains to be repeated that all these tales are very ancient
history, and are told out of school ; to note that many good sports-
men, including beaglers such as Sir Hyde Parker and E. P. Fox,
have hailed from Clare ; and to wish the venerable Master many
further years of happy life.

88 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

The following yarns are also from C. J. Cropper. They both
involve " Gentleman " Hoppet, who was a great character, very tall
and thin, with a grey moustache, gold-rimmed folders on his nose,
and always dressed in a black coat and silk hat. I wonder if he
wore them when he walked out to see the hounds at Childerly gate ;
I can imagine him wearing no other. I have a tale of my own
concerning him which may as well be preserved here, though it has
nothing to do with beagling.

An anxious inquirer, wishing to know whether anything could
perturb the great man's dignity, asked what he should do if the
College caught fire. " I should go into the middle of the court," said
he gravely, " and use my discretion."

Letter

Ellergreen, Kendal,
December 12, 1910.

Dear Huntsman ^ — One more beagle story occurs to me. In the
early seventies Leake, now Chancellor of Lincoln Diocese, was parson
in Barnwell. He was a very good preacher, and one Sunday some of
our gang said we would go and hear him preach. This entailed
being marked in Hall, as no one might miss " Hall" on Sunday. We
all walked round by Hall and called to old Hoppet to mark us in.
He came up to me with a sly grin just showing. " What is it ? " he
said, '•' is it a bye day with the Beagles ? "

You know the story (not a beagle one) of old Swell Hoppet, who,
in the Christmas vacation, one day walked out to a meet of the
Cambridgeshire at Childerly gate ? He got to the meet and walked
on to the cover they were to draw. He stood all alone by the cover
side, and presently a fox went away close by him. He saw it go, but
held his peace. Presently a Whip from afar saw the fox and came
screaming down the cover side to where Hoppet was standing. " Why
on earth didn't you holler ? " shouted the Whip. " I would if I'd
known," said Hoppet, " ])ut I thought it was a squirrel ! "

' T. Holland Ilibbert, who is C. J. Cropper's nephew.

THE ANCIEN REGIME

89

Hoppet's reign lasted well into the nineties, and I have preserved
a back view caricature of him, drawn by myself, which appeared in
the Granta somewhere about that time, and here redrawn.

' GENTLKMAN " HOPPET.

Here follow two letters which do not give much information, but
rather tend to make the history of the pack obscure. However,
they help out on various details, and here they are : —

Letter from Viscount Ebringtox

Bydowx, nr. Barnstaple,
February 26, 1895.

Dear Sir — I was never master of the T.F.B. When I went
up in October 1872 the Master was H. C. Howard, since Master of

90 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

the Cumberland and at one time M.P. (1885-6). He used to ride, the
rest of us running. His Whips were : G. H. Longman, C. G.
Cropper, and G. Macan, now a barrister. I think that Howard
started this pack in 1870 or 1871, and that the hounds were his,
he hunting them at home in the vacation.

In 1873 Longman was Master on foot, and I whipped in with
those above named, P. Clowes, T. N. Leeke, Pv,edditch and Mobray
Howard, Harry's brother, also helping in the field. Longman used
to take the pack home with him, so I suppose he made some arrange-
ment with Howard. There were only 8 or 10 couple.

In 1874 Vickers, a Shropshire man, succeeded Longman. I think
he had been Master of the Eton Beagles, and a man called Hornby
used to help in whipping in.

I am afraid I know nothing of the pack before 1871 or after
1874.— Yours truly, Ebrington.

Letter from G. H. Longman

Bearehurst, Holmwood, Surrey,
Jan. 22, 1911.

Dear Hibbert — I am sorry to have been so long answering
your letter of the 9th inst., and am afraid that I have not any real
information to give you even now. I have no records in my posses-
sion of the doings of the Trinity Beagles during my Mastership, but
I succeeded Harry Howard in, I think, the season 1873-4, and
hunted the Beagles during that season. I am not, however, quite
clear in my mind whether I did not become Master in the autumn of
1872, though I think not. I know, however, that I did not hunt
the Beagles at Cambridge during the season 1874-5, when I was
succeeded by a man called Vickers. There was no regular established
pack which belonged to the Hunt in those days, and the nucleus of
the pack during the whole of my time at Cambridge belonged to
Harry Howard, although I believe I brought up a few small hounds
myself, which were not of much use, and I well recollect somebody
(I think it was Charlie Cropper) having to carry one of them for
some way across Waterbeach Fen, the hound in question having

THE ANCIEN REGIME 91

been half-drowned in one of the ditches. When Howard went down
I think he lent the Beagles to Trinity, and I subsequently bought
most of them from him, and kept them at home at Farnborough
Hill in Hampshire. I believe that the Trinity Beagles were origin-
ally started by one of the Trinity Dous, whose name I quite forget,
and I think that Harry Howard preceded him. Howard, however,
could tell you this himself. If I had any journals, I rather think I
handed them over to Vickers, but this is very uncertain. If there
are any definite questions you would like to ask, I wdll do my best
to answer them.

With regret that I am unable to help you more, and every wish
for the success under your Mastership of the Trinity pack. — Believe
me, yours sincerely, George H. Longman.

Lord Ebrington's letter marks the last of the riding Masters.
Mr. Longman's shows again how easily memory can fail one over
details. It is clear from the books that H. C. Howard held the
hounds on through the season 1872-3, and also that the late V. W.
Vickers took them over in the October term of 1874, so that Mr.
Longman's Mastership is fixed as extending over but one season,
1873-4. The most confusing matter is that of the actual pack.
The outgoing Master is sure that he took his pack away with him,
and C. J. Cropper is not only of the same mind, but knows where
the new pack came from, viz. a Mr. Eicardo of Maidenhead, and
the succeeding Master feels sure that though he introduced new
blood the bulk of the pack was handed on to him. It is quite clear
that in September 1873 a pack was assembled in Hampshire, and
that when they came up for the Term some of the hounds crossed
London in a four-wheeler. Also C. J. Cropper seems to have the
clearest memory of what happened all those years ago, so probably
the bulk of the pack was new, but it may well have been stiffened by
some of Howard's hounds. It is only the German pundits who can
solve such a knotty historical point, and I give it up !

All contributions concur in testifying to Vickers' great running
powers, which were remarkable for so tall a man : long-distance
runners, especially over heavy country, are usually light weights.

92 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

It is interesting to note that he got tucked up, and so rode
occasionally to save himself, as did also his successor, Cecil Tennant,
but from a different motive : it enabled him to control hounds, and
keep them clear of ewes in the lambing season. Even then a
mounted huntsman was felt to be not quite the thing, and Tennant
only rode when he felt bound. Both yarns show kennel practice of
a very primitive kind, and the great need for " Mother " Hunt's
reforms.

Letter from H. Cavan Irving

BURNFOOT, ECCLEFECHAN,

March 1911.

Dear Sir — I saw that you were writing a book about the Trinity
Foot Beagles, in the Field, but I never got as far as writing
to you.

C. A. Tennant wrote to me and gave me your address, which I
handed on to H. S. Gladstone.

I first ran after the Beagles (rather than with) in 1873 or 1874,
when Longman hunted them. C. C. J. Cropper whipped in to him,
also G. Macan (whom I saw in Temple Church last Sunday).

I was not aware that Longman took the pack away with him,
but I did not know the hounds then.

Then Vickers took them on. I saw a lot of him. I doubt I
cannot put you in communication with him, as I am pretty sure he
died some years ago.

Vickers was a very good sportsman. He ran far too much, and
latterly he saved himself by riding occasionally ; his pet nag (his
own) was the " Colonel."

There was a Scarlett, who came from Gigha in the Highlands.
He was Vickers' closest j)al.

A. W. Turner, of Caius, was another of our lot ; a good sportsman.

Harry Howard whipped in to Longman before our time.^

We, in my time, wore a green cloth ("superfine") cap with a
peak. I have mine yet, if you cared to see it.

^ Sorry to contradict, but, contrariwise, Longman whipped in to Howard.

THE ANCIEN BMIME 93

One incident I remember. The Beagles were asked over to Water-
beach, it was a far-away meet, and after the hunt our host went
into the stable, and found three of our fellows (they were not of the
Committee) stark naked, as they had jumped into the fen ditches.
Some had something to put on, but one wrapt himself up in his
ulster and drove back so clad to Cambrido;e.

Of farmers. There were two brothers, good sorts, one Tom Baker
at Barton, the other Charles at Shelford. Vickers used to jro into
the Corn Exchange every Saturday during the season (and often in
the summer) to arrange with the farmers about meets, and sometimes
we gave them a bit of dinner after market.

Of hounds. Those (Whips, etc.) of later date have no idea of the
filth and muck that surrounded the kennels in our day, in the yard
of a public-house, and of what was boiled up in the pot for the
hounds. Apparently nothing could be wrong. So they needed a dose
of medicine. This was done on Sundays ; the oldest gown served as
apron ; and then the process began. One or two collared the hounds
off the bench, one held, one opened their mouths, another the spoon ;
but there was a shaggy old hound (he had a bit of an otter hound
in him) " Eallywood," he never got a dose ; while there was a bitch,
" Dollymop," who came up and licked the spoon as often as she had
a chance.

I had two of them here with me, " Blackberry " and " Euler " —
the latter a great character. If he came to a ditch which he considered
too wide, or a close fence that he could not crawl, he would wait for
somebody to lift him over ; but many times he put us on the right
scent on a cold plough, though if hounds were running he was
generally the last.

I cannot think of anything more just now, it is thirty-five years
ago ; but after I went down and lived here, I kept up my hunting on
foot, and went out often with the Carlisle Otter-hounds, when they
hunted this (Dumfriesshire) country; and afterwards when a pack
of otter hounds was started here, they made me the first Master, but
I did not remain so long. — Yours truly,

(Signed) H. Cavan Irving.

94

THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Vickers was apparently a keen fox-hunter as well as a beagler, as
A. W. Turner (Gains) says that when he (V. W. V.) was absent fox-
hunting, which was often, he used to hunt the hounds. The pack, he
tells me, was still managed by a Committee.

"VALENTmE Whitby Vickers was often absent Fox-hunting."
Teste A. W^. Turner of Caius.

The drawing is of later date, by " A 1 " in the T.F.B.C. Book, but represents a beagler of consider-
able stature, and evidently one of the " cut 'em downs."

Here follow the recollections of Cecil Tennant, the last Master of
this period. There are no records of Walter Cunliffe's year.

THE ANCIEN REGIME 95

Eecollections of Mr. Cecil Tennant
Master 1878-9, 1879-80.

On my way up to Cambridge as a Freshman in October 1876 I
happened to meet in the train a Yorkshire neighbour, young John
Dent of Eibston, who had two couple of beagles with him. This
was my introduction to the Trinity Beagles. I went out with them,
I think, at their first meet that term, and continued to do so regu-
larly till I handed them over to " Mother Hunt " at Christmas 1879.
The pack consisted of some 12 couples of 15 to 16-inch hounds,
which the kennelman took to the far meets in an old two-wheeled
cart with sheep-netting over the back, and we conveyed ourselves in
a very ramshackle waggonette, called the " committee cart," with a
pair of weedy chestnuts, very hot and given to bolting. Walter
Cunliffe was Master when I went up, and made me one of his Whips
after a few weeks, and as he was first string for the " mile," he had
to go into strict training in February 1877, and I then took the
horn, as he had asked me to succeed him in the Mastership.

The pack was kennelled at the Merton Arms, I think, in North-
ampton Street, and a most primitive kennel it was, though at that
time it seemed to serve our purpose fairly well.

There was a comfortable " chamber " with a good roomy bench,
and a feeding-place communicating with it by a small " smoot " or
runway blocked by a sliding door, and it was the Master's business
(and pleasure) generally to feed the hounds, calling them by name
from the bench, and admitting them to the feeding-place ; and many
a greedy hound, darting at the " smoot " when uncalled, has had the
door dropped on his nose. A great catastrophe (particularly so to
me on just taking over the hounds) happened just before Easter
1877. I had gone down, but John Beck, who was first Whip, asked
if he might have a bye day, and the next thing I heard was that
while running with a breast-high scent at Cantelupe Farm the pack
got over the line and a train ran into them, killing about 3
couple of the leading hounds. To fill this gap I bought 3^ couple
from Murray Marshall of Godalmiug, as he was just giving up his
pack. These were Chancellor, Drummer, Harmony, Battler, Eestive,

96 THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Wonder, and Wizard, of which Chancellor, Harmony, and Wonder
were in the pack when I left. I started the season of 1878 with
12 couple, 8^ couple entered hounds and 3^ couple unentered, and
my diary records 34 days' hunting that season, and I can't find
that we bought any new hounds, so they must have had a good
doing. In the more open country, and also when there were young
lambs about, the farmers were rather insistent that the Master
should ride, so that from 1878 onwards I kept a horse and rode when
I felt bound to, having a day with the drag (of which the T.F.B.
Master was always an honorary member) and the Cambridgeshire as
occasion offered. Our usual meets were the kennels, Grantchester
(Mr. Lilley), Barton (Tom Baker), Shelford Station (Charles Baker),
" The Five Bells " (Mr. Cole), Cantelupe Farm, Girton (occasionally),
Milton level crossing, Eampton (Mr. Ivatt generally to ride), Harlton
(Mr. Whitchurch), Comberton (Mr. Bonnett), Anglesea Abbey (Mr.
Hailstone), New Inn (Huntingdon Road), Waterbeach Fen, The
WilHam IV. (Huntingdon Ptoad) ; Barton Old Toll Gate, " The Old
English Gentleman," Harston (Mr. Long), Mr. Thompson's farm on
Comberton and Madingley Road, Horningsea (Mr. Banyard), Linton,
Chesterton Manor (Mr. Ellis), Impington (Mr. French), Waterbeach
Village (Mr. Long). I used to go to the Corn Exchange on Saturday
afternoons, where all the farmers gathered, and arranged meets for
following week or fortnight, and on most Saturday evenings during
the hunting season two or three of our supporters used to dine with
me at my rooms, 17 Malcolm Street, where hunting and port came
in for much discussion, varied by Napoleon, a game much affected by
them, and which they liked better than Loo; the two Bakers,
Thomas and Charles, from Barton and Shelford, Mr. Cole from the
Five Bells Farm on Huntingdon Road, Mr. Whitchurch from Harlton,
and Edward Long of Harston being among the most regular attend-
ants, and sometimes Mr. Banyard from Horningsea. The affairs of
the T.F.B. were managed by the Master, assisted by the committee,
who all carried whips and were responsible for providing ways and
means ; and, as far as I remember, we only once had to make up a
deficit. The subscriptions generally produced about £100 to £120
per annum, being £1 : Is. for each of the two hunting terms from

THE ANCIEN REGIME 97

some 50 to 60 members. AVhen I joined Walter Cunliffe (Trinity)
was Master, and the other members of the committee \yere H. C.
Irving (Trinity), Roger Cunliffe (Trinity), John Beck (Caius), and
John Dent (Trinity).

In October 1878, none of the above being up, I called on W. B.
Connop, E. C. Meysey- Thompson, H. Scarlett, H. Kelsall, all of
Trinity, and E. T. Wilson of Jesus, to help me ; and in 1879 Row-
land Hunt (Magdalene), Haines (Trinity), and Johnson (Christ's),
took the place of Scarlett, Connop, and Wilson. In January 1877
we thought it would be a convenience if the committee were dis-
tinguished in some way, and it was decided to wear green cloth
hunting caps, but the feeling was against anything more in the way
of uniform. So we stuck to our old shooting suits, which gave
" Mother " Hunt a free hand, which was a great comfort to him. I
can remember him coming out with one boot and one shoe on,
having failed to find the proper match ; and as his bedmaker was not
much of a comfort to him, if he tore his knickerbockers he mended
the hole up with a thorn for propriety's sake !

In 1876 we seem to have bred three pups, all turning out well,
and they were in the pack in 1880 — Flirt, Frolic, and Lapwing. In
1878-79 Whynot, Warlike, Warrior, Waspish, Wanton, and Work-
man, all out of Wilful by Marksman. They were entered in
November of that year. In March 1879 were born Famous Finder,
Firefly, Fair Maid, and Fanny out of Frolic by Harkaway — Frolic
being the daughter of Novelty and Blackberry in 1876, so that by
this time we had a nice lot of young hounds.

1877-78 was not a good season, as we were suffering from loss of
the leading hounds at Easter 1877 ; and also it seems to have been a
bad scenting year, though there was at any rate one notable excep-
tion, namely November 9, when we met at Mr. Ivatts's farm at
Rampton for a " riding day." We found a hare near the farm-house,
and ran through Long Stanton almost to Swavesey station, and
crossed the " big drain " which brought four of us to grief, and one, I
think Currie of Caius, was about an hour before he finally got out
with the help of a plough -team, as the bottom was very boggy.
After this hounds ran for two miles without a check, and we finally

H

98 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

lost the hare among Mr. Cole's sheep at Swavesey village. 1879 was
a good scenting season, and the pack was in good fettle, and we
killed 15 hares in 16 days up to Christmas, and I believe Hunt
killed 16 more in as many days after that.

One day stands out from among the rest, namely November 5,
when we met at the " Five Bells " on Mr. Cole's farm — first 30
minutes and then a kill, mostly very fast; secondly 40 minvites and
a kill ; and then finished up with 45 minutes and then again killed.
Note in my diary, " a rattling scent all day and hounds worked very
well." This was evidently a good week, as on November 7 at
Cantelupe Farm we ran for 40 minutes, crossing the brook twice,
and were beaten in an osier bed ; after which there was a good run of
50 minutes, and they pulled her down in the middle of a large
stubble after a grand course. This was followed by a good day from
the Kennels, as after 50 minutes we ran her in view across the
Magdalene cricket ground, and killed between the hedges on the
Coton footpath. Not content with this we had another fast 35
minutes and killed. Noted in diary as a " real good day." At the
end of the hunting season we used to get as many of the hounds
walked as possible for health's sake, as the Cambridge Kennels were
very hot during the summer, and also to save expense in food. I see
in 1879 one of the Whips, Hunt, walked 3^ couples, Haines 2 couples,
Johnson 2 couples, and I had one couple and a litter of pups.

I have myself invaded the Merton Arms to secure a photograph,
and with old Free's help identified some sheds in a cramped yard
immediately behind the Inn, where pigs are now kept, as the old
Kennels. These buildings lie on one side of an open space where is
much builders' rubbish and some disintegrating cabs, and in the
other corner is the old " School of Pythagoras." The Merton Arms is
almost on the end of the Madingley Eoad. Since the new buildings
of Westminster College have been put up Northampton Street has
been opened up and given a place in the sun.

The poetic effusion — beaglers are much greater versifiers than you
would think to look at them — of Harry Scarlett, written in 1876,
forms, I think, a most fitting conclusion to the annals of this unevent-
ful period. The footnotes are the author's, unless initialled. As to

THE ANCIEN BEGIME 99

o-ettino- through fences, I can remember in my time the mode of
neo-otiatiug strong close-trimmed blackthorn hedges. You took a good
run and a flying leap which landed you on your stomach on top of the
hedo-e. The spring of the fence and an opportune flourish of the legs
sent your heels in the air, and you slid off the hedge, landing on your
hands on the far side. A neat conclusion to the manoeuvre for an
accomplished performer was to do a cart-wheel, like a gutter-snipe,
and so finish right end up and smiling. Thornproof breeches were
indispensable.

TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

1876

By Harry Scarlett

We went to the Kennels to start to the meet,

The Kennels are kept in a very back street.

There were Eover, and Eosebud, and Dickybird too,

And others, but really I can't tell you who,

For the rest of the names I can hardly remember

Since the pretty King Charles ^ was destroyed last November.

The worshipful Master ^ now striding comes out.
Who goes at each step half a furlong (about),
A yard long his body, his legs rather more.
And Valentine Whitby the name that he bore.
Well, we got to the meet and we came on her lair.
Or form, in the turnips, and put up the hare.
Lapwing starts like a rocket and runs like a deer,^
While Euler and Dollimop bring up the rear.

1 A hound called Chancellor, of doubtful parentage, drafted.

- Valentine Whitby Vickers, 6 feet 3 inches, who never appeared tired.
Now dead.

'^ It was not till 1895 or so, just twenty years later, that their speed became
comparable to that of eagles. The ira[irovement is evidence of great skill and
diligence on the part of all concerned in maintaining the quality of the pack.

F. C. K.

100

THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Now
And

we

set

stump over stubbles, now plod over plough,
through the fences I can't tell you how.

When with mud, thorns, and hills,^ all

are pretty near beat.
And steam rises of mixed perspiration

and heat.
In fact, when all others are pretty near

dead
Still Valentine Whitby trots gaily

ahead.

Well, we catch her at last among bushes and ruts.
And Telltale - hangs on till he tears out the guts.
Then we stand till we feel rather cooler than warmer.
And give the defunct quarry's corpse to the farmer.
Then homeward we go feeling cheerful though damp.
While perchance one or two get a touch of the cramp,
But Whitby, whilst others run, stumble and grunt.
Puts his hands in his pockets and toddles in front.

^ Must have been a day on the " Gogs." — F. C. K,

- A perfect marvel to " hang on " : he brought a beat hare out of a culvert under|a
road, dragged out by the hind legs with the thong of my hunting crop.

CHAPTER V

MOTHER HUNT

My Mother !

as I think is clearly just, we must canonize
" Pat " Currey (perhaps we ought to think of him
as " Mr." Pat Currey, as he was not an under-
graduate at the time, but a fellow and tutor),
it is even more evident that we should regard
" Mother " Hunt of Magdalene as our Consoli-
dator. Blessed Eowland of Boreatton is to Saint
Patrick of Lismore what Theodore of Tarsus was
to St. Augustine of Canterbury,or Dr. John Caius
(to whom I am " in private duty bound " or shall
be if ever I preach the University Sermon) to
Eadmund Gonville, Bishop of Norwich. Indeed
by analogy of the latter case he might justly be honoured as co-founder.
And it is but right that Magdalene, a College that has done more
than any other in Cambridge to keep alight the lamp of sport, should
have had the honour of his nurture. Great, however, as have been
his benefactions he is not entitled to have this chapter quite to
himself, as a corner must be kept for his Whip, secretary, andifidus
Achatus, P. Burges, for, to continue our ecclesiastical similes, Mr.
Burges was St. Lawrence to Mr. Hunt's Pope Callixtus. We are, by
the way, indebted to the former for the greater part of the informa-
tion contained in this chapter.

As a preliminary, the following letter from Mr. H. Haines, w^ho
whipped in to T.F.B. under Mr. Cecil Tennant in season 1879-80,

101

102

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

is of interest. It shows, as Mr. Haines says, how much hunting was
done then.

Letter

CAMBRIDGE, 1879-1882
To the Editor of Bailey's Magazine.

SiE — Although I have, of course, had no chance of really com-
paring the four years 1879-82 with other like periods of either
university, I firmly believe that we had more hunting men up then

The Embyru :M.F.H.

In this case Mr. M. C. Albriglit, a latter-day member of T.F.B.C., and now Master of the first pack

I ever hunted with— the South Herefordshire. Drawn by "A 1 " in T.F.B.C. Boolt.

who afterwards graduated with the degree of M.F.H. than was the
case during any other four years since. Now let us just run through
the list of Masters of Foxhounds (and it is indeed a remarkable one)
as follows: Lord Yarborough, Sir Watkin Wynn, Messrs. W. H.
Wharton, Butt Miller, Lycett Green, E. E. Barclay, Eeverend E. A.
Milne, and Eowland Hunt.

I may have left out one or perhaps two more : Messrs. E.
Meysey-Thompson, Frank Mildmay, H. C. Bentley, and Cecil Tennant
are names of the period too.

I do certainly think that those four years held a record as far
as hunting men went. I little thought when I left in 1882, that ten

MOTHEE HUNT 103

years later I should find myself hunting a small pack on the North-
west prairies of Canada, yet such was the case, and some fair sport
we had with wolf, fox, and jack-rabbit, but that is " another story."—

Yours, etc.,

Henry J. Haines.

Broadview, Sask., Canada.

It is noteworthy in this connection that although the under-
graduate who looks " horsey " has, except for the May term when men
are to be seen about in polo kit, almost entirely disappeared from the
streets of Cambridge, and no one drives even tandems or four-in-hand
carriages, as the statutes call them, for pleasure, yet that far more
men hunt than ever before. My informant is a " small " man who
keeps no hirelings, and he told me that he had twenty-five privately
owned horses " standing " with him, and complained bitterly that he
had to board some of them out at hotels, so that profits were not all
that they might be. He was something like the farmer who
grumbled to his landlord that it was " a most desperate bad season,
the crops were so heavy as he didn't know where ever he should
put 'em ! " This is, of course, without reckoning the large business
done by Hopkins, or the horses kept at Huntingdon to save boxing
expenses. The absence of all appearance of hunting from the streets
is in part due to the fact that most of the hunting is done by train,
but not all. According to present fashions, as practised by the "best
people," it seems bad form to be seen in the streets in riding gear
more than is absolutely necessary. Even for driving or motoring up
to the station on a hunting morning the man who wears full dress
will don a tweed cap, and carry his topper in a hat-box — you don't
know that he is going hunting at all till you see his legs when he
gets out at the booking-office.

By the way, pure memory, as we have already seen, is not by any
means always to be trusted. Last summer I chartered a weight-
carrying hack from Hopkins for the term, to coach from on the tow-
path, and the man who brought him round said, " It's many a time
I've 'eld an 'oss for you to get up, sir, when you've had a red coat on."
This I denied, but was flatly contradicted. I only hunted occasionally

104 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

(three times to be accurate) from Cambridge, and have never worn
pink except on the stage, when I represented the March Hare in
theatricals in Herefordshire, for which I borrowed my father's coat
which was just a bit short in the sleeves. Black was all I ever
ran to. If you consider this as a digression your complaint must be
to Mr. Burges's address, who pinned the interesting but not over
relevant letter cut from Bailey's on to his " copy " ; which " copy "
here followeth.

EOWLAND HUNT

A Peesonal Becollection of him, by p. Purges 1

It is so long ago that it seems like writing an obituary notice —
but at the risk of being a bit prosy to those who did not know him I
venture to go into his life before he came up to Cambridge.

He was born in 1858. He is the head of one of the oldest
families in a county (Salop) which prides itself on ancient lineage.
Eichard de Venator was the founder of the family which also pro-
duced a well-known Parliamentary leader in the Civil Wars, Colonel
Hunt. The family's crest is a dog of very uncertain breed, which
Hunt once described as possibly a gunning " Ponto " in those days, but
he would draft him on sight as a beagle. Hunt's uncle. Ward Hunt,
was Chancellor of the Exchequer in Beaconsfield's Cabinet in the
'seventies. So much for family history.

Hunt went to school at Eton, 1871-77, and made himself
famous by winning the School Steeplechase in 1876 as a non-
favourite, with consummate ease : he lost one shoe early in the race.
He also, much to every one's surprise, won the walking race, walking
in bare leet on a grass track.

He was one of the best exponents of the Eton (tield) Football
Game in his time, and was Keeper (Captain) of the Field Game.
He also won the School Diving, and House Eacquets with the

^ Tlie JIS. of this valuable contribution has been looked over and bears corrections
in Mr. Hunt's own hand, so that he is demonstrably an accessory before the fact. If,
therefore, you hojie that anything herein stated may contribute to the gaiety of
nations by causing a sporting libel action you will probably be disappointed ! — F. C. K.

MOTHER HUNT 105

present Lord Darnley as his partner, and was also in the School
Shooting XI.

Hunt succeeded to the Mastership of the Eton Beagles in 1876.
His Mastership was a memorable one, as he not only improved the
pack, but also showed most extraordinary sport and knowledge of
hunting and hound work, killing, I think, 15 hares in the first season
and 17 in his second.^

On leaving Eton he went to America for two years, where he
roughed it on a ranch, and was laid up for weeks with a badly
broken leg which gave him trouble for long after.

On his father's death he returned home to Boreatton Park,
and shortly after came up to Magdalene. I think he must have
made a compact with the Dons there, or else Magdalene was a very
easy-going place in those days,- as lie certainly never wasted much
time in attending lectures, chapel, or hall. I believe he did go in for
and pass Part I. of the Little-go, which quite satisfied his aspirations
for academic honours.

He w^as also in the Northants Mihtia for ten years.

1 do not propose going into how he became Master of the Beagles,
as that is dealt with in another chapter, but to try and give some of
the many anecdotes of him.

The main point in his character and one of the principal items of
his success as Master was due to his extraordinarily taking manner
and personality which, combined with his tact, won the hearts of the
farmers and his field. This is perhaps the more remarkable, as he
made use of the most quaint and extraordinary expressions to one and
all. The facsimile on p. 106 of an invitation to lunch is an instance,
and the expressions he used to farmers must have seemed very
extraordinary, but they got used to it, and there was nothing they
would not do for him. His principal difficulty was to fill the
numerous invitations showered on him — so much so that he took to
having bye days once a week as long as the hounds would stand it,
usually close home and often in the morning. The following cutting

' Only one term each season.

2 It, i.e. Magdalene College, certainly went easy five years later, and one of the
chief grievances against it was that it would take no "migrants." — F. C. K.

106 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

from Punch bears on this : a sporting Cantab., writing to The Field
about the T.F.B., said, " The above pack, under the able Mastership
of Mr. E. Hunt, have shown excellent sport this season, but owing to
lectures they are unable to meet before 1 p.m., and consequently lose
the best part of the day." Owing to lectures ! Isn't this melancholy !
The Master of Trinity really ought to have consulted the Master of
the Beagles before arranging the curriculum of studies for the term.
Hunt was notably a bad dresser — he didn't care what he wore.
I well remember, one day in The Pitt, some one told him he must
really get a new suit of clothes, and Baily said, " I will sell you these,
' Mother,' " the " these " being a very well-worn suit of black, the

^ 4> ^^CA cJ if\Al-

^

fstl^

Facsimile (see p. 105).

owner being in mourning, " How much do you want for them,
' Baal ? ' " said Hunt. " 30 bob " was the reply. " They are mine,
send them round to my rooms," said Hunt, and old "30 bob," as the
suit was called, I think, lasted out my time.

He had a perfect mania for wearing beagling shoes — he would
wear nothing else, always made by Gane of Eton.

The Captain of his Company in the Militia said he fairly flabber-
gasted them by one day appearing in them on parade. The shoes, I
may say, were generally the worse for wear, and one of the privates
in his Company, a bootmaker, as all the men were, was overheard to
say, "I never seed such a thing, an orficer in shoes and a-walking
on his blooming welts." But, teiwpora viutantur, etc., who would
now recognise in the smart, grey-headed Member for Ludlow Division
of Salop, so well known in the House, the " Mother " Hunt, as seen in

MOTHER HUNT

107

Jesus Lane, attired in old " 30 bob " and a dilapidated pair of beagle
shoes? But I suppose home influences have done it, as after his marriage
a slow but steady improvement in appearances and dress took place !

It was Hunt's custom on Sunday afternoons to go up to the
Kennels and have a look round, and he was
generally accompanied by a band of keen
beaglists.

On one of these occasions I had a party
to lunch which included among them, I
think, Barclay, Hunt, and a freshman (Hard-
castle) and others. My rooms then were at
the top of 26 Jesus Lane, and we went out
in twos and threes up the Lane. I was last
but one, and Hardcastle still upstairs. When
I was a few yards outside the door, which
had two steps up to the entrance passage, in
which was an enormous bowl of goldfish, the
leading pair had got to the passage to the
A.D.C., round the corner came the Proctor,
Howard. We all turned and fled but, instead
of running down the lane, my door being
open, like a rabbit, and with as much sense
as that furry quadruped, with head down I
bolted into the house, meeting Hardcastle in
the doorway with my head in his stomach.
Down he went on his back and the rest of the
crowd on top in a heap. We all struggled up,
leaving Hardcastle gasping on his back and the Proctor standing on
the pavement. In our struggle for the stairs we collided with the
goldfish and down they went. In a few minutes Hardcastle came up
and said the Proggins would like to see us, so down we went. The
passage was strewed with trampled billy cocks (caps, like silver in
Solomon's days, being accounted of no value in those times), and Mrs.
Kempton, my landlady, and daughter pursuing goldfish, which were
flapping on the floor, with a fire-shovel and depositing them in a
bucket. The Proctor asked our reason for being out without the

Sunday Afternoon.

Off to the Kennels.

Represents a beagler of the 'nineties.

By C. P. T. H.

108

THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

usual trimmings on a Sabbath, and we suggested they were hardly
the thing to go to the Kennels with. However, he would have none
of it, and asked our names and fined us double for running away and
being caught, and double that on account of its being a Sunday.
Hardcastle said, " I was not outside the door." The Proctor's reply
was, " Your body was not, but your feet were and your animus was
the same as that of the rest of the party, except that you had not the

"Hi, you elderly yellow-bellied Oyster! Have you seen the Hare?"

opportunity of exercising the animus domum revertandi as the rest
did." Turning to me he said, " I fancy you are a B.A." ^ I pleaded
guilty to the impeachment, and was horrified to learn that on that
account my fine was doubled all round. His subsequent conduct,
however, deserves to be held vip as an example to his successors in
office, as he let us all off with 13s. 4d., and I received the following
letter, which was nice of him, to say the least of it : —

^ A Bachelor's fines are doubled, presumably on the ground that he is " old enough
to know better." — F. C. K.

MOTHER HUNT

109

Mr. Howard's Letter

Trinity College, Cambridge,
23rd February 1880.

Dear Sir — Under the present rules I am bound to fine you, but

if you have anything to say in mitigation, I shall be only too glad

to hear it. — Yours faithfully,

F. G. Howard.

p,S.—lt may interest you to know that every Sunday during this
term I shall be returning to college
down Jesus Lane between 1 and 2
o'clock.

One of the first meets Hunt had
was at Mr. Baker's farm at Barton,
who was out on a cob. Hunt lost the
hare, and seeing some one on the other
side of the hedge shouted at him, " Hi,
you elderly yellow-bellied oyster ! Have
you seen the hare ? " The farmer was
naturally surprised at this address, but
Hunt explained that it was one of his
most endearing epithets, and smoothed
matters over.

On another occasion Hunt lost a
hound and advertised for it. The
result was he was besieged by every cad
in Cambridge coming to his rooms with
dogs and curs of all descriptions from
collies to lap-dogs. I have a shrewd
suspicion this was a plant by some of
his friends.

A curious thing happened after a
good run near the Rifle Butts. The
hare was lost in some gardens partly
surrounded by a wall with some ivy on

I ANSWER TO AN ADVERTISEMENT.

" Be this one o" yourdawgs, sir? "

no

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

top about 10 feet high. Hunt was completely beat, when one,
Barlow, who was supposed to be as blind as the proverbial bat, said,
" I see the hare," and there she was, crouching in the ivy on top of
the wall. How she got there, or how Barlow,^ of all the field, should
have spotted her, beat us.

We once had a good hunt with a fox, I think, at Mr. Ivatts of
Eampton ; but we did not kill, and the details I have forgotten.

There was one very curious trait connected with Hunt which I

// 0 !■

^^In...

nearly forgot, viz. when running his back shirt-tail used to gradually
work out, first a corner and then the whole. As he wore white
shirts of great length one used to see this white flag streaming away
behind. He never took any notice of it, and the cry of, " Mother,
your shirt's out," was usually met by, " D — n my shirt," followed
by a struggle with his disengaged hand to tuck it in, one side being
generally left out. I think he later invented an arrangement of
safety-pins to fasten front and back together " as we were so blamed
particular," but said it was not a satisfactory arrangement at certain
periods.

The following story shows what an extraordinary person he was.

1 Cf. page 86.

MOTHER HUNT 111

The celebrated " Mr. Manton " ^ invited the Pack to a day on her
ground near Newmarket, where we went by train. It was an early
start and cold morning, and his Whips having turned out extra
smart, we were horrified to find Hunt had a two-day's beard on him
and was not looking his best. He assured us it would be all right,
and when the cab from the station got out into the country he
stopped it, pulled a razor out of his pocket ; one of the cushions was
held against the window as a reflector, and he proceeded to have
what he called "a dry shave." The razor was blunt, the beard
strong, the looking-glass indifferent, and Hunt's hand shaking with
cold. The result was a succession of jumps, cuts, and d — ns, and
when he had finished he looked as though he had been pulled
through a thornbush, and by the time we arrived at " Mr. Manton's "
his white tie looked like an irregularly red spotted bird's eye. I
think Her Grace was much astonished at Hunt's appearance. We
had a great spread, and I fancy a goodish day. Hunt was going
lame, and a yokel, seeing him, made the remark, " That bloke won't
go far, he's got a wheel down." But lameness made little difference
to him once hounds were fairly running.

Hunt used to have supper for his beagling friends on Sundays,
and on one occasion said to the writer, " I have to go home on
business, so shan't be at supper. I have asked the usual crowd, and
one or two quiet freshmen who come out with the Beagles that I
want to be civil to." The " usual crowd " was a pretty hot lot. All
went well till supper was over, when the usual ballyrag began with
throwing the various fruits on the table and, as ammunition ran
short, the chickens and viands. But there was one heavy projectile
consisting of about 2 lbs. of the thick, hard end of a tongue, and who-
ever possessed this was till he had discharged it master of the
situation, and immediately it fell there was a wild fight for it. In
the midst of the row the landlord put his head round the corner of
the door, and was on the point of expostulating when the tongue hit
the panel of the door and split it from top to bottom. The worthy
landlord retired in a hurry, and the tongue eventually went through

^ Duchess of Montrose, who built S. Agues, Newmarket, as a memorial of her
second husband.

112 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

the window and into the middle of a crowd of people coming out of
a small church just opposite (Magdalene Street). The room was
practically wrecked. There was not an atom of glass or crockery left,
the furniture broken, and the walls covered with remains of apples
and oranges. The " quiet " freshmen were in the thick of it, and
enjoyed it as much as the rest ! All Hunt said on his return was :
" You seem to have had a pleasant evening in my absence, and my
landlord has given me the sack."

So much for these stories which one could go on telling, with the
help of those who took part in them, till the cows come home.

Hunt was keen on all sorts of sport — hunting, fishing, and
shooting. He was an exceedingly good rifle shot, and even in those
long ago days there were two things which he thought and talked
about to his pals, and they are both things that are in the forefront
of discussion to-day, viz. Universal Compulsory Military Training,
and Tariff Eeform, though not known by that name then. As far
back as 1892 he published a pamphlet entitled " Socialism or Pro-
tection, which is it to be ? " advocating protection of our industries
and preferential trade with our colonies. Hunt maintained that
in the case of a serious war every one who could shoot would
have to go out. He said to me, " You and I will both
go." He went with Lovat's Scouts, and was in some very heavy
fighting. As may be imagined his quaint descriptions of his adven-
tures were most amusing. My share was two years garrison duty
at home. As to the Tariff Eeform, was he not persuaded in a bye-
election to come forward and fight and win a seat which borders on
Wales for many miles, and was held by the Radicals for some years
before the Home Rule split ? It was the first seat won in an agri-
cultural division on the full Chamberlain programme, and although
he only retained his seat by a decreased majority in 190G, he more
than trebled it in January 1910, and was unopposed at the last election
in December 1910 — an eloquent tribute to his popularity in his own
county.

After leaving Cambridge he was Master of and hunted the
Wheatland Hounds for many years with wonderful success. As an
instance of his keenness, the writer was staying with him many

MOTHER HUNT 113

years ago vvlien there was a heavy fall of snow. He said, " We will
liimt on foot." We went to the Kennels, and I shall not easily forget
the face of his Kennel Huntsman (Kyte) when he said, " I am o-oino-
to hunt on foot." We drew a wood (Thatchers) near the Kennels
and found. There was fortunately little scent ; but we hunted some
two or three hours, when we were all beat to the world, and having
collected the hounds with difficulty took them home. Nor shall I
ever forget the night of 17th January 1881, when at 11 p.m. in
Ijright moonlight, the ground covered with snow, and 25 degrees of
frost, we sallied out to shoot the covers in Boreatton Park, havino-
impressed the reluctant menservants as beaters. We managed to
secure about 30 head of rabliits, pigeons, and pheasants, and alarmed
the whole neighbourhood. The keepers turned up rather late,
trembling with funk as they thought they had a gang of poachers to
deal with, the head keeper with a gun, and on being questioned
about it, said he had been stalking " Mr, Kewke " (Cooke) as he was
the biggest !

Hunt was co-Master of the Shropshire Hounds and hunted them,
leaving them to go out to the war in South Africa in July 1900.
He was a very bold rider to hounds, with an ugly seat, but perfect
hands ; and to see him driving at great hairy fences on his Arabs,
which at one time he swore by, was a sight for the gods. He won
the Wynnesstay Cup -at Bangor on Bertie, a horse of his own
breeding. And now he has cast all sport to the winds and given him-
self up heart and soul to politics. Long may he be member for the
Ludlow Division of Salop, but his many friends would Hke to see
him in the field of sport again.

The above was accompanied by the following letter : —

The Ridge, Chipping Sodbury,
April 11, 1911.

Dear Mk. Kempson — I am sending you herewith Hunt's per-
sonal memories. He has been through it and approves of it, and has
made a few alterations.

Mrs. Hunt, writing with it, says she is delighted, and that there
is only one thing she cannot agree with, viz. the improvement in

I

114 THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

his dress ! She says that he wears his best clothes gardening, and
his worst to go to the House of Commons. I retahated by saying,
" Lucidly you did not know him in his Cambridge days ! "

At the end you will lind two more stories, which may or may
not be worth inserting, and a note of Cooke's, which is interesting.^
I also enclose another " Snipey " story. — Yours sincerely,

(Signed) P. Burges.

Mr. Cooke's notes are incorporated in Mr. Burges's copy : the
other stories will be saved up for a honnc houchc at the end. We sro
on with the history of the period, also from Mr. Burges.

Mr. Tennant took over the Mastership in 1878 from Mr. Vickers
(?), and continued as Master during part of Lent Term of 1880.
Hunt hunted the hounds a few times during this term, and whipped
to Tennant. The writer at that time was not a subscriber, but
being a friend of Mr. Tennaut's went out a few times with him.
Mr. Tennant's Whips at that time were Mr. Meysey-Thompson,^ Mr.
Haines, and Mr. Musgrave. Mr. Tennant sometimes rode himself, and
though it was an advantage to runners to be able to " run " the
rider, who could be seen at a distance, the rider was able to lift and
cast the hounds far quicker than when he was on foot, and the
field got a bit left.

Mr. Tennant went down in 1881. Mr. Meysey-Thompson was
1st Whip, and Mr. Haines 2nd AVhip. He offered hounds to Mr.
Haines, who would have succeeded to the Mastership, but he was
not inclined to do so.

Mr. Eowland Hunt came up to Magdalene in February 1879.
He had been an extraordinarily successful Master of the Eton Beagles
— he killed 15 hares his first half and 17 his second — and there being
no one keen to take up the Mastership at Trinity, he was, after
some opposition, asked to take it, which he agreed to do provided
he was given a free hand in dealing with the Pack, and was
supported by a larger number of subscribers. As soon as it was

' Cooke was also a Salopian and one of Hunt's Whips.
2 Mr. M.-T. was up during Hunt's Mastership, but did not continue as Whip.

MOTHER HUNT 115

known that he had taken the Mastership, subscribers, at that time
largely Etonians, began to come in, and though he began with the
old Pack he soon drafted the old and bad hounds and began buying,
and at once started looking for a site for new Kennels.

At this time the hounds, about 15 couple, were kenneled at a
pub opposite Magdalene, the Kennels being a miserable hole with
a yard about 10 feet square. They were irregularly and badly
fed at 2s. a week per head, mostly on scraps and odds and ends,
and were full of mange and eczema. Many hounds were old and
past work, some riotous and much addicted to rabbits and red-legged
partridges. They varied in size from 14 inches to 16 inches, but
were mostly on the small side. There were a few good hounds
among them, but very few.

Hunt had the two old Whips to start with — Haines and
Musgrave — who were both Whips under Tennant. The former was
an exceptionally good runner. He appointed E. M. Lawson Smith
(who had recently so distinguished himself in the Eton and Harrow
Match by practically winning the Match for Harrow), H. R. Cook,
afterwards 'Varsity High Jumper, and P. Barges, all of Trinity, as
Whips ; and Hunt began training them as well as his hounds — the
Whips' idea at first being that they were out for amusement and to
see the run. They were speedily cursed in Hunt's flowery language
and taught their job. Roughly speaking, Hunt's principle was one
Whip with him to turn the hounds at casts, the others wide on
the wings of the hunt and as far forward as they could get to view
hares and whip off hounds from fresh hares. They were provided
with whistles, and neither they nor the field were allowed to holloa.
Hunt rarely if ever holloaed unless he had a beaten hare in view,
and the result was that the hounds fairly flew to him when he did
open his mouth, a fact which more than once saved the hounds from
trains, as on hearing the holloa they flew to him in a body.

Hunt found a piece of vacant land,i a portion of some land near
the Histon Road being laid out for building, and after much
negotiation agreed to buy it at £125. He then proceeded to raise
money by subscriptions to build Kennels and get a van, the hounds

^ The land was bought early in 1880.

116 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

at this time being taken to meets in a market-cart with a pig-net
over them, exposed to all sorts of weather, each hound having to be
lifted in.

He got subscriptions enough to pay for the Kennels but not for
the land. Burges volunteered to buy the land and to resell to the
Committee at any time. The Kennels, therefore, for several years
legally belonged to Burges,^ and he received £5 a year rent, and
actually had a Parliamentary vote in respect of them. In 1898
this arrangement was put an end to by the purchase of the land
from Burges.

The Kennels were finished for tlie October Term 1880.^ There
is no doubt they were badly built, and several alterations had speedily
to be made.

The Kennels were finished and paid for (largely by Hunt) and
a new era began.

Prior to 1881 the hunt servants' uniform consisted of a Lincoln
green cloth soft cap, but in 1881 it was decided to attire them in
green coats of velveteen, the button silver, with " T.F.B." in black
on it. The old cap was retained as a matter of sentiment, but was
abolished in 1882 in favour of a soft green velveteen cap. Hunt
would not have the hard cap now in use, as he could not put it in
his pocket ! White breeches did not come in till after Hunt's time.
Hunt was averse to this uniform, as he said it did not matter a
d — n what you wore as long as the hounds ran, and that high-
class clothes were not in his line, which was most certainly true !
The first hunt coats were made by Bainbridge in Trinity Street.

Hunt had meantime ordered the Beagle van, which was made
to his own design, and was built by his village carpenter at
Baschurch, Salop. It was not a great success. Its appearance was
against it, being a cross between a hearse and a baker's cart. It
was not very low on wheels, and the hounds had a plank to walk
up. It ran heavily and the wheels did not track. The horse was
hired and was more fit for hound soup than his job. The hire of
horse with his driver were paid at so much per meet, depending on

1 Burges, in a letter to N. 0. Walker, say.s that liis father bought them. See i>. 213.
^ I think this is correct. — R. H.

MOTHEE HUNT 117

distance. The van arrived in due course, and Cooke and Burges
volunteered to drive it to the Kennels. They little knew what they
were taking on, as they were chaffed from start to finish, such
remarks as " Tliat's not the way to the cemetery ! " " Next turning to
dissecting room ! " " The mourners are waiting 1 " and similar chaff of
the same nature. However, the van arrived at its destination and
proved a great improvement on the pig cart, and the way the hounds
made for it after a long day showed how they appreciated a ride
home under cover.

Some little trouble was experienced with occupiers of houses^
adjoining the Kennels objecting to the noise and smell of the hounds,
but Hunt managed wdth his usual tact to pacify them.

The next thing he did was to set to work to cultivate the farmers.
He attended each Saturday Market, and he had every Saturday at
his rooms (which were large and nearly opposite Magdalene) a cold
lunch spread for any farmers who cared to go, and also to take any
friends. This speedily won the farmers, and Hunt was inundated
witli requests to come to farms which the Beagles had never been
to before.

It is hard to remember the many farmers who supported the
hunt in those days, and extended hospitality to all comers. Those
that recall themselves most to the writer were Mr. Lilley, who lived
close to Cambridge; Mr. Ivatt of Eampton, where we had many
riding days; Mr. Ellis, jVIr. Baker, Mr. Bennett, Mr. King, Mr.
Fison, Mr. Banyard, Mr. Mason of Waterbeach, and many others
whose names, after a lapse of thirty years, have lapsed from the
writer's memory. Hunt's charm of manner and tact were such that
he made personal friends of all the farmers on whose land he hunted,
and many years after, to the writer's knowledge, his memory was very
green, and possibly he is remembered to this day, though many of his
old friends must have gone to the Happy Hunting Grounds by now.

As an instance of his tact, there was a farmer at Waterbeach
who had the strongest aversion to the Beagles, and said he would
shoot them if they came on his land. This farm had Iteen a thorn

1 The Fanners Book memoranda sliow some signs of this. It is found advisable
to "keep in witli " Histon Road neighbours by dealing with them where possible.

118 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

in the side of past Masters, as hares constantly took a line over it
and hounds had to be whipped off. Hunt's first encounter with
him was on the occasion of killing a hare close to his house. What
Hunt did is a mystery, but he refused to be annoyed with the man's
abuse and eventually the farmer became an ardent friend of his, and
we enjoyed much good sport over his land.

In 1881-82 further Whips were added to replace those leaving —
these were Mr. E. E. Barclay, who hunted a pack of beagles of his own
for many years, and has been Master of the Puckeridge for over thirteen
years, Mr. Watkin Wynn, now Sir Watkin Wynn, and Mr. Stainer.

Mr. Barclay ^ was the best heavy weight runner the writer ever
saw — he stayed in the most wonderful manner, and one never seemed
to be able to get on terms with him.

While mentioning Mr. Barclay there is a story worth repeating,
which though not bearing on beagling was confirmed many years
after to the writer when he was beagUng at Isleham Fen with
Barclay, by the farmer who was the subject of it.

There was at that time a celebrated cab-driver called " Snipey "
Clark. He was a confirmed poacher and used to drive undergrads.
out to shoot on various farms which he said the tenants wanted the
game shot over.

One day he came to A. G. Steele and Ivo Bligh (the present
Lord Darnley) and said a Mr. White had expressed hopes he would
bring down some guns to shoot snipe which were fairly shouldering
one another on his Fen. The day Clark chose was a Cambridge
Market Day. In due course they arrived on the ground and started
off with Snipey as beater. A hare got up which was shot and put
by Snipey in his game pocket, oblivious of the fact that there was a
large hole in it (the pocket).

Things went well and a nice few snipe were bagged, when an
infuriated man rushed down on the party and in no measured
language asked them what the blank blank they meant by shooting
on his land. Snipey said, "This is Mr. White's farm, isn't it?"
" No," said the man, " and there is no farmer of that name in the
district/' The shooters apologised humbly for their henchman's

^ His son, G. W. Barclay, is now Master.— F. C. K.

MOTHEE HUNT 119

mistake, and were just moving off when the farmer said, " I hope you
have not shot any hares." " No," said Snipey at once. " Then what
the devil is this ? " said the farmer, holding up Snipey 's coat out of
the hole in which the hare's head was hanging. " That's an 'are,"
said Snipey. " We brought it with us for lunch." " Good God ! " was
all the farmer said and walked off home.

As before related, the writer met this farmer many years after
when he confirmed the story, and when asked why he had walked
off, said he was so overcome with laughter which he did not wish to
show that it was the only thing he could do.

The stories of Snipey in those days were many, but not being on
beawUng we cannot well drarr another in.^

Among the subscribers and supporters of the hunt in those days,
the Dons were represented by Mr. Eouse-Ball of Trinity, and Mr.
Gunton of Magdalene, the former being a very regular runner.

Apropos of Mr. Ball, Frank Baker of Trinity, one of the most
ardent supporters of the hunt, was gated by him for non-attendance
at his lectures, and being out the next day Baker thought he would
propitiate the Don by a sip from his flask. The day was a thirsty
one, and Baker was much chagrined to have the flask returned
empty. " And even after that," said Baker, " he never offered to let
me off my gate — no more whisky for Ball ! "

The above recalls another unfortunate contretemps which
happened, I think, to Antrobus. There was a bye morning meet, so
he wrote a letter in The Pitt to his lecturer saying that in con-
sequence of a severe headache he was unable to attend the lecture,
dated it the next day, and posted it in the Message Box ten minutes
after the last clearing time so as to be delivered the next morning,
when he went out with the Beagles. Unfortunately the messenger
was late and delivered the post-dated letter the same night. The
writer had a mauvais quart cVhcure with the lecturer, and was " at
home " at six for some time after.

The largest bag Hunt made in any one day was at Haverhill

^ Beagling or no beagling, Snipey deserves such immortality as we can give him,
and so I asked for more Snipey stories and have got two. They follow later. —
F. C. K.

120 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

when be killed seven hares; two of these, however, had either wires
round them or w^ere run into wires during the course of a run. The
writer has a dim recollection of a beagle being " wired " on this or
some other occasion, and more than once hares were picked up by
lurchers or shot in front of hounds by some ardent shootist, but
whether at Cambridge he cannot recollect.

Hunt's energy and work soon made itself felt. In his first season,
1880-81, he accounted for 67 hares, and in the second he killed 88
and a fox. The latter was hunted by permission of some mounted
members of the Wheatlaud Hunt who were out, on its being found
on Mr. Hunt's estate at Plaish in that coantry,^ these gentlemen
wishing for a bit of a ride and never anticipating Hunt would
account for the fox. This, however, he did after a run of 1 hour and
40 minutes, the fox being run into in a cattle-shed, and several of
the liounds came out the worse for wear from the melee that ensued.
It was little thought at the time that Hunt was killing his first fox
in a country which Jie afterwards hunted for many years, and with
such ability as Master of the Wheatland Hounds.

Some of the hares were killed during the vacation, as Hunt took
the hounds home with him and several of his Whips stopped with
him to help. The result of this sport was that the Beagles became
the fashion, the subscribers increased by leaps and bounds, and the
fields became large, but by Hunt's tact and authority they were well
in hand and very keen.

Among many good runs, three recall themselves to the writer
even after this lapse of time.

1. The Shelford run in Lent term 1880. The hare was found
near Shelford station and took a wide circle nearly up to Gog Magog
and back nearly to Shelford, and thence in a straight line to the
G.E. Railway, Newmarket branch, cutting it between Cherry
Hinton and Fulbourne, and then running almost parallel with the
line, was killed in the goods yard at Cambridge station. There
was a large field out but few saw it to the end ; among others at the
finish were Cooke, Burges, Haines, Musgrave, liailey, and others.

^ The liouiids found a hare, but a fox got u]) out of a ludgeiow just outside
Oakwood Covert. — li. H.

MOTHER HUNT 121

2. The Swavesey Ruu, Lent term 1881. The meet was Swavesey
village at Mr. Long's. After two ringing runs of some duration,
both hares being killed, a hare was found close to the village : she
ran straight to Long Stanton, about three miles, then gradually
swinging to the right crossed the Madingley Eoad about the fourth
milestone from Cambridge ; here luckily E. E. Barclay met us on
horseback, and viewing the hare over the road went on with the
hounds and pulled her down on the top of the hill — the point was
about seven miles. From the top of the hill the field could be seen
stretched out for two miles. Hunt led the field from start to finish
— his rage will be recollected by those present when, at a check, he
asked a deaf stone-breaker where the hare had gone to, and after
much shouting was told "To Bath." Among those who saw this
run from start to finish were Cooke, Shearburn, Steele, Mildmay,
Stainer, Baker, Burges, Lawson-Smith.

3. This very fine run was made from Mr. Mason's farm at Water-
beach. After one wide ring the hare ran straight towards Ely and lay
down near some old brick works. On getting up again she ran in
view across the fen for about half a mile and was killed close to Ely.

Before closing this short account of the Himt period one must not
forget the riding days. These were mostly at Mr. Ivatt's of
Rampton. It was a sorry day for the Cambridge hirelings ; the field,
generally about twenty to thirty, distinguished themselves mostly by
the number of tosses they took. One day was memorable. The
field was seventeen, and the aggregate number of falls was thirty-
five. Two of the gallant sportsmen did not admit a fall, but one had
four and several two or three, the writer among them. One sports-
man, the present Sir W. W. Wynn, ended his tale of woe by jumping
into a large heap of very rotten manure in which his head dis-
appeared.

The writer had one riding day to himself. He had been laid up
with rheumatism of the knees, brought on by wading in icy water in
the Fens in the pursuit of the wily snipe, and after being laid up ten
days and just able to walk, Barclay offered him his horse " Guts " to
ride out with the Beagles near the Backs. Now " Guts " was up to
sixteen stone and the rider was nine; furthermore " Guts " was full

122 THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

of beans and benevolence, and on the hounds finding he went exactly
where he liked, his rider, in a long yellow ulster and trousers, having
no more control than a tom-tit over a steam roller, and away he
went, fortunately not through the pack, and by dint of laying on to
one rein he was got round in a curve which, to the rider's horror,
looked as though it would bring him in front of the targets on the
range at which firing was in progress. By dint of further efforts the
curve was brought behind the Butts. His rider thought he heard
bullets whistling over him, but it was probably only the wind
whistling in his ears. Having at length got him on the road he
consented to pull up to a strong trot, and took his saddened and
beaten rider back to his stables in the lane.

To these reminiscences Mr. Hunt appends the following note : —
" I remember the Butts day well, and the bullets whistling. I
think on the whole, during my two years, we had very good sport.
As we met at 1 or 1.30 p.m. the time was rather short, and therefore
the Beagles were held on and lifted, more than would be perhaps
justifiable under ordinary circumstances ; but, as Mr. Jorrocks says,
'Hounds that don't stand lifting are not worth having.' I found
that it was quite easy to lift hounds for half a mile and put their
noses down at any given point, but I have never been able to explain
to any one else how it was done."

I have also picked up the following scrap of information from an
old Magdalene man who was not a beagler. Mr. Gunton, a beagling
Don, was Dean at Magdalene, and just as in ancient China ^ there
was a Confucian who was called the philosopher of the four stops,
so Mr. Gunton might be dubbed the don of the four " veries." He
was, my informant tells me: —

1. Very good company.

2. Very clever at writing elegiacs.

3. Very fond of Newmarket.

4. Very cpiick with the Chapel services.

Does not that read like a survival of eighteenth - century
dondom ?

^ Unearthed by Mr. E. ^'. Lucas.

MOTHER HUNT 123

Here follow " Mother " Hunt's personal reminiscences, which
would have an interest of their own however much the matter over-
lapped that of the Burges Narratives.

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF TRINITY FOOT
BEAGLES

By Rowland Hunt

I took over the Trinity Foot Beagles from Mr. Cecil Tennant.
The books in which the accounts of runs were kept had unfortunately
been lost and no accounts of runs were kept. I think that I began
to hunt the Beagles towards the end of the autumn term of the year
1880, and hunted them during 1881 and 1882. When I first took
them they were kept at a public-house by a publican and were not
well fed and looked after. It was very unsatisfactory, and we got up
a subscription and built Kennels on the outskirts of Cambridge, and
had our own man to look after them. I had some trouble with the
neighbours from the noise hounds made. I bought some very good
hounds from a Mr. Jackson, somewhere in the south of England, and
also bred some. Harkaway and Vestal were two of the very best
hounds. In my time the hounds were drafted and bred entirely for
nose, tongue, drive, and perseverance, and we also tried to keep them
between 14 and 16 inches inclusive. They were a very good ^mck of
beagles when I left Cambridge, and the last season at Cambridge
killed eighty-eight hares and a fox, but this included a certain
amount of days during early autumn and the Christmas vacation,
when I hunted them at home in Shropshire. The fox was killed
accidentally as they changed from a hare, and though there were
some farmers out riding they were not stopped. This was in the
Wheatland country in Shropshire about Christmas time. About
fifty minutes very fast.

Mr. Fellowes of Shotesham let us have a few couples of hounds
which were too small for him. They were, I believe, pure harriers,
but very good in their work. The farmers were extremely good to
us and we had very little troiible, and a blank day was almost, if not
quite, unknown. The hounds were taken long distances in a van as

124 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

they hunted three days each week. We had one or two riding days
in the season, and I remember the present Sir Watkin Wynn jumping
into a manure heap and having to be scraped. Mr. Butt Miller, who
had the Oakley and V.W.H. many years, began hunting, I believe,
on riding days with the Trinity Beagles.^

I am inchned to think it is on the whole more difficult to catch
a hare with 15-inch foot beagles than to catch a fox with foxhounds.
It is perhaps easier to catch a hare in a flat plough country than in
a grass country, because a hare gets tired much sooner on the plough.
Men who begin hunting by hunting beagles learn an enormous
amount about hunting, and are apt to be slow - at first when they
change to hunting a fox.

I should say that we had very good sport during the two years I
hunted the Trinity Beagles, but they were, I think, rather good
scenting years, and having generally a good many men out, we got a
considerable amount of help. I once killed a hare with five old
hounds which had been taken on to the meet in the carriage, the
rest of the pack having gone to the wrong meet. The run was two
and a half hours, and we killed in Wixhall Moss (Salop). The best run
that I can remember was in Shropshire. We found close to Loppington
Tollgate, ran two very big rings, and then straight for about seven
miles, killing in the open close to the Yesters, almost all grass, a very
wet day, brooks swollen, and a parson very nearly got drowned.

(Signed) Rowland Hunt.

This matter was also passed through Mr. Burges's hands, and he
returned it with the following criticisms.

Letter

School of Musketry, Hythe, Kent,
March 3, 1911.

Dear Mr. Kemi'SON — Thanks for return of my MSS., and am
glad to find it meets your approval.

^ This is quite true ; B. M. is my brother-in-law. — P. Burges.

- The same criticism was made by a regular follower of the Cambridgeshire, Mr.
Artliur Hurrell, whom I remeiuber well in my young days. On my remarking that
T.F. B. was a good school I'or M.F.H. 's, he said it made them too slow.

MOTHER HUNT

125

I return Hunt's draft. It is curious to me how Hunt recalls
many little incidents almost word for word as I did — Wyun falling
in the manure heap, etc.

Hunt's remarks re hare and fox hunting are interesting coming
from him. I think my dates re Hunt's commencement are right,
Cooke has checked them.

I am here till 28th at School again, 105 officers of Special

Eeserve. — Yours sincerely,

(Signed) P. Burges.

The following " Visitation Articles " issued by Mr. Burges, with
the answers of Mr. Rowland Hunt, are of interest in showing the
pains taken in piecing together the information contained in this
chapter, and also as bringing out one or two fresh points.

Mr. Burges's Questions.

1. Did you come up in October
1879, and did you hunt with
Tennant that term, and did you
whip for him ?

2. Who approached you to take
over Mastership 1

3. When Tennant was Master
did you hunt the hounds any days
in his absence ?

4. How many hounds did you
draft when you took over, and
where did you buy any ?

5. Where did the bhick-and-tans
come from, the " Cygnet " lot 1 I
fancy you bred " Cygnet."

6. Do you know what the
hounds cost you out of pocket ? I
would think £300 a year, but I
know you never kept any account.

Mr. Hunt's Answ^ers.
I went up to Cambridge in
February 1880, and did whip for
Tennant a few times.

Tennant asked me to take the
Beagles, but Meysey-Thompson was
first Whip and I whipped to him
when he hunted them.

I believe I hunted the hounds
two or three times when neither
Tennant nor Meysey-Thompson
could come out.

I cannot remember how many
hounds I drafted, but I bought
several couples of very good hounds
from a Mr. Jackson who lived some-
where in the south of England.

I cannot remember where the
black -and -tans came from, but I
bred " Cygnet."

I should think the Beagles cost
me altoijether £200 a vear.

126 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

7. Add anything else you can I got some good hounds from

think of. Mr. Fellowes of Shotesham.

Having narrated the more weighty matters we can now find
space for one or two more "Hunt" and " Snipey " stories, all
contributed Ijy Mr. B urges.

Two more " Hunt " stories : —

I

On another occasion we were sitting round a fire, among us being
a first term freshman who had a long nose and a very freckled face.
Hunt was staring at him in an abstracted manner, when the freshman
said, " I wonder what you are thinking about me, Mr. Hunt ? "
Hunt promptly replied, " I was thinking how singularly like a
speckled-bellied thrush you were." It is needless to add this nick-
name w^as speedily attached to the freshman, and for good.

II
Many years ago, at his own station at Baschurch, Hunt and
his wife were going Ijy train, when there appeared a young
gentleman full of importance, who, from his features, dress, and
ornaments, was of Jewish extraction, wearing a top hat and carrying
a gigantic dressing-bag. Hunt was very amused at his appearance
and I suppose showed it, as he came up to Hunt in a furious rage
and abused him in no measured terms, and ended up by saying, " You
are no gentleman," and asked for his name. Hunt listened to his
abuse with an amused smile, and when he had finislied said, " My
curious little long-hatted friend, we don't put up a little, blue-faced,
crooked-nosed, rotten little turnip like you to judge gentlemen in
these parts." The little man went to the stationmaster to find out
his name, and was told that he was the squire of the parish, and if he
hadn't been so small he would probably have been fired into the
road by Hunt. The people at the station were intensely amused.

" Snipe Y " Story No. 2
Two undergraduates, one C. Wright the cricketer, went out with
Snipey to ferret rabbits at a farm. The farmer and Snipey did the

MOTHER HUNT 127

ferreting and there was a miserable little boy to carry the rabbits.
The farmer was very particular, counting the rabbits as they were
shot. At the end of the day Snipey was in a great hurry to get off,
and said, " Jump in, or we shall be late." " Hold hard," said the
farmer, " there's only thirty-four rabbits here and we killed thirty-
six." A discussion ensued, the guns agreeing to the bag. " Where
are the other two?" said the farmer to Snipey. "How should I
know ? " he replied. " But you keep your eye on that boy, he's an
artful young stink."

In pulling off the gun cases at Cambridge the rolled horse cloth
came down and out fell two rabbits. "How did the rabbits get
there ? " said Wright. " Well, it is a mystery," said Snipey, " but my
old woman said in bed last night, ' I have just dreamed we were
having boiled rabbit for dinner,' and I expect that dream will
come true."

No. 3

Six of us banded together to hire a day's cover shooting at
Saffron Walden, and drove over in a waggonette and pair with
Snipey. Many amusing things took place, but after lunch we were
walking some low scrub and a rabbit went back. Ivo Bligh shot at
it, and from behind a bush about fifty yards off, well in the line of
fire, sprang Snipey into the air with a wild yell and his trousers
round his ankles — he had stopped behind without telling any one.
We rushed up, and Bligh said, "Are you hurt?" "Well, you
rattled up my old buckskins a bit, but they are pretty tough and it
don't matter. Honourable," as he called Bligh. We paid Snipey and
Lawrence, the dog man, thirty shillings a head for our shoot, and
afterwards found out it was an outlying cover of the Essex Union
Hunt, and they had taken our money and let us shoot what didn't
belong to them.

One day last season (in February 1911) a sportsman came out to
the Trinity Backs meet mounted on Eeuben, a grey cob of Hopkins,
who (the sportsman, not Pieuben) turned out to be father of a beagling
undergraduate, and himself a beagler of Mother Hunt's time. He
was up for some time, and spent a fair amount of it at The Pitt,

128

THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

where he told tales. One day I asked him to write something, and
lie sat down at once and produced the following : —

Univkrsity Pitt Club,
Undated.

I remember a good day with T.F.B. (one of many) when R. Hunt
was Master, a wonderful scenting day, killed 4 hares, hounds going up

The Colonel," 0. S. Curtis, as he reapi'eaked with T.F.B. in Lent 1911.

to them like Waterloo winners ; field not exactly hang up with
hounds.

Another day, a riding day, when we lunched with a hospitable
farmer, I came out and my horse was gone. Took the last one, and
found an undergraduate on mine. He said, " Oh, yours, is it ? I
didn't know." One horse was much the same as another to him, E.
Barclay, now Master of Puckeridge, an extraordinarily good runner,
though a very heavy weight.

(Signed) 0. S. Curtis.

MOTHER HUNT 129

This accords with a letter from P. Burges, in which he remarks
that E. E. Barclay was the most powerful and enduring heavy-weight
runner he had ever known. Hunt also, he says, " was the most
extraordinary runner to beagles I ever saw — he was the same at Et(m
— but he could not quicken. He tried the Three Miles at Fenner's,
but could not go fast enough."

0. S. Curtis, as I have said, spent a good deal of time at The Pitt,
and told tales, among them the tale of how Weston had been imper-
sonated. Weston was a pedestrian.^ He w\as an American who
made a walking tour tlirough England and lectured at the principal
towns, and he was, I remember, a great topic of conversation at my
preparatory school. Crowds used to go out and meet him and march
in with him. One day he was to walk from Newmarket into Cam-
bridge, a route which was a geographical godsend to the practical
joker. On the day appointed a man came striding in through Barnwell
from the Newmarket Eoad, gathering, snowball like, a vast rabble of
followers, till suddenly he bolted into The Pitt, and— at least so I
should imagine — " immediately the doors were shut." Later in the
afternoon Mr. Weston walked into Cambridge almost alone. The
undergraduate who told me said that Curtis had done it. I told Mr.
Burges that I had met Curtis, who, so I was told, had done this
thing, and received the following reply : —

" Curtis, connnonly known as 'The Colonel' — his father w^as an
American — was a regular Beaglist, but no great runner. If he told
you [he didn't, some one else did ! — F. C. K.] that he impersonated
Weston his memory is at fault ! He undertook to do so, and then
funked, luckily, as he would have been spotted for certain. B. Haig
of Trinity did Weston. I practically arranged the whole show, and
it was one of the finest frauds ever perpetrated. There have been
several accounts of it — notably Brookfield's in his reminiscences — in
which he puts me down as Weston.

" I saw Curtis at Lord's not long ago. His wife was a sister of an
old friend of mine, Gandy, behind whom I rowed many successful
races for Third Trinity B.C."

^ Just as "Khoda had a pagoda," but at an earlier date.

K

130 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

One thing leads to another, and here we see —

(1) What tricks memory can play.

(2) " How small the world is."

(3) That P. Burges was a rowing man.^

In those days there was no such gulf between boaters and beaglers
as now exists — more's the pity !

Two other great hoaxes may be alluded to, though they have no
direct connection with T.F.B. In the seventies the Shah of Persia
visited England. Some undergraduates somehow got hold of a pink
(delivery) telegraph form, and made out a telegram to the Mayor
saying that the Shah was coming down, and in an unguarded
moment, when the Mayor's office was empty, left it on the table.
Pte-enter the Mayor. Telegram found. Immediate exit to confer
with Vice -Chancellor. All available chickens and crime -hruUes
ordered to Eitzwilliam Museum for an impromptu luncheon. The
Colonel of the C.U.E.V., now Master of Corpus, calls out guard of
honour of " bug-shooters." Dr. Campion, Eector of St. Botolph's,
invites miscellaneous friends to view the procession from his church-
yard. All to the station, where the stationmaster says he has heard
nothing of the special. University authorities chide stationmaster
for inattention to business, calling him a fool or words to that effect.
A crestfallen throng returns down the Hills Road, en route for the
centre of the town.

This I tell you as the late Canon Slater of St. Giles' told it me.
He knew all the actors in the farce, and said that it would be by
him but moderately indiscreet to mention names. One of them was
a man who afterwards took an active interest in theatrical matters,
and was himself Mayor of Cambridge.

The other case happened early in the present century, when a
number of undergraduates went up to town, telephoned to the Mayor,
visited Mr. Clarkson, the wig-maker, and came down as a non-existent
uncle of the Sultan of Zanzibar and liis suite, and were received with
red carpet and other royal honours by the Mayor of that date. The

' As was also Curtis, wlio went down to tlie Lent Races on his son's bicycle and
saw I. Trinity B.C. make a bump, rather than go with his son to Cottenham !

MOTHER HUNT 131

most trying moment was when they were asked to meet a learned
lady who could speak Arabic. The boys who did this were very good
boys, so good that they were on friendly terms with a Senior Dean
and a Divinity Professor, who being told about it could not sleep for
spasmodic asthma. I met the " uncle " two days afterwards at
luncheon, so of course my version is accurate. Some one told me
afterwards that the Senior Dean crept about back streets for several
days lest some one should inform him of the occurrence officially. Also
that one of the Trinity porters heard a " damn " as one of the Saracens
stumbled, but did not give the show away.

But we have told enough tales of sport and pleasantry, and must
return to the last fragment of Mr. Burges's beagle narrative, relating
to " Mother " Hunt's last season.

" Hunt's remaining seasons were equally good. He had bred a
large number of black-and-tan hounds which were a remarkable
feature of the pack — among them was one celebrated hound ' Cygnet,'
of the squeaky voice ; another wonderful bitch was ' Barmaid,' ^ who
I believe was still in the pack during Mr. Pease's Mastership, and
' Bismarck,' an ugly, coffin -headed, but good hound. But Hunt's
favourite hound was old 'Harkaway,' who was like a miniature
foxhound, and had rounded ears. He w^as bought by Hunt some-
where, and on leaving Hunt bought him from the pack for £25,
more as a gift to the Committee's finances than for the value of
the hound, as he was very old. Hunt kept him till he died.

" Hunt went down after Lent Term 1883, and was succeeded by
Mr. Watkin Wynn.

" He left the hunt with a fine pack of hounds, with Kennels built
and equipped, hunt servants properly arrayed, and last, but by far
from least, a name among the farmers which is recollected to this
day, not only on account of his boundless hospitality, but because
he became a personal friend of every farmer over whose land he
hunted. Who does not recollect Mr. Ivatt of Rampton, and riding
days galore, Mr. Ellis, Mr. Baker, Mr. Bennett, Mr. King, Mr.
Banyard, Mr. Mason of Waterbeach, and many others, and their
kindness and hospitality in those days ? "

^ I remember her myself.— F. C. K.

132

THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Thus ends the Golden Age of T.F.B. Not that fine sportsmen
have not been seen since — there have been many — but once an
institution has been placed on a good basis, there is nothing more
to do than to carry on. There have been many useful reforms in
detail, but that is all there ever can be. The pack has gone on
since then on essentially the same lines, and it can do no better.

CHArTEII VI

" BUB "

"Am I not Cliristo])lier Sly, Old Sly's son of Burton Hcatli ; Ijy birtli a pedlar, by
education a card-maker, by transmutation a bear-liurd, and by prusent profession a
tinker?" — The Taming of the Shreiv.

HAVE tried to find a poetic (quotation
for tlie head of each chapter in our
liistory, but for " Bob," our Kennel-
man, I am fain to fall back on Shake-
spearian prose, for : Is he not Bob
Floate, old Floate the keeper's son of
Storrington ? By birth a " charac-
ter," by trade a butcher, in default
a bird-scarer, by transmutation a
plumber, and thence by desertion
Kennelman to the T.F.B. ? Where,
by the way, he has lived happily ever
after, though it is only in the last few
years that he has Ijecome the father of a family and is married.

More than one old beagler who has written to me with words
of encouragement, and what is better, deeds, in the form of valuable
information, has suggested what I had also myself thought of, viz.
that Bob could spin some yarns. But he could not be expected to
write them ; they must be obtained viva voce, and shaped as best
I can manage. So one day I went up to the Kennels to interview
Bob, and found him, as a wind-up to the hunting season, dosing the
entire pack with worm-pills, and, though desperate busy, he l)egan
spinning yarns forthwith. I started him off' by talking of mange,

133

134 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

which had afflicted two puppies, Garlic and Gossip, that had been
sent me to walk, and of their successful cure. I had also cured
a deerhound of my own with the T.F.B. prescription, only to have
him cut up by a train a few weeks after. That was enough to
fairly loose Bob's tongue. He knew what sort of dogs they was.
" Why, two of them saved my life once, sir ! "

He had taken the hounds to Earl Fitzwilliam's one vacation,
when as Lord Milton he was Master of T.F.B., and had lodged with
the keeper. They had been shooting bucks in the park, one in
particular, for an annual present to some local municipality, and

one night one of them — " It was
rutting time, and you knows what
that is, sir ! When they've got
their 'orns all big and wunnerfid
strong " — one of them chased Bob,
who Hed, and eventually — I cannot
remember all the details — man-
aged to divert his attention to two
chained-up deerhounds, while he
(Bob) climbed some railings. He

From T.F.B.C. Book. j.|^g^ ^^^^^ qj^ ^q g^y ^}^q^^ many of

them stags was wonderful savage. " We used to lay out beans for
them, and one of 'em turned over the barrow that stood by. Oh ! 'e
did put it all about, sir ! and tlie keeper he gives me a gun and tells
me to wait. ' But mind, whatever you do, don't shoot close,' he says.
And the old stag, 'e conies again and turns the l)arrow over an' all.
And when 'e turns to go off I gives 'im thirty yards, and then — oh
dear ! oh dear ! you should 'a' seed the fur a-fiyin' out all round 'is
tail ! Dust shot it were, sir ! Both barrels ! Oh yes, sir ! "

Here Bob paused for much-needed breath, and 1 took the chance
to explain that I wanted a methodical account of his life and
remembrances, and of how he became Kennelman to T.F.B. Bob
showed himself as willing as any other beagler to contribute what
he could, and from the sample he had put in I had high hopes of
" copy." But for the present Bob had much to do. The administra-
tion of vermifuge to an entire pack is a bigger business than the

PLATE III.

/^

|. S. C.'akk-1;i,i.is( i.\.

1'. Btrges.

H. S. Gl.AUSlONK.

K. Wai.kek.

« BOB "

1:35

giving of brimstone and treacle to the whole Squeers establishment,
and some other day — [here I made a suggestion, would he come out
to Shelford, dine with my servants (all immensely respectable
females ; T wonder what they'll make of Bob), and tell me what he
knew]. " And I've got tales of ]\Ir. A. and Mr. B. as I'll tell you
what nobody couldn't ever believe, sir!" You might suppose,
therefore, that the interview adjourned forthwith; but no! Once
Bob's tongue (which is at best an "unruly member") has taken
charge, and is well stocked with yarns, it is not easily stopped,
especially if stimulated with judicious questions. Yes, it was ]\Ir.
]\Iilne who had brought Bob to Cambridge ; leastways he (Bob) had,
when fifteen years of age, run away from a plumber, to whom he
had been apprenticed, in order to come and be with Mr. ]\Iilne and
the Beagles. He had been 'prenticed to a butcher as well as to the
plumber, so I gathered that Bob's boyhood did not lack incident.
Indeed, he went on talking while attending to his work till, with
the help of a pencil stump and the back of an envelope to aid my
memory, I managed to comb out the following : —

Bob's father was keeper^ to Lord Zouche at Storrington in
Sussex, where he was reared in the best
traditions of feudalism and, his father
being strict, of the dignity of labour.
Every morning he and his brother had
to earn their breakfast by cleaning out
hound kennels, those of the Storrington
Beagles, and then they had a long walk
to school. School days over, Bob went
'prentice to a butcher, and one day,
after the slaughter of a bullock which
he was set to eviscerate, his master
came up from behind and rubbed some
of the "innards" in Bob's face. Bob
gave a graphic description of their

1 Bob says "keeper," Mr. Milne, kennelman
to the Storrington Beagles; perhaps he "made
himself generally useful."

Bob and the Butcher.

136 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

flavour, which cannot be repeated, but whicli so enraged him that he
turned to defend himself, and " I didn't mean to do it, you know,
sir ! but as I turned, my knife went right into 'ini, sir, just 'ere, sir
(marking a place just below the collar-bone), and come out be'ind,
sir!" This can have meant no less than a perforated lung or a
severed subclavian artery. But the butcher seems to have been a
man of determination : he seized Bob by the collar, dragged him to
the house, and, allowing five minutes to pack, drove him summarily
home.

Thereupon his father set him to scare jays, jackdaws, magpies,
and the like from the pheasant coops, and he was hidden in a ditch
with a gun which he was solemnly warned to discharge only in the
air. " And I 'ad to stop there all tlie while as they was a-shootin' in
tlie woods. So I didn't see as I sliouldn't have a shoot too, sir ; so
I waits and watches a old jackdaw till he comed and settled on the
oud coop, and then I ups and takes aim " — Bob always accompanies a
tale with appropriate action, which, alas ! cannot be preserved — " but
as I shoots the gun drops, you know, sir (I hadn't never shot a gun
off afore, you see, sir), and the old jackdaw 'e just ups and flies off.
And then I gets up out o' the ditch and goes to see where the shot
'ad gone, and, oh, there were a mess ! , I finds a 'en as I 'adn't
noticed, and about six little pheasants." I cannot keep up the style
of the original, but the hen and all the pheasants were dead, the
coop riddled with shot holes, and Bob, his father being a stern man,
in a state of nervous perspiration. He carefully removed all carcases
and hid them in a ditch, stopped up all the shot holes in the coop
with dirt, and returned to his ambush — his lay being that, beyond
discharging a gun and scaring a jackdaw, he had seen notliing and
done nothing and knew nothino;.

I wish I could reproduce Bob's acting — it was no less — of the scene
when his father reappeared, but I cannot. Ho had had a shot. His
father had lieard it, so that was admitted. Had he scared anything ?
Yes, there was a jackdaw which has certainly flown away. Then
the coop was found empty, and explanations were demanded, and
were not forthcoming. Bob had no knowledge of the existence of
hens : he had merely loosed off' his gun as aforesaid and a jackdaw

" BOB " 137

liiul Hown away. Closer inspection then showed fresh earth smeared
on the coop, and the removal of the earth revealed shot holes, and
then, " What have you done with that 'en ? "

" What 'en ? I ain't seed no 'en. I only ..." etc., ut supra.

The situation is not unlike that of George Washington, who
when confronted with the maimed cherry-tree said : " Father, I cannot
lie " (or words to that effect), " I did it with my little axe." But Bob
did not reach to such heights of self-accusing veracity ; he stood
rather on the rights of a Briton in the dock, where no man is
bound to incriminate himself.

" If you'll show me where you've put that 'en, I won't 'it yer,"
promises his father. Here was a point at which it appeared prudent
to plead guilty. So, having guarantee of safe-conduct. Bob led the
way to the ditch, where he crawled as slowly as possible under the
brambles. " I wanted to get the 'en out, you see, sir, without lettin'
'im see nuthin' o' no pheasants." Gradually the hen came out, and
alas, a pheasant chick was entangled in her feathers, so the whole
black truth was made patent by habeas corpus. Then the deluge.
He was granted immunity on production of the hen, but this did not
cover six young pheasants. So corporal punishment was followed
l)y two days' confinement to quarters without even bread and water.
Which proves again that honesty is the best policy. No man is
bound to incriminate himself, but if he finds it policy to do so in hope
of a mitigation of sentence it is better to make a clean breast of it at
once rather than to plead half guilty. Don't admit the hen and deny
the chickens. This tale has a sequel.

Under stress of confinement and hunger it is hardly surprising
that bad boy Bob became desperate, and with the aid of his brother
planned a night attack on the larder, where they had discovered
a most beautiful and tempting pot of clear greengage jam. Having
secured this and taken it upstairs it was for Bob to have the first
spoonful. At this point in the narrative he lapsed into pantomime ;
his head was thrown back, his eyes screwed up with anticipation,
and his lips protruded as if to suck the delicious jam from an
imaginary spoon. He then made the motion of putting the spoon
into his mouth, and the form of liis visage changed. " And then I

138

THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

give the spoon to my brother, and you should 'a' seed the face 'e
made when 'c got it in 'is mouth, sir ! You see, sir, it warn't

no greengage jam at all, sir, but
"'^^^ some o' this 'ere old green sof soap
as they'd set out a purpose ; but I
wasn't going to let my brother see
then, not till 'e'd 'ad a spoonful hisself."
And Bob, who is something of an
artist, did not " let on " to me either till
the last minute, so well did he keep up
his tale. Tlien he told of how they
could not get rid of the stuff', which
lathered in their mouths so that sleep
was denied them ; of how like in
colour and translucency green
soft soap is to greengage jam ; of
how they were, of course, found
out ; and told how the punish-
thieving, and how Bob was then

Greengage Jam.

ment fitted the crime of larder
allowed a little breakfast.

After this came the tale of his apprenticeship to a plumber ; of
how he did not like plumbing ; of how his mother packed his box and
helped him to get clear away ; of how " they " was after him, and how
his mother pointed out that pursuit was useless, as even if he came
back he would not work. One man can bring back a renegade
apprentice, but ten cannot make him plumb. So Bob came to his
true vocation in the Histon Road, and to his many and varied duties,
whose details are to be culled from memoranda in the Farmers'
Book, and which may be found in Chapter VIII. And here you may
observe a more important truth, which is that although a youth of
character and unique vocation must of necessity break away from the
commonplace career that his parents devise for him, none the less
what he learns in his enforced apprenticeships often stands him in
good stead. Bob's experience with the butcher has been most
valuable in fitting him to prepare horseflesh for the boiling copper,
and that with the plumber, painter, and glazier has made him handy

"BOB" 139

ill the painting, whitewashing, and other like jobs, which keep the
Kennels in good order and repair, and skilled for the annual varnish-
ing of the hound van.

At this juncture Bob proposed a visit to " the field " to see some
puppies which he was to feed. This field is the latest addition to
T.F.B. " plant," and consists in a paddock effectually fenced in and
divided into two good grass runs by a fence which no hound can
get through or over. In the outer paddock is a kennel for puppies,
and in the inner four separate kennels for brood bitches, built of wood
and covered with felt, and three of them with enclosed concrete yards.
These last have been fitted out at the expense of Mr. Ian Straker, the
Master for 1911-12, and are another instance of how the liberality of
individuals has contrilnited to the permanent property of the hunt.

On our return the pack was physicked, Bob still talking, and
seeing the meat hanging outside the cookhouse, I asked, as a leading
question, if he ever had any himself, and discovered that sometimes
(" of course when I knows it's good, sir ") he salts a bit down, and as his
friends see him eat they say, " Oh ! that do look good ! " Thus pro-
voked he entertains his friends to a bite of boiled beef. This they praise
greatly till they are told where it comes from, and then they may chance
to be a little annoyed, and, such is the power of suggestion, unwell.

The new field was, he said, a most useful addition now that hounds
do not go out to walk for the summer, and with such walking Bob does
not hold. They come back in all sorts of shapes : some " as fat as
moles," others with hardly a hair on their bodies ("jess like frogs they
is"), others little else than hair, and others again "just about right."

Here the interview ended with promise of more at a future date,
and almost immediately after I received the following long-expected
letter from Bob's first master, the Eev. E. A. Milne, now Master of
the Cattistock.

Letter

Chelfrome, Dorchester,
March 11 th, 1912.

Dear Sir— Yes, I imported " Bob " to Cambridge as a boy. His
father was, I think, Kennelraan ^ of the Storrington Beagles in

1 This was clearly combined with ordinary gamckeeping.

140

THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Sussex. Even as a boy he was always a character. The best thing
that I know about him was when he was found killing rats in the
manure pit with Gerald Buxton's, my First Whip, best and most
valuable retriever, which I had allowed him to keep at the Kennels.
Sometimes I had the pack down at Shenley,^ Bucks, in the Christmas
vacation. Bob used to come too, and I remember him falling into
the Canal one day when it was half frozen over.

We frequently drove a team of four in the " Beagle Cart " in my
day. ]\Ir. Gunton, wlio was Senior Proctor, used to run with us.

One day he sent round to ask for
day when we were breaking the
horses. I went to see him and
was : —

" If you won't upset me I will
drive two horses on such roads."

My last year Rowland Hunt
dinner one night it was suggested

T.F.B. HUNT A Debu.
Aiionyiuous from T.K.B.C. Book.

a place in the Beagle Cart on a
'Varsity rules by driving four
explained matters. His answer

come. I think it cruel only to

came to stop with me. After
we should have a stag hunt with
the Beagles. There and then we
wired off to Porter of Thames
Ditton to send two deer and
never thought more of it. On
arriving from hunting next day
my man met me at the door and
said that there were two deer in
tlu! hall of my lodgings — in crates!

1 Where Mr. Milne was Rector until
1900, when he took over the Cattistock.

« BOB " 141

They were removed to Free the van-driver's farm, to be hunted the
following day at Five Bells. " Mother " Hunt was missed and was
found painting the hocks of the animals with aniseed, and so mucli
did he put on that one could wind them all the way to the meet.
AVe " took " them both, but the hounds at first would not run them
nor the aniseed. — Yours very truly,

(Signed) Edgar A. Milne.

Bob using a valuable retriever for Inmting rats on a muck-heap —
he was still but a boy, remember — is quite of a piece with his shooting
of the jackdaw. The other tales are also interesting. What, for
example, could be more typical of undergraduate inconsequence
than to wire for two deer in the middle of dinner and then to forget
all about it ? It is also pleasant to hear more of Mr. Gunton of
Mao-dalene, Dean of the " four veries," and at this epoch Senior
Proctor. He was still a Fellow of his College in 1891, teste the
" University Calendar," but must have given up beagling soon after
the Milne era, for neither he nor any other Don beagled in my
undergraduate days.

Travelling one day on seafaring business to Ipswich, for Pin Mill,
l;)y what our Shelford porters call the " Pampisford, Linton, Bartlow,
'Aver'll, Sudbury, and Colchester train," I chanced at Long Melford
to pick up a young Hyde Parker, a latter-day beagler of Magdalene,
and to be introduced to his father, the Ptev. Sir W. Hyde Parker,
Bart. So naturally as w^e jogged along, two Jesuits in disguise,
for we were Ijoth in mufti, our talk fell on T.F.B. and this history,
and so led to the discovery that Sir William had whipped in to
the present liev. Master of the Cattistock when he had been ]\Iaster
of T.F.B., which resulted in a promise of the contribution here
following : —

NOTES re T.F.B.— 1883-85

By the Pev. Sir W. Hyde Parker, Bart.

For the season of 1883-84, E. A. Milne, always known as "Jack
Milne," became Master, having whii)ped to AVynn (Sir AVatkin

142 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Williams Wynn, Bart., M.F.H.) the previous season. J. ]\I. was
ever the essence of keenness, and immediately set to work to
improve the Kennel management and the hounds. The former
was thin and bad. For many years the Kennelman had been " old
Jackson," who always wore a funny, round, sham-sealskin cap, and
looked like a retired bargee. Whether he deserved the bad moral
reputation he had is open to doubt, but his roughness, neglect, and
dirt in the Kennels at this time were undoubted. J. M. soon
determined to end this, and engaged the well-known " Bob Floate,"
who still flourishes. He came from Storrington, where in those
days the well-known Be v. J. Faithful had a large cramming
establishment, which included among its attractions a pack of
beagles, of whicli B. Floate's father was the Kennelman.

When " Bob " was established the next thing was to improve
the Pack. AVhen " Mother Hunt " went down he had an excellent
lot for work, but he took all the best of them away and hunted
them for some seasons from (old) Boreatton, his estate in Shropshire.
In Wynn's time nothing much was done to improve the remainder,
but in '83 E. A. M. bought two lots of hounds, besides stray lots,
one lot coming from T. Eiley Smith (afterwards Master of Stag-
hounds and Suffolk Foxhounds), and another lot which included
many blue-mottled hounds from somewhere in Leicestershire, and
after a good deal of drafting and a heavy loss from distemper —
during which the new hounds were taken to Free's farm (Free, in
those days, horsed and drove the hound van) — a very useful lot
remained. The cream in the season of 1883-84 was composed of
Dexter, Ptansom, Gadfly, Bashful, Harkaway, Fairmaid, Vanity,
Madcap, and Wilful. The latter was one of Riley Smith's. He had
a short stern and was a clinker on a cold scent.

The hunt staff, or, as it was called then, " The Committee,"
consisted of three Whips — G. Jjuxton, A. W. Drury, W. Hyde
I'arker. The latter was a Clare man, but there was usually one
out-college Whip.

G. Buxton was a great runner, and ran in the Three Miles against
Oxford, and used to get us to run witli him when training on the
track, but his stride was tremendous ! He had a very well-broken

"BOB" 143

and highly-trained retriever, which he thought he would keep at
the Kennels. His face was a study on one occasion, when, on
entering the Kennel yard, we found " Bob " killing rats with it in
the manure bin. G. B. resides in Essex, and is a well-known man
with the Essex Hounds, and used often to act as Field Master in
Mr. Green's Mastership.

" Jack Milne " also enlarged the area over which hounds hunted,
and was the first to obtain for them permission to hunt Chatteris
Een — an excellent piece of country. He had great prudence and
tact for a youngster in persuading objectors, e.g. a certain Mr.
Caldwell of Impingten (if memory serves right as regards names)
was a very hard nut to crack, but taking W. H. Parker with him,
he went and bearded him in his den, and with great patience won
the day, after a very bad five minutes to begin with, and afterwards
Mr. C. thought all the world of him.

Milne continued Master the following season — '84-'85 — and "VV.
Hyde Parker continued with him, but Buxton and Drury having
gone down, their places were taken by C. F. Young and W. Heber-
Percy. Charlie Young added weight to the Committee, whatever
else he may have done, and Heber-Percy ^ was a wonderful jumper,
and won shillings and half-crowns frequently by getting out of the
" Committee Cart," and jumping fences out of the road, which
looked unjumpable on foot. In this season the hounds improved
much, the cream consisting of Fairmaid, Buby, Wilful, Viscount,
Beauty, Boreatton, Lapwing, Lustrous, Warwick, Ghostly, Buttercup,
Fidget, Harkaway, Dexter, Eansom, Vandex, and Chanter.

I don't suppose there ever were much keener Masters than
" Mother " Hunt and " Jack " Milne, nor have the twenty-seven
years which have elapsed made any difference to the keenness of
the latter, though the former doesn't any longer pursue.

Milne had a lot of young hounds to enter his second season, and
said we must be at it by daybreak, meeting at Granchester; Mr.
Lilly, who lived there then, being a great supporter. This meant
breaking " our gates," and it took a lot of explanation to make the

^ A. W. Heber-Percy married a daughter of Lord Portman's, and acts frequently
as field-master of Lord P.'s hounds.

144

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

ordinary College iJon understand wliy you should break your gate
at 5 A.M. to go beagling, and there was a look of incredulity
prevalent during the interview.

E. A. Milne and W. H. Parker both took holy orders, and in
later life both had liarriers and foxliounds ; the former being still

Pity thk poor Bedder.
"Yes, Sir, liup at fivp lievcry mortial nioniiii^'."— Drawn by C. P. T. Hawkos.

Master of the (,'attistock Hounds, which he has hunted since 1900.
He has the well-earned reputation of being one of the most successful
hound breeders of the day, as a three -tiered sideboard in his
dining-room covered witli cups and trophies won by his liounds of
late years shows ; nor will it be much disputed if it is stated that
he is one of three or four best amateur huntsmen in the country,
and in some of the most important essentials there are none to beat

"BOB" 145

liim and few to equal, notably in patience, perseverance,^ and
endurance. The Cattistock country is one which stands a lot of
hunting, which often extends from the middle of August into the
first days of May, and requires the keenest of sportsmen, such as
Milne, a veritable devotee of the chase. Many of those who in
later life become Masters of Hounds serve an apprenticeship with
beagles. In the case of the Masters of the Cattistock the T.F.B.
were a direct factor in the case, for when Rector of Shenley in
Bucks in the winter of '95 he heard they were wanting to find
quarters for the T.F.B. pack during the Christmas Vacation, so got
them over to Shenley, and hunted them there,- riding to them.
They had excellent sport, and the farmers took to the idea ; so the
same course was pursued the following winter, and this led to the
beginning of the North Bucks Harriers, of which Milne was Master
until 1900, when he took the Cattistock.

When E. A. M. went down from Cambridge, several friends
subscribed to give him a -present in remembrance of the sport he
had shown, and the money he had spent on the Beagles, in the shape
of a gold watch, which he wears to this day.

The foregoing tales have had the undesigned effect of bringing
together a number of ecclesiastics who love hunting and sport
generally, viz. the present Master of the Cattistock, Sir W. Hyde
Parker, who has also been a Eeverend Master, a College Dean and
Senior Proctor, and the compiler of these annals. Mr. Gunton, of
course, is dead, but there is among those who remain, and we are but
samples, evidence that the " sporting parson " is not quite so extinct
as some would suppose and very probably wash. The term " sporting
parson " is objectionable, of course, as even Jack Spraggon knew
the difference between the " sportsman " and the " sporting man," and
the term conjures up such ideas as that of Chaucer's degenerate Friar —

^ There is an apocryphal distich to the effect that —
Patience and Perseverance
Made a Bishop of his Reverence.

Is this prophetic of the present Master of the Cattistock ? — F. C. K.

- I had a house at Leighton Buzzard tliat winter, and once more helped to turn
T.F.B. hounds to E. A. M.— W. Hyde Parker.

L

146 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Who knew the tavernes well m every towne
And everych hostiler and tapestere.

And " tapster " in those days was, I believe, feminine, and meant a
barmaid. The sporting man is a low-caste gambling pothouse fellow,
and of parsons of that sort one hopes there are none. But Chaucer
presents also another type in the monk who, whatever his departure
from the rule of " poverty," which is not our concern now, " loved
venerye " and was a sportsman proper who —

Yaf not of that texte a pulled hen

That seith that hunters ben noon holy men.

And whatever we may think of his luxurious fur-lined clothes, and
the choice ambling palfrey of his pilgrimage, his judgment as to the
compatibility of holiness and hunting is surely sound, as the following
examples amply prove.

English Bishops in the Middle Ages enjoyed special hunting
privileges in the Royal Forests. Juxon, the Bishop of London, who
attended King Charles the Martyr on the scaffold, kept his pack of
" good " hounds. Bishop Andrewes, who was a saint, and like many
saints of a playful, witty disposition, would rise from his private
devotions and propose going out into the park to shoot a buck,^ and
Parson Jack Russel, though perhaps no saint, was a straight, clean-
living English gentleman who did his duty in accordance with his
lights. Personally, I once knew a parish priest who had a far more
extended and intensive view of his sacerdotal duties, and who also
" loved venerye " and " yaf not of that texte, etc." He was what
would colloquially be called a pronounced " ritualist." He went
abroad to visit the souls of his cure in his cassock, kept his Fridays
strictly, and was a celibate, and, though you may not agree with his
views, you must admit that he lived up to them. He had also a
prejudice against servants of any kind, indoor or out ; this last was
not a principle but a " freak." He groomed his own horses, cooked
his own food, dusted his own rooms, and when you were staying with
him valeted you himself, hating " paid hands " as vigorously as
does any " hardy Corinthian " yachtsman. Once when I had shoot-
^ The Bishops of Winchester to this day maintain a deer park at Farnham.

" BOB " 147

ing in the ueighbourhood he put me up, horse, trap, and all, and
coming in in the evening I would find him with an apron of sack-
cloth over his cassock, and a black skullcap, making sauces in the
scullery. AVe dined in the kitchen, which was monastically clean
and dainty, with two pairs of jack-boots treed and symmetrically
displayed on the cold cooking-range. Gentle and simple met at his
table on quite equal terms. He was, by the way, heir in tail to a
great place, and once told me that he was much exercised as to what he
would do if ever he came into the kingdom, the house being so large
that servants would be unavoidable. His solution was to keep a
librarian for the servants to wait on, and to build a bungalow for
himself in the Park !

In the hunting-field he was, I believe, something of a thruster ;
and, though not like Catherine of Cleves,

Either lovely or young,
Had a rather sharp tongue ; ^

and his speech was the more pungent in that he kept well within
parliamentary limits. He used it to tell home truths publicly and
audibly to such as seemed to him to neglect the amenities of good
sportsmanship, and cared little or nothing for what people thought
of him. He was, by the way, the only man I ever met who said
" Much obleeged," which, as every one knows, is an ancient and
buckish pronunciation of the word " obliged."

But what has all this to do with T.F.B. ? The fox-hunting hermit
was not even a Cambridge sportsman, let alone a beagler ; he came
from Oxford. True enough ! But wherever we hunt, and with
whatever sort of hounds, the sons of Esau are one brotherhood, and
it may be hoped that such an example may encourage those of the
family who have graduated with T.F.B. to continue to be sportsmen
in practice after they have taken Holy Orders. If time given to
sport be taken from duty one is sure they will not, and we take off
our hats to such self-denial. But there is a time for work and a
time for play, and all work and no play makes Jack as dull when he
is a priest as it did when he was a boy. So one hopes that country

^ Iiigoldsby Legends.

148

THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

parsons at least will keep up their sport, both for their own sakes
and to shame those who seem to regard sport as not "nice for a
clergyman," for no better reason apparently than that it is not
sufficiently effeminate !

It is, however, time to return to Bob, as I actually did return to
him several times before I could gain a second interview, as, like
Baal, he was often otherwise engaged. He had gone on a journey
to Eeigate, or an ex-Master had come up and hounds were being
paraded for his inspection, or some of " the gentlemen," as Mrs.
rioate calls the Master and Whips, had taken hounds out to exercise
and come back without " Guilty," and so Bob was gone out into the
byways of the Histon Koad to look for her. At one time Bob was

"Full Cry."
Drawn by C. de M. Grant in T.F.B.C. Book.

ill. His digestion was, I believe, more or less seriously deranged,
and this, no doubt, was the reason why the scheme of his coming
out to dinner came to nothing. However, at last I found him free,
and we went down to "the field" to see the new puppies and to
provoke Bob to talk. I had high hopes of the promised tales of
Mr. A. and Mr. B. " what nobody couldn't ever believe, sir ! " — so
high that I felt sure they would have to be anonymous ; but they
were really of the " big gooseberry " order, and Bob did not tell them,
so depressing is the influence of a disordered stomach, with anything
like his former spirit which he showed when discoursing of jackdaws
and greengage jam. Neither Mr. A. nor Mr. B. had done anything
worthy of fine, imprisonment, or rustication, or which would have
been libellous had it been here given under their names. But both
of them had in their day had Bob and the hounds down for the
vacation.

« BOB " 149

On the first occasion nothing happened until the labours of term
called Bob and his charges back to Cambridge. Then the hounds
had to be taken to the station in the twilight of a January morning.
They were late for the train, and did some sixteen miles at a hand
gallop. Then nose-bags were got for the horses — they were post-
horses from an inn — and hens began to emerge and share the feast.
These hens had apparently roosted under the van when standing in
the inn yard over night, and had stuck to their perches on the axle
trees all through the next morning's rush for the station. Then the
light improving they had waked up and come down quite uncon-
cernedly to breakfast. Afterwards there was a hunt, and several
unauthorised persons such as ostlers and railway porters had roast
fowl for dinner.

In Mr. B.'s reign after a morning's home beagling Bob was found
a gun and taken out rabbit shooting. The Master's terrier was with
Bob, and being called across to his owner the dog misconstrued his
orders or made a mess of it somehow. There was a sound as of a
gun going off, and the dog fled howling. Bob naturally thought that
in the heat of the moment he had been shot at ; but, as a matter of
fact, a cartridge had been thrown at him, and the cap impinging on
an eye-tooth had exploded. Bob was very particular about the eye-
tooth, but of course nobody quite saw what had happened. The dog
took no real harm, as a cartridge exploding in the open does not
burst with the force of a shell. It was, I believe, quite a common
accident for the old pin-fire cartridges when dropped to fall on the
pin and go off, but for a central fire to do so is extraordinarily rare.
None the less the poor dog suffered considerably from shock, and
that he should have been gun-shy for some time afterwards was
hardly surprising.

These are the two tales which " nobody couldn't ever believe."

There is an apocryphal story afloat to the effect that two of Bob's
children were christened Foreman and Fretful, or some such names,
after his favourite hounds. It is quite true that they were all
christened at once, and that T.F.B. officials stood sponsor. Bob said
that he held the eldest himself as she was old enough to " take
notice " and be frightened, and from the accompanying pantomime I

150

THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

judged that he held the kiddy's head over the font in his hands with
its body gripped under his arm, much as he would have held a beagle
for veterinary treatment. Bob has only married and become father
in middle age, and so, as he explained to me, he is in some ways com-
parable to " one of these 'ere race 'osses " ! ! !

I venture to record that he has for some time had intermittent
bad health. He has not saved, and has never, I am told, had so
much money as two pounds in his possession at one time, and should
his work become too much for him it is doubtful whether he can
make adequate provision for incapacity even by stamp-licking. He
has been a faithful as well as an original servant to many generations
of beaglers, and should he have to go on the shelf we ought all to help
to do somethincr for him.

CHAPTEE VII

"freshee" pease and "judy" carr-ellison

Bravo ! Bravo !
Punchinello !!

Song.

PLACE these two Masters together because they
reigned in my own undergraduate days, and
therefore at a time of which I have a personal
remembrance, and also because it was in their
days that T.F.B. took on a new lease of life.
Most of the work of Hunt and E. A. Milne
remained, as indeed it does uuto this day, as
does also Bob, who even then had made him-
self something of an institution ; but
hounds, though they last somewhat longer
than undergraduates, grow old and eventu-
ally die or are " put down."

This is also the period in which verbal
tradition began to take shape in permanent " scriptures," much
of the material being collected by Pease, and arranged and copied
out by Carr Ellison, who was the first Master to devote his abilities
to the cause, and to exhibit genius as a chronicler which gives him
a place among such as Giraldus Cambrensis and Leofric, the Mass-
Priest ; the result being the " Farmers' Book," which is a most
valuable collection of miscellaneous matter providing material for a
sex)arate chapter.

This is also the period in which T.F.B. first came strongly under

151

152 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

North Country influence ; which is important because the Border
counties are a great if not a " fashionable " hunting district, and one
particularly where amateur hound management and hunting afoot
flourish. There is the country of classic John Peel who hunted a
pack of foot foxhounds in the Cumberland Fells, of Surtees who
wrote of Jorrocks, of Pigg, of Soapey Sponge, Jack Spraggon, and
Facey Komford ; and of these Pigg, whose cousin Deavilboger
was a man of substance somewhere in the hinterland of " Cannie
Newcassel," was clearly a Northumbrian type. I remember further
seeing in The Field of those days accounts of the doings of the
Darlington Foot Harriers, and Darlington is pre-eminently the Pease
country, and the Peases, howsoever divided in politics, are united
as mighty hunters before the Lord.

Among North Country members of T.F.B., besides Allgoods, Carr-
EUisons, and Peases, are to be numbered Dr. Fenwick, Mr. Harry
Howard, of Greystoke Castle, and his brother Stafford Howard, Mr.
H. Cavan Irving of Ecclefechan, Mr. C. J. Cropper of Kendal, Mr.
Alan Burns, and in later times Mr. Hugh S. Gladstone of Capenoch,
Dumfriesshire, Mr. Ian A. Straker, and no doubt many others.
Of these, J. S. Carr-Ellison and A. M. Allgood have since acted as
amateur hunt servants with foxhounds, the former as Whip and the
latter as Huntsman, thus reversing their status at Cambridge. The
following note by J. S. Carr-Ellison shows very clearly how in his
case, and the same must be true of others, the T.F.B. profited by the
lore and traditions of Northumberland.

NOTE

By J. S. Carti-Ellison

Some of my happiest days have been spent beagling among the
range of Cheviot Hills in Northumberland, and also in the neighbour-
hood of Cambridge, but beagling on the hills in Northumberland was
much more sporting than it was in Cambridgeshire, and taught one to
be much more self-reliant, and to study nature more. For on the
lonely hills, with only three or four people out, there was not the

"FRESHER" PEASE AND "JUDY" CAEE-ELLISON 153

same help to be got at a check, from holloas, or by information, as
from some one out of a following of 50 or 60 or perhaps more.
And so one had to depend more on one's own eyes, and think, too,
which way a hare would most likely go, and watch the sheep to see
if they had been suddenly disturbed (or scarred as we locally term
it) by the hare running past them. Then, too, the country though
steep is all fine sound grass land, which is easier to run over than
the Cambridgeshire ploughs, especially when they are heavy after a
frost, and you carry nearly half a field on each boot. I had very
good sport beagling there, and I remember one exceptionally fine
run of 3^ hours (never changed), and killed an old Jack hare at the
finish. I think Alan Burns (Trinity), who was my 3rd Whip when
I was Master in '88-'89, and Guthrie Watson, who was staying with
us at Hedgeley, were out.

The reference to the weight of the Cambridgeshire plough is
amusing to such as remember the writer running over it. He was
rather under the middle height, and slow, and his feet, or at any
rate the very wide welted shoes that covered them, were noticeably
large in proportion, and he ran with bent knees, lifting his feet
but little from the ground, perhaps because he lifted so much ground
with his feet. His running, however, or rather jogging, was such that
he could keep up the same pace from the first find till dark, and
four days a week, and he never seemed to tire, but would shog
steadily on with plenty of spare wind for voice and horn, casting his
hounds at a check while the field were all glad enough of a breathing
space. His big broad shoes no doubt acted as skis do on snow
by preventing his sinking into the wet heavy clay, but the amount
they picked up was incredible, and after he had been going for half
an hour over wet ground, he made a perfect picture, and one which I
have ventured to draw.

I remember, too, that when after a hard run we had broken up
our hare, there was often the query, "Any chap got a drop of
whisky ? " Flasks were willingly proffered, and, one favoured one
tasted, we would then spread out at once and draw for a fresh
hare. Beaglers never " trained " or did anything " athletic," and the

154

THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

high standard of abstemiousness of these modern times did not then
obtain.

But it is time to let the Northumbrians tell their own tales.

Mr. a. F. Pease's Eeminiscences

C. F. Young was Master for the season 1885-6, but had only-
hunted the hounds up to Christmas as he was not in residence in

\o

J. S. Carr-Ellison at a Check.

the Lent term, and A. W. Heber-Percy, his first Whip, acted as
deputy Master. L. 0. Meyrick would probably have been offered
the Mastership, but he was drowned ^ when canoeing on the Backs

1 It is from this date that the Proctors made the wise rule that no undergraduate
should boat on the Upper River who had not ])assed the tests of the C.U. Swimming
Club.

"FEESHEE" PEASE AND "JUDY" CAEE-ELLISON 155

the following term, and C. E. Young asked me if I would take them.
The pack which I purchased were an extraordinary lot ; they varied
in size from 13 to 17 inches. They all did their best to hunt, but
in pace the variations were even greater than in size. As far as I
could learn the members of the T.F.B. had never bred their own
hounds, and really there was no accommodation for this in the
kennels. 1 I weeded out some of the slowest, bought a few fresh
hounds, and one of my Whips, Mr. G. A. Miller, presented one or
two couples to the pack, so that, although they were still an uneven
lot, they ran well together, and there were no longer old bitches
giving tongue and bringing back the leading hounds at every check.

In my first season we killed 35 hares and in the second 49,- all
at Cambridge, as, although I took the hounds home one Christmas,
frost and snow made hunting impossible. As far as we could learn,
the 49 was a record for those days, except " Mother " Hunt's year.
He killed 86, but not all at Cambridge.

The best hound in the pack was " Warwick," bred by Mr. Edward
Barclay. He was very well bred but looked Hke a pointer. He was
the best worker I have ever seen, almost always running at the head
of the pack, untiring at a check, and often picking up the line on a
dry and dusty road when no other hound could smell anything.
Often when quite beat as to where to cast, 1 have just stopped and
let " Warwick " do what he thought best — and a very good best it was.

The next best hound was " Harkaw\ay," rather a heavy hound,
but owing to his fondness for water he suffered from rheumatism.

" Vandon " was another wonderful hound ; he never missed going
out with the pack while I had them.

I can remember the characteristics of many other hounds, but
few of their names, and should only weary by giving too much
detail ; suffice it to say that the pack was an ugly though sporting
one. I killed my first hare close to Quy church, a black hound,
more like a terrier than a beagle, jumping on to her after she had
laid up in the hedge.

1 The purchase and fitting out of "the field " has effected incredible improvement
in this respect. T.F.B. are now great breeders. — F. C. K.

2 And a fox.— F. C. K.

156 THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

The best run we had was at Chatteris, when, after making one
ring on the high ground, the hare went down into the fen and ran in
a semicircle, the diameter of which was about five or six miles, so
that as hounds ran it must have been at least ten miles.

The hounds pulled her down on the far side of one of the big
drains, and G. A. Miller and one of the field swam across and
brought the hare back to the rest of us. It was still quite early,
but the pace had been so hot that no one wished to draw again.

Another remarkable day was when we went to hunt the fox
at Stretham, where no foxhounds could hunt on account of the
" lodes," 1 and where rumour reported they were being dealt with by
powder and shot. We soon found a fox on some cabbages, and
after running him for 2i hours he hid up in a hedge back after

being coursed by a collie. At
first we thought he was dead,
but he first bit one of the
Whips, and then met his teeth
in "Eanter," the only beagle
that attempted to go for him.
Then he sat in the ditch with
the hounds all round him, and not one daring to touch him.
H. H. Clay, however, gave him his quietus with his riding-whip.
During the run we had either swum or been ferried over three
canals. At one place we had the luck to find a barge turning. We
jumped on at one end, ran down it, and jumped off at the other
end. That was the most bloodthirsty field I have ever seen, almost
every one praying for a bit of fur of any kind, but the hounds would
not touch the varmint although I cut him up almost into mincemeat.
Now as to those who ran with the beagles in those days. The
Whips my first season were —

H. H. Clay,
G. A. Miller,
W. E. Pease,
and my second season —

G. A. Miller,

' Dykes large enough to be navigable by moderate sized barges.

"FEESHEE" PEASE AND "JUDY" CAEE-ELLISON 157

W. E. Pease,

E. W. Fox,

J. S. Carr-Ellison,
and no Master could have been supported more keenly than I was.
G. A. Miller and W. E. Pease used to run, if we had a straight
thing, in deadly competition, the former being faster on grass and
the latter on the plough. Their after careers show what thorough
sportsmen they one and all were.

Among keen followers of the hounds were — H. Budgett, A. M.
AUgood, F. Whitbread, M. 0. Smith, C. D. Miller, E. G. Lawrence,
E. E. Cousins, J. B. Seely, and many others.

Before closing I must recognise the way in which we were
"supported by landowners and farmers. I used to arrange my Meets
at the Saturday Market, and no pack ever had less difficulty with
the owners and occupiers of land, and I still have in mind many
kindnesses and hearty welcomes accorded to the T.F.B. and their
followers.

When I went down I handed the pack over to J. S. Carr-Ellison
with all the records of the hunt.

Which records, as I have said, J. S. Carr-Ellison copied out,
arranged, and preserved, and many of them are incorporated in the
present volume. Here, by the way, is Carr-Ellison's tribute to the
times of his predecessor : —

"As I think I have mentioned elsewhere, when I went up to
Trinity in October 1886, Arthur Francis Pease (" Fresher " Pease) was
Master, and his Whips were H. H. Clay (Jesus), W. E. Pease (Trinity),
and G. A. Miller (Trinity), and capital sport Pease showed, and his
Whips were all keen and good runners. Clay, I remember, was not
so fleet, but very good at skirting work, and viewing a beaten hare
at a critical time, and he thoroughly understood the game. I was
made an Extra Whip in the Lent Term of 1888, and was a very
proud man when Pease told me I could get my green coat and cap,
and a prouder man still when I was offered the Mastership for the
succeeding season."

158

THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Curiously enough, Carr-Ellison gives his version of the fox-hunt,
which suppHes some important details and also some useful criticism.
Such incidents have occurred more than once. " Mother " Hunt, for
example, ran a fox in the vacation in his own country. Sometimes
it is of malice prepense and aforethought, but at others involuntary.
In Holland Hibbert's season also (meet at Trinity Backs) we
hunted a hare out towards Barton and checked in
a turnip-field. I, who, potter and skirt, viewed
her very beat in some grass, and hoisted my cap
on my stick for a view, when a fox got out of
the roots. Hibbert was lifting his hounds to me,
but they crossed " Mr. Eeynolds' " line and were
off. No one could get round them, and they ran
first to Granchester, and then a left-handed riner
towards Madingley, where they were stopped some-
where near the old Windmill, I believe. Here is
Carr-Ellison's account of the Pease fox-hunt : —

" I remember one day, when Arthur Pease was
Master, we hunted a fox. He had got word of an
,Frrr>r.,*^/. outlying fox in a portion of the country that
ZS _. , ' the foxhounds never came to hunt, tliat had
-^^ been doing considerable damage. I don't

remember where it was exactly, but think
it was somewhere in the Oottenham country. We were all on
foot and spread out well, about three fields wide. I was about a
field away from hounds, and was walking over a stubble when I saw
something lying. I saw it wasn't a hare and went closer to look
what it was. I got quite close to within 3 yards, and then up
jumped an old fat fox. Hounds were got on the hue and we had a
good run of about 9 miles in a horseshoe direction, and ran up to
him eventually in a hedgerow quite stiff and done. The beagles
would not tackle him, so he was despatched with a hunting-crop.
The beagles would not break him up. There were several yokels up
at the finish, and that was the reason the fox had to be killed,
because if we had left him they would only have killed him. It was

"FEESHEE" PEASE AND "JUDY" CAEE-ELLISON 159

a fine run, and fast at times. It is curious how differently beagles
hunt the line of a fox to the line of a hare. They are not nearly as
keen on it, being unaccustomed to the scent of fox, and they don't
pack together the same way, and the music is not nearly as good ; only
a few hounds throw their tongues, and that in an uncertain, jerky,
shrill way. Hunting a fox or running a drag with beagles are not
conducive to the steadiness of a pack."

So much for fox-beagling, which, if very good fun, and, as is of
course the case in the Fen, no breach of the unwritten law, is
none the less, as above remarked, not quite in accordance with the
canons of " science," which would enter every pack of hounds to but
one quarry. But I must let Carr-EUison continue his own yarn.

" I was always keen on hunting something or other, and when I
went up to Trinity in October 1886, A. M. Allgood of Trinity Hall
(he is now hunting the Hay don Foxhounds in Northumberland and
showing good sport), who was one of the few men I knew up, and
who lived at Ingram in Northumberland, only four miles away from
Hedgeley, said to me, when I told him I did not know what to take
up in the way of outdoor sports, ' Why not try beagling ? They are
meeting to-morrow at Quy Hall.' So I agreed to go, and have never
regretted it, and gave up all my time during the winter months to it
from then till I went down. It is a fine healthy sport, and under
AUgood's tuition I soon learnt something of the etiquette, etc., and
also a lot of the lore of hunting."

I myself also was always keen on hunting something, and when I
came up to Caius an old gentleman, as I should then have called
him, though I don't suppose he could have been much older than I
am now (and I now like to feel that I have not quite said " good-
bye" to my youth), was my fellow-passenger. He was a Colonel
Carr, commanding the depot of the 36th (Herefordshire) Eegi-
ment at AVorcester and a friend of my father's ; he was also a sort
of uncle once removed, having married the sister of my aunt by
marriage. So (ordering myself, I hope, lowly and reverently to my

160 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

better) I ventured to make some sort of conversation, in course of
which I learned that he was coming up to meet a brother and
nephew, the latter going to Cambridge for the first time. The
nephew was going to Trinity and his name was Carr-Ellison.
Coming of a tribe which attaches great importance to all relation-
ships and remote collaterals, and also being a bit lonely, I ventured
to look him up and went once to breakfast. When I called I found
him in his bath after beagling. Nothing more came of it at the
time as I had already let myself in for rowing, except that an old
schoolfellow of his, who was also a Caius man, was a fellow guest at
breakfast and told me that his nickname of " Judy " dated from his
school days at Fettes. But the incident bore fruit later. In my
second Christmas vacation I had a fall out hunting with the
Ledbury s through my horse tripping in a rabbit hole. I pitched on
my head, made a concertina of my best hat, and my horse rolled
over me. I was badly shaken and bruised, and having rather a stiff
shoulder which made rowing impossible for the time, determined
that now I would begin beagling, my very slight acquaintance with
J. S. Carr-ElHson emboldening me to face the ordeal of joining what
was otherwise a crowd of rather "hefty" strangers. They were
really quite nice and kind, but an undergraduate is very chary of
plunging alone into a strange world. Life, of course, is full of such
coincidences but they are none the less interesting. Had not the
London and North Western Eailway brought me into contact with
Colonel Carr I should perhaps never have beagled, and then it would
never have fallen to my lot to write this history. Indeed, had I not
gone on from Eugby to Willesden instead of getting out at Bletchley,
and so arrived at Cambridge by a train later than I had intended, I
should never have travelled with Colonel Carr at all; so on that
trivial mistake the writing of this history and much else in my
Kismet hang. But I forget! I am supposed to be "giving the
lioor " to Monsieur " Judy " himself, and must keep my own yarns
till afterwards. I will try not to interrupt again !

"FEESHER" PEASE AND "JUDY" CARE-ELLISON 161

THE REVISION AND ENLARGEMENT OF THE PACK

With some Notes on Hound Management

At the end of Pease's time there were a good many hounds that
were quite done, in fact they were " has beens " ; and as I did not see
the good of keeping on old hounds or useless ones (as they eat quite
as much as good ones), I got rid of a good many, I put down some,
sold some, and gave some away. I had not quite a strong enough
pack to do three days a week properly, I found out, so during the
October term I bought a small pack (in numbers), about 9| couples,
that I had seen advertised in The Field, at a moderate price, from a
Mr. Wynne in Cheshire. They were just about the size I wanted.
Of course it was rather a risk buying a pack without seeing them,
but under the circumstances that could not be avoided. I was quite
excited to see them on their arrival at Cambridge. There were some
nice-looking ones among them, and I don't think there were more
than one or two that were not good hunters. There were 2| or 3
couples black-and-tan hounds among them. Chancellor, Captain,
and Annabel were, I think, three black-and-tans. Some good bitches
were Mischief, Meddlesome, Favourite, and Fancy, but I have, I fear,
rather forgotten their names.

The first day we could, Allgood and I had a bye day to see what
they were like, how they hunted, and how they were as to levelness,
pace, etc. With what we saw that day we were quite pleased, and
after this, now having about 22 couple of hounds in kennel, I divided
them into two packs for hunting purposes, so as to get them level for
pace and also size as much as possible, and I was also able to draft a
few more of the hounds I had taken over from Pease, so as to leave
about 22 couple. I then hunted four days a week, Monday, Wednes-
day, Friday, and Saturday, and I nearly averaged killing a hare for
every day I hunted, and on the whole we had a good season.

On non-hunting days I used to take out some or all of the hounds
for exercise, jogging along the roads ; the distance we went depended
on what I considered they required.

I am a great believer in having hounds fat before you start con-
ditioning, and then plenty of long slow work on the roads to harden

M

162 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

their feet, and work the fat into muscle. Careful feeding is very
necessary, so as to keep back the greedy ones and give the shy feeders
a chance, but Bob Floate I considered a very good feeder and a
capital kennelman. Everything hounds get to eat, no matter
whether they be foxhounds, harriers, or beagles, should be of the best,
the best oatmeal, best dog-biscuits, good horse-flesh properly cooked,
plenty of green stuff mixed in their food, and some sulphur,
plenty good bedding on their benches, plenty of water used to clean
out their sleeping chamber and the outside yards, and a plentiful
supply of good (running if possible) water for them to drink.

Now as to entering young hounds, if it is possible they should be
entered and know something of what is expected of them before they
hunt with the pack at Cambridge, which, of course, means their
being entered by the Master or one of his Whips in vacation time.
They should be taken out with a small pack of staunch, steady old
hounds, no babblers or skirters, and taken to where there are no
rabbits, if possible. Puppies are light-hearted, and a rabbit jumping
up in front is certain to have a following of them, and sometimes
of old hounds too, especially at the beginning of a season. Another
thing to my mind in favour of entering puppies before term time is,
that if they know their work, they are not so apt to be frightened by
the number of people following them, and the noise of whips cracking.
In my time I am sure we made far too much noise, too much shout-
ing, too much horn-blowing, and too much whip-cracking. I found
the whistle a very good thing, and my whips and two or three others
I could depend on carried them. It saved confusion, and besides it
is difficult to holloa melodiously when you have run over a mile or
more of Cambridgeshire ploughs.

[The practice of starting with hounds fat (moderately fat, of
course) is in thorough accord with the principles of physiology.
Thick fat is essentially a reserve on which to work. — F. C. K.]

The last paragraph shows the importance of some training
analogous to "cubbing" as a preliminary to the regular hunting
season. This is now done regularly at Eeaveley, and notes on this
subject are reserved till further on. Here follow some further

"FEESHER" PEASE AND "JUDY" CAER-ELLISON 163

INCIDENTS AND OBSERVATIONS

I. Field Discipline

In the season 1888-9 there were some capital runners used to
come out regularly with us, men who loved the sport. I
particularly remember E. Vaizey, C. D. Miller, Phillips, and many
others. There was one bad habit members of the T.F.B. had in my
time, and which I did my best with some success to get them out of,
and that was, when hounds were drawing for a hare they (i.e. the
field) would very frequently walk along in groups of four, five, or six,
talking or laughing and paying no attention to what was going on.
I stopped the hounds drawing one day, and told them as soon as they
had finished their conversation I would be much obliged if they
would spread out and help me to find a hare, otherwise I should take
hounds home. This had the desired effect.

II. A Run

(Per mare et terrain)

I remember one day that same season when I was Master
(1888-89) getting a thorough ducking in the Cam ; fortunately there
were no after ill-effects. We were hunting somewhere down in the
Fen country, I forget where, and our hare, though not very hard
pressed, swam the river. It was a very cold day, and I happened to
have a good many of the new hounds I had bought from Cheshire
out, and also some puppies. They would not go into the water, and
as there was no bridge within nearly half a mile, I had to face the
river. I am no swimmer, but fortunately A. M. Allgood (my first
Whip) and his brother, W. L. Allgood (who was also at The Hall),
were with me, so I said, " You chaps will have to help me across."
They were capital swimmers, and one swam on each side of me
holding me up by one arm. We would have got on capitally if it had
not been for the young hounds, who came to my voice and persisted
in swimming right over me and knocking me under. I was glad to
touch bottom at the far side. We ran a bit of a left-handed circle,
when our hare recrossed the river, this time fortunately nearer to a

164

THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

bridge, and if I remember rightly she beat me at the finish by lying
up in a field of mustard. As bad luck would have it that day, I had
not taken a change of clothes, so the horses did travel home that
nio-ht. I remember we nearly ran over a pig and a child at one
corner in a village. The men in the Committee cart said it was one
of the most perilous drives they had ever had."

This is remarkable. Cambridge beaglers are always most
methodical in the matter of taking out a " dry change." A usually
immaculate member of the Atheneeum, in heterogeneous " woohes,"
wolfing bread-and-butter of " doorstep " cut and quality in a pottey
little inn, is a sight for the gods. — E. C. K.

/

A Swimming Day. By A. H. Peun.

The day represented is December 6, 1907, when T.F.B. swam the Old West River.
But one swimming day is much like another.

"FEESHER" PEASE AND "JUDY" CAEE-ELLISON 165

III. EuN (with Appendix)

It is not easy to recall accurately things that happened full
twenty-two years ago, but I remember one or two incidents which were
rather amusing. We had met one day at Orwell Brewery, and had had
a fair good hunt, and finished the run by running our hare to ground
in a conduit underneath a farm road which connected two fields — I
remember there was a lot of water in the drain, and we had difficulty
in keeping back the hounds, as they were keen for blood ; eventually
we got a long stick and poked our hare out, practically dead, through
being hard run, and also, no doubt, partly from the effects of the cold
water. We had tea and some of the Orwell beer, which was pretty
strong stuff, and started gaily off in the Committee cart. I was
driving and Allgood was on the box beside me. In those days the
waggonette we always drove (i.e. the Master, three Whips, and
generally three or four others) to the meets in was rather a ram-
shackle affair, and had no brake, and very seldom any lamps, and the
horses were always going far too near the wheels, so that their heels
struck the wheels. My own idea was that Porcheron, or whoever we
hired from, used to purposely send us out with rather a short pole, so
as to make the horses' feet hit the wheels, and thus induce us to drive
slow. I am sorry to say this had not the desired effect, as I don't
think I often averaged more than six minutes per mile. Well, I
fear I have rather wandered from my yarn about the drive home
from Orwell Brewery. Everything went well until going down the
hill from Orwell to Shelford, which is fairly steep. It was getting
darkish, and we were going at a hand canter down the hill, when
suddenly a string of farm carts appeared coming towards us, returning
from Cambridge market ; as usual on these occasions the carters
were congregated in the front cart — I had no lamps, nor had they.
Allgood and I holloaed at them like mad, and the first four or five
pulled out of our way, but the last cart did not do so sufficiently, and
the hub of the cart-wheel caught my splinter bar and just broke it
near the roller bolt. Having no brake, the only thing was to keep
the horses going faster than the waggonette, and as the horses had
got rather out of hand, Allgood took one rein and I had the other,

166 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

and we kept our huntiug-crops at work. We met numerous farm
carts, and then there were shouts from the two drivers of " Pull your
rein, Major," or " Pull that rein of yours, Johnnie," as the case might be.
"We eventually reached Cambridge all right, having done the distance
under forty minutes, but it was rather a weird drive, as the horses
were going at about an angle of forty-five to the waggonette. Thank
goodness the harness held ; if it had not we should have had a nasty
smash. The other fellows in the waggonette afterwards told us that
the language on the box-seat was awful.

IV. KiDiNG Days

At the end of each beagling term it was generally understood
that there w^ould be a riding meet, which was usually held in a grass
country if one could get it. Long Stanton, or Five Bells, Huntingdon
Eoad, were, I remember, two favourite riding meets. No one was
supposed to come out except by invitation of the Master. These
meets were quite good fun, but, I think, were very bad for the
hounds. Beagles hate being pressed and driven beyond their proper
pace, and are not accustomed to hearing horses galloping behind
them. It tends to make them flashy and wild. I hope the riding
meets are a thing of the past.

[Kiding days have long been given up. — F. C. K.]

V. Finance

The subscription for members, in my time, was one guinea per
term, and after one had spotted a strange face out more than twice
or so one used to ask him or get him asked to become a member.
Every member received weekly a card of the meets. I know I
increased the membership and had about sixty-five paying members
per term. The Whips paid no extra subscription, and I got no
guarantee or anything of that sort. If I remember right it cost me
about £35 for my year of Mastership. I do not remember whether
" Fresher " Pease handed me over the hounds for nothing when he
gave them up, and whether I did the same to A. Hall, my successor,^

^ K. Walker has entered in the list of Masters that Lord ]\Iilton (now Earl Fitz-
william, 1892) was the last Master to buy the hounds from his predecessor.

"FEESHEE" PEASE AND "JUDY" CAEE-ELLISON 167

or whether I handed over Hall the same number of hounds as Pease
handed over to me, and got paid by Hall for the surplus, but think
something about this must appear in the books I left.

VI. Peroration

I found the hunting knowledge I gained with the T.F.B. of the
greatest value to me afterwards when I became amateur Whip to the
late Walter Selby, who hunted a rough but very sporting country, in
the north-west corner of Northumberland, where foxes take some
killing, and also when I whipped for nine seasons to a very sporting
pack in Eoxburghshire, The Jed Forest Foxhounds. Beagling teaches
you the easiest way and the quickest to run up a hill, and also teaches
you not to burst over a heavy plough and to stick to the furrow, and
what is easiest for a man is easiest for a horse. Hunting beagles
teaches you to have patience, and to leave your hounds alone.
When I was up, at the end of each hunting term, the Master of the
T.F.B. used to be glad to let any member of the T.F.B. have a few
couple of the hounds to take home and hunt, if he knew that they
would not be spoilt. If they were properly taken care of it was
much better for them than remaining at Cambridge, and as the
Master generally took ten or twelve couple himself and Floate the
kennelman, there was an additional reason for securing walks for
the remainder of the pack. Allgood and I got some to take north
with us from Arthur Francis Pease, who was Master the first two
years I was up, but I will mention this again later on.

It would be very interesting to know how many men at present
hunting foxhounds in Great Britain or abroad, or acting as amateur
Whips, learnt their hunting with beagles, and still more interesting
if one could learn how many of them were first entered with
the T.F.B.

Beagling is a fine sport, and a healthy one, and within the reach
of the poor man's pocket, and nothing is finer than to hear a
real musical pack, on a good line, on a good scenting day, throwing
their tongues for all they are worth. Never keep a silent or nearly
silent beagle; they are quite out of place. If you are breeding
your own hounds, you must first go for nose, staunchness, and

168

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

music ; if you can get good looks too, so much the hetter. To my mind,

fifteen inches is quite big enough for a plough country, and fourteen

for a grass country. They can do with less bone in a grass country

than in a plough country, but wherever you may be hunting try and

have some good shoulders and neck, straight legs, and round feet, and

good muscular loins ; other points I don't think matter so much.

I hope the T.F.B. may flourish and have good sport for very

many years to come.

(Signed) J. S. Carr-Ellison.

VII. Epilogue
{From a letter dated December 8, 1911.)
I think it is now nearly seven years since I paid my last visit to
Cambridge, and it was funny walking about and knowing no one.
The only men who recognised me were one or two
cab-drivers and touts, who used to help with the
/(^ -.f^ Beagle cart, and I was pleased to hear them say as

I passed, " Why, that's the cove as ran to New-
market and back, and he don't look any older." —
J. S. C.-E.

lUmning to Newmarket and back was fashion-
able exploit among sporting undergraduates at
that time. It was a sort of dim echo of the
pedestrian feats performed by the " bucks " in the
Regency days.

Carr-Ellison has left a book among T.F.B.
archives which is a careful diary of all the days'
hunting during his Mastership. It is a great
pleasure to me, who saw many of those runs, to
turn them over and see which of them I re-
member : yet even to me only a few stand out
clearly. The first day I w^as out that season, for
example, at Harwiche village, when I was publicly
complimented on the condition in which Eansom and Ptanter had
come back from their summer walk. And a day at Briukley Hall

Blood " of the latkk
Eighties.

"FEESHEE" PEASE AND "JUDY" CAEE-ELLISON 169

to which I drove out tandem with a man who was not a regular
beagler. I remember that as it was a very pleasant day ; I paired off
with " somebody staying in the house," and we saw most of the run
from a sheltered corner in a half-cut haystack. The pleasure of the
day was, however, spoiled by the man I took with me, who swanked
abominably about the tandem "we" had driven out. He never
touched the reins himself, and if he had would not have come
out of it much better had he taken charge of a submarine. The
tandem, by the way, was Porcheron's " Buffalo Girl " and " Cigar."
The Committee folk went in a four-in-hand driven by H. Pike
Pease, and Mr. King, our host, regretted that I had not put up
at his stables so that we could have had a driving competition to
see which of us could go round his circular drive without getting
a wheel on the central grass plot. But this isn't a beagle run,
and I fear lest it may be nearly as boring. Eead an account of
any fictitious run, like those in Surtees with imaginary names,
and they are just as good as real runs through a real country, to
those who don't know the country. They are a capital cure for
insomnia. For that reason I have kept the accounts of runs down
to very modest proportions. Still the Carr-Ellison runs are worth
skimming for " incident." Here is the cream : —

Oct. 17. Fen Ditton. — " Oh for some rain."

Oct. 19. Waterbeach Fen.—" Oh for some rain."

Oct. 22. BoTTiSHAM Lode. — " I will not go out again, I think, till

we have rain."

Oct. 24. Mr. Lilley's Farm, Coton. — "Did not go out on

account of hardness of the ground, as we can have no sport, and it is

only knocking up the hounds."

Oct. 26. Hauxton Mill. — " Could not really stop hunting any

longer, although we have had no rain as yet.

I am writing this some time afterwards ; I rather forget the exact
details, but I well remember what a rotten day we had."

These entries strung together are like the way other phases of life

170 THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

are treated. The next entry tells of rain and heavy going and all
being well. But then a " blackguard " with a greyhound interferes,
which is how life treats us.

Jan. 21. New Bakns Fakm, Ely. — " ... As there were so many
hares and scent was so bad I decided to whip off, and so we jogged
pretty quick back to Ely and just caught the 4.32 train. A lot of
'Varsity men out. Four or five farmers riding, including old Porter,
who were a great nuisance, and a lot of yokels who knew nothing
about the sport and consequently holloaed every hare and rabbit they
saw. So ended one of the rottenest day's beagling I've ever seen."

Feb. 20. CoTON. — " A very tine run over a nice country of one hour

forty-five minutes. T came up and was very cantankerous. He

threatened to prosecute, etc. Was very pohte to him. Utter
nonsense as he had given me leave last term to run over his land.
Said he did not think it was sport, but simple 'murder.' Should
like to know what he calls sport. Probably a gun and ' long-dog.' "

The rest is a purely business-like record of runs, the only other
of interest being at Twentypence Ferry (March 4), in a most in-
accessible fen, where they hunted one hare for four and a half
hours, mostly at a walking pace, whipped off at 6.10 p.m., and did
not get back to Cambridge till 8.30 ! !

What the present history most lacks is contributions from private
beaglers ; this is more or less inevitable, but something of a pity.
Having always been a private beagler myself, I am therefore em-
boldened to say what I remember of the sport and of those who took
part in it during the period with which we are now concerned.

I have already told the circumstances under which I started
beagling. The first day I went out was in the Feu at Earith
Bridge, whither I went by train, and saw T. A. E. Sanderson and
Vaizey waiting for hounds in Mr. Kingrow's yard : they had evidently
driven out, and I had done wrong to come by train. Of that, how-
ever, more hereafter. This was my first sight of fen country, and it
was very strange after my home hills and woodlands. Sanderson
was a frosty-faced, hard-bitten sort of fellow, and I spoke to him, but

FEESHEE" PEASE AND "JUDY" CAEE-ELLISON 171

he was not cordial. The sport was ordinary and just find, run, check,

run, kill (by the level crossing), and then find, run, check, run, and

lose her and whip off for tea. During the second run it rained and I

got wet through. The Olympians of the " Com-
mittee Cart " seemed quite kind and human, and

offered me wraps and to drive me home. But

there were not enough wraps, so I took train home

via Ely. I remember feehng then, as I think all

beaglers feel, that one was getting away from the

life of the 'Varsity back to that of home. No one

could, I suppose, wish not to have lived his time

at the 'Varsity, and yet for a country-bred man

there are things in 'Varsity life that irk, and to

get away behind a fast-trotting pony to ploughed

fields and muddy lanes and farmers was a blessed

relief Beao-linff was good, but home was better,

and I beheve that most sporting undergraduates

feel much more like schoolboys than 'Varsity men

about going down at the end of Term.

In those days there were no bicycles, at least
only the high ordinaries called by us
"bog-wheels," on which no self-respecting person would be
seen ; neither w^as there a public Beagle brake — so that we
all drove out in our own hired traps behind fast ponies,
sharing two or three together. This cost more money but
we got much more fun for it. Saunders had the Trump-
ington Street yard (now Hopkins's) and Porcheron that in
Jesus Lane (now closed). Saunders had the stoutest ponies
and I usually dealt with him. He also had an enormous
weight-carrier, a roarer, on which H. Pike Pease used to
come out riding — he was really a Dragman — and I rode
him once or twice with the Cambridgeshire. He was
a wonderful horse with a perfect mouth.

J. B. Seely, now a Colonel and a D.S.O. for services
ri^^ ~^^ in South Africa and a member of the Government, was

Col. j. b. Seely. a very prominent beagler. He is also a good sailor-

H. Pike Pease ox Bendigo.

172 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

man and member of most of the Solent Clubs and of one of the life-
boat crews as well. He and Pike Pease stand side by side in my
T.F.B. photo ; now they glare at each other, I believe, across the Floor
of the House, and both are victims of Mr. E. T. Eeed. I remember
sitting next Seely at tea at some hospitable farmer's at littleport,
and being gravely reproved by him for not properly appreciating the
liver wing of a chicken.

Carr-EUison alluded to beagling etiquette which he learned under
Allgood's wing. In those days it was almost absurdly strict, yet no one
was rude enough, or perhaps one should say kind enough, to show a
new-comer transgressions or to explain the code. You were expected
to pick the whole thing up by your native powers of observation.

The rules, which were never written down, and never spoken about,
and never disobeyed, were as follows : —

As regards dress: one naturally went out beagling in a tweed
jacket and cap, with knickerbockers or breeches, and the fashionable
material for the latter was a dense drab cotton material known as
"thorn-proof." " Thorn -proof " breeches were, of course, practical
in those days more than now. For then close-cropped blackthorn
hedges were negotiated by rushing at them, leaping in the air, and
falling flat on your stomach across the top. In the rebound you got
your heels in the air and your head down, landing on your hands on
the far side. It was a sort of on-and-off header, and seems to have
become a lost art. G. D. MiUer was a great performer in that line.
The unwritten law of dress was most exacting in details. To begin
with, a soft cashmere scarf worn once round the neck and folded
across in front without pin or ornament was the only neck wear.
Linen collars were anathema, and GoUege or club colours of any sort
whatsoever, even pink and white of the Athenteum,! maranatha !
You might not even wear them among your wraps for driving to and
from the meets ! A linen coUar is not convenient when you run hard
and get hot, and gaiters are clumsy and heavy, so that the rules were
not wholly unpractical. But this does not account for the strict
taboo of colours.

^ In those days Beagle officials were not made " Athenoeum bloods," but some
members of that august society used to come out more or less regularly.

"FEESHER" PEASE AND "JUDY" CAER-ELLISON 173

The truth is that we were in those days extremely, almost
morbidly, sensitive of being regarded as having any connection with
any form of athletics, and the appearance of a stray member of the
" Hare and Hounds," a paper-chasing athletic club, set all our defen-
sive bristles erect in half a minute. He might be a magnificent
runner and keep with the hounds all the way, but we would observe
that he knew nothing of skirting, or of saving himself by any know-
ledge of the shifts of a hunted hare ; his running was fine running,
perhaps, but it wasn't running to hounds, so he was felt to be no
sportsman and therefore to merit no trophy. Beagling is hunting,
and we went out not for exercise but to see hounds hunt hares, and
to learn as much of the business as we could, including the names
and characters of individual hounds; the exercise of running was a
quite subordinate consideration, though, as a matter of lact, we ran
strenuously. I don't think we could have put the feeling into words,
but that was what the plain cashmere scarf symbolised !

About this time some one invented the hunting stock, which
served exactly the same purpose, both symboHc and utilitarian, as
the plain scarf, and it was much smarter and more horsey, and we
began to wear them, and also breeches of a more equestrian cut.
BeagHng is, as you must never forget, hunting, and hunting is horsey,
therefore a beagler is horsey, although he does his hunting afoot.^
Moreover, the more horsey one looked the more completely one was
dissociated from the mere athlete. Such strict yet unwritten sump-
tuary laws are signs of youth, and of course everyone actively connected
with T.F.B. is quite young. Even myself, the historian, and Bob
Eloate, the Kennelman, were quite young twenty and odd years ago.

One episode must be recorded from Pease's year. We ran from
Hauxton or somewhere to Foulmire, where there was nothing to eat
at the inn and we ravenous, so we raided the family at tea, and
G. A. MiUer took bread and jam with biles in it out of a child's hand
and ate it. We were also very short of tobacco, and had a long tramp
home, so we shared out what we had as carefully as shipwrecked
mariners.

' If the T.F.B. hunt gets up races, they are not cross-country runs, but jioiut to
point races on horseback.

174

THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

A very sociable feature of those days, as of these, were the inii
teas, when beagling was over, as were also the train meets, which in

J. S. Carr-Ellison with "half a field on each foot."

those days occurred more often. In those days fields were large, and
the G.E.R. used to provide us with a form of open carriage called, I
believe, an excursion saloon. Also in those days when we whipped
off we used to race back to get the slop-basin to drink out of, and of
course whoever got in first seized it.

In those days to ride a bog- wheel to the meet was the unspeakable
crime. I think that it was the invention of the safety and the
fashionable craze for bicycling that did much to rub the corners off
our etiquette. This began almost immediately after I went down.

The historical part of this chapter speaks mostly of the doings of
Carr-EUison. But in all that he did to put fresh life into T.F.B. he
was following on lines laid down by Pease. It is impossible to bring

"FEESHER" PEASE AND "JUDY" CARE-ELLISON 175

this out, although old notes and memoranda make the fact quite
plain.

" Fresher " Pease is no longer a fresher ; he has already a son up
at Trinity, and we are all growing old even if we don't feel it ; and
here is the last news of " Judy," which seems a fitting close to the
present chapter.

Extract from Letter dated

Imperial Hotel, Newcastle,
Nov. 19, 1911.

My wife and I rather surprised our friends about a month ago by
starting a family after being married eleven and a half years. They
are both well, and I hope to take them north on Tuesday.

I am sure also that all beaglers will wish him and his happiness
in all the ups and downs of Hfe that are before them.

So then drink, puppy, drink !

And let every puppy drink
That is old enough to lap and to swaUow !

For he'U grow into a hound,

So we'll pass the bottle round
And merrily we'll whoo-oop and we'll holloa !

Himting Ditty of the Eighties.

CHAPTEE VIII

THE FAKMERS BOOK

Loook 'o\v quoloty smoiles when they seeas me a passin' boy,
Say to thessen naw doubt " what a man a bea sewer-loy ! "

Tennyson's Northern Farmer.

HE management of a pack of hounds
is a complicated business requiring
knowledge of a character both ex-
tensive and peculiar, the co-ordina-
tion of many details, and an infinite
capacity for taking pains ; and
there are two indispensable factors
— hounds and a country in which
to hunt them. Hounds must be
housed and fed, and as they get old
and are " put down " others must
be bred to fill their place. Housing
means kennels and the land on
which they are built, and this means law-rates, taxes, etc. Feeding,
and aU the odd items of upkeep, means a kennelman and constant
care and supervision if money is not to be wasted, and knowledge of
the care of hounds if they are to be kept fit for their work.

As all this costs money, be your economy never so ingenious,
there are therefore subscribers to be attracted and shown sport.
They nmst be given proper notice of the meets, and in T.F.B. their
conveyance thereto provided. They also expect tea to be ordered for
them when the sport is over.

176

THE FARMERS' BOOK

177

To secure country sufficient for three or four days a week the
season through there must be dependence on the favour of the owners
and occupiers of land, and inquiry must be made whether a meet at
a particular time will be convenient, and those who provide the
country treated with consideration. This
means time, trouble, and tact, and getting to
know your farmers.

The details of all these complex matters,
as they relate to T.F.B., are preserved in a
book of miscellaneous information collected
together in Carr-Ellison's time, as is shown
by the fact that all memoranda of an earlier
date are copied in in his handwriting. His

personal contributions, which are ^

many, are distinguished by his initials.
There are also many subsequent en-
tries, of which, however, the greater
number are entered by " K. W."
(Kenneth Walker), and the volume is
commonly known as " The Farmers'
Book," as its principal object is to
preserve information as to the details
of meets and particulars of the farmers
with whom they must be arranged — in which connection there are
many shrewd and amusing observations on human nature, and on the
gentle art of " buttering." The volume has, however, been used as a
commonplace book for jotting down all sorts of memoranda, and
there is much that, mutatis mutandis, must be valuable to those who
are organising other packs, especially as beagling is a growing sport.
The pages contain also many points of history interesting to our-
selves.

The entries do not date back before the time when we had our
own Kennels, and as a record of management this is no drawback.
Hounds " standing at livery " in the back yard of an old-world
Cambridge inn, whose sanitation must have been what that of
picturesque old buildings usually is, and fed on college scraps, from

N

A T.F.B. Secretary.

178 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

the Magdalene kitchens I suppose, at two shillings a head, can
hardly set a standard of management. The tale of how the new^er
and better order of things was due to " Mother" Hunt's genius and
munificence lias already been told, and of how the land on which the
Kennels stood came to be Mr. Burges's property. He remained land-
lord till 1897, but the arrangement was not satisfactory, as there was
no sort of trust and therefore no knowing what might occur if
" anything happened " to Mr. Burges. The following entries in the
book show what was done.

JV.B. — Some of the memoranda are signed, others are not. In
the latter case the author can often be detected by the handwriting.

To avoid confusion between extracts from the book and my own
running commentary, I have throughout added my initials to the
latter.

Memorandum by J. S. Caer-Ellison

The land on which the Kennels are built is the property of
P. Burges, Esq., formerly a Whip to the Trinity Foot Beagles. It
was bought by him through kindness, as there was no place to
build on.

K. Hunt built the Kennels originally, and I added and improved.
The Kennels, being fixtures on the land, absolutely belong to
P. Burges, Esq., and there is no lease of any sort ; he can at any
moment give the Master notice and pull down the Kennels. There is
no fear of this, as I saw P. Burges and his solicitors about it.

Any spare money cannot be better invested than in improving
the Kennels ; a little spent now and again helps considerably.

The Kennels were re-cemented, and other repairs were done this
summer (June 1888), A. F. Pease and I sharing the expense.

Water is laid on from the Waterworks. This they will charge
for whether used or not. Care should be taken before going down
for the Long, to give notice to the Waterworks to cut off the supply.
It should be laid on again in September so as to be ready when the
hounds come up.

In those days the pack was broken up at Easter, and all hounds
put out to walk till the October term. — F. C. K.

rLAjK n:

li ii;k.iI i-.K.

luKMA.N.

\M) GUIl.TV.

THE FAEMEES' BOOK 179

Extract

Any Master who wishes to enlarge the Kennels can buy the piece
of land next door for £40 from Key (builder).— K. Walker.

The next entry ^ shows how the cementing had to be done again,
after ten years, and how the tenure of the Kennels was placed on a
more secure footing. These notes cannot fail to bring home to one
how much of his sport the private beagler owes to the hberality and
public spirit of the successive Masters of T.F.B., especially such as
have added to the permanent property or capital of the hunt. Such
benefactions are one thing ; the wisdom of a Master drawing freely
on his own pocket for current expenses quite another. The latter is
open to question however ungrudgingly we may admire his munifi-
cence. Such a proceeding tends to make the position difficult for
successors of less ample means ; also to pauperise the subscriber if his
sport be provided too much below cost price. There should, of course,
be some deficit, but it should not exceed what may be regarded as a
fair subscription for a Master to pay, in proportion to the fun he
gets out of being Master.

Having secured Kennels and a pack of hounds, the next institution
of importance is the Kennelman. In which matter records go no
further back than the first appearance of " Bob " (Mr. Eobert Floate).
The following are the memoranda :

Kennelman. — I brought my own, which I think much better
than employing a Cambridge man. He lodged with Mrs. AVarde,
82 Histon Eoad. Great care should be taken to procure a room
close to the Kennels, as, if anything be wrong, he can see from the
window. Bob had 18s. a week, and with that found everything.
He had also all per(|uisites, such as manure, bones, etc.

This note, copied by J. S. Carr-Elhson, is evidently by the Eev.
E. a. Milne. Ut infra.

]\Iilne brouglit Eobert Floate with him from Storrington in 1883,
and he has also so far been taken on by each succeeding Master.
He knows his business, is very willing, and a good servant if kept
up to his work. ^g.g^^^^ j_ g_ caer-Ellison.

1 Vide Chapter IX.

180 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Very few servcants will go on doing their best work if those who
employ them let things slide. Servants are all human. — E. C. K.

Bob can save a lot of expense on Key's bill by doing all the
limewashing and painting himself

In summer of 1896 hounds were walked by different people, and
Bob was given notice, with an agreement that he could come back if
he liked next hunting season. Bob now lodges at Smith's next to
Crake's pub. on the Histon Road, as Mrs. Warde is dead. — K. Walker.

In other places in the book poor Bob's weekly accounts are
sharply criticised as to writing and spelling, but D. G. Hoare testified
vioa voce to his complete honesty. His wages has been "riz" more
than once since Milne's time, and he is now married and has his
own house. In my time hounds were always w^alked in the summer,
and Bob got his Kving elsewhere, minding a cricket ground, I believe.
Hounds must have come up in divers degrees of condition,^ and
the system, the last reKc of trencher feeding, has been definitely
abandoned. This brings us naturally to the notes on hound feeding,
general management, and kennel economy.

Food

Under this head the notes are very full, and need little
or no comment. As regards summer feeding, I may say that one
summer I had Ransome and Ranter (mother and son), and the
next season two couple of hounds whose names do not come back
to me even on reading the list. I was told to feed them on Indian
meal porridge and no meat, and I did as I was told. In the latter
part of the Long I gave them plenty of exercise on horseback, and
was very much complimented on their condition. And one day when
I was out I met Griffiths, then huntsman of the North Herefordshire,
who admired them much, to my great satisfaction, as G. was a fine
huntsman. Perhaps I was being " buttered," but I was very proud
of my charges at the time. — F. C. K.

Food may be classified as meal, biscuits, meat, and greens, and
the following show clearly the best and most economical food-stuffs.

1 See Chapter \l.

THE FAEMERS' BOOK 181

There are, here and there, differences of opinion. Where notes are
not signed or dated I have placed them by handwriting.

Meal. — The very best Scotch oatmeal should be used, and should
be boiled so as to be quite soft and squeeze easily in the hand. It
should be made thick. . . . The price of the meal varies with the
market, but you may take the average price to be 16s. per cwt. A
hundredweight at a time is much the most convenient way of
having it. Whatever oatmeal you buy, see the effect it has on
the hounds ; if not good it is certain to scour them. — J. S. Carr-
Ellisox.

I found hounds did well on wheatmeal and maize mixed. . . .
Hounds hunted four days a week regularly, and seemed to do well
on the mixture. — K. Walker.

I fed for the whole of this term (October 1898) on maize (2
buckets) and bran (f bucket) wdth occasionally some wheatmeal.
Hounds in splendid coat and condition. They had also plenty of meat
and broth, well mixed so as to feed fairly sloppy. — C. F. Mitford.

I found hounds best on maize meal and one-third oatmeal mixed ;
oatmeal being too expensive to feed entirely on. Hounds hunted
from four to six days a week on it this season, 1902-3. — D. G. Hoare.

Biscuits. — The biscuits I got from P. Barr and Co., Miller's
Buildings, Liverpool, price 10s. per cwt. ; they are quite equal to any
biscuit, and hounds do wonderfully well on them. I used to give the
hounds one or two biscuits after their ordinary meal. — Anon.

I (and so did Pease) got my biscuits at Warren and Son,
Cambridge, price 12s. per cwt. I got biscuits without any meat in
them, as they don't require it when they have horseflesh besides.
Plain biscuits {i.e. without meat in them) make a good change in
their food, as meat is very apt to make them hot in their blood. —
J. S. C.-E.

Greaves can be procured from H. F. Collier, Norwich, at 14s. per
cwt. They are of very good quality. — K. W.

A very good summer food, I found, was Pike and Tucker's Hound
Food, 13s. per cwt. They then need no meat or bran, and I found it
quite as cheap as maize meal, and much better, especially for young
hounds.

182 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Greaves, unless very fresh, should never be used, as they are as
good as givmg them poison. — D. G. H.

Meat. — This is rather a gruesome subject, but the notes give
some useful tips as to cost. As to quality of horseflesh, I remember
Bob telling me when I was an undergraduate that he often culled a
beautiful piece of steak for himself, " Oh yes, sir ! " — F. C. K.

The meat is procured from G. Low, Horse-slaughterer, Newmarket
Koad, and the cost is 10s. per cwt. For that he gives you j^icked
parts and sends enough so as not to go bad. Several meat-men will
come for the contract, but it is best to stick to the same man as far
as possible, so long as he treats you well. — Anon.

Low is dead and I get the horseflesh from C. D. Scott, New-
market Eoad. He charges 10s. per cwt., and sends it up to the
Kennels as wanted. — J. S. C.-E.

I found it cheaper to bargain for horseflesh. Generally one of
the livery stable keepers knows where flesh can be got. Bob did
the slaughtering and cutting up. — K. W.

Up till last season (1901-2) the meat used to come from Scott
ut supra. But his charge was 10s. per cwt., which came to £5 a
horse (1). So we tried going halves with the Drag Kennels. They
send up half a horse when they get one in and charge 10s. So even
if some of the meat goes bad, this is cheaper than Scott's picked
flesh, and as the Drag kennelman feeds his own hounds on the other
half horse, be sure it is a good one. — A. Buxton.

Never pay more than £1 a horse, as P. of Newmarket Eoad will
always supply them at that price. Make Bob take a ticket each
time meat is brought up, and how much. — D. G. H.

Entries of which it would be indiscreet to publish the exact text
show the need of careful book-keeping in these unsavoury trans-
actions.

In the lambing season, farmers will sell ewes that have died
lambing very cheap (about 2s. 6d. a couple). But the subject is a
sore one and must be approached carefully. — K. W.

The extracts which follow are very tri\dal, and for that reason
important. They show the attention to detail involved in successful
manacrement.

THE FAKMEES' BOOK 183

Greens. — Bob used to have as many greens and cabbages as he
liked out of Mrs. Ward's, his landlady, garden for which I paid
£1 per year. This I thought exorbitant, but being so convenient, I
never interfered. — Anox.

Bob gets the greens still and has them down in his account when
he calls to get his wages paid once a week or fortnight. — D. G. H.

Sundries. — Wood was procured from a public at the corner of
Victoria Eoad near the cemetery. The whole cost was £1 per year.
The man kept the kennels supplied without orders. — Anon.

Coal and wood were procured from E., Grocer etc., Histon
Eoad, who also supplied brushes, etc. Being a near neighbour, it
is as well to keep in with him. — Anon.

Strato. — The straw I procure from X., Corndealer, Bridge Street.
He will send it up, six trusses at a time. The price, of course, varies,
but you may take the average retail price at Is. per truss. — Anon.

I get my straw from J. Free, Plough and Harrow, Madingley
Eoad, and so did my predecessor A. F. Pease. He (Free, not Pease ! —
F. C. K.) sends up six trusses at a time, and of course any quantity
that is wanted. — J. S. C.-E.

Free has, for some time, driven the Beagle Hound Van, so it
is well to patronise him. — Anon, (in another hand).

General Management of Hounds

I have a letter from Lord Ernest St. Maur, in answer to one of
mine in which I expressed some amusement at beaglers troubling
about being back in time for Hall ; Currey being a Don and a
member of High Table, of course, made a difference. And a further
letter from him, just received, reveals the fact that there were
Fellow Commoners on the earth in those days, who of course sat
above the Salt, and there were then no Club dining-rooms. Here is
the letter ; the italics are mine. — F. C. K.

Burton Hall, Loughborough,
April 9, 1911.

Dear Mr. Kempson —

I suppose in the present day the undergraduate goes to the

184 THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

meet in his motor car, and has a motor van for the beagles : ^ no
bother about hurrying h(jme on foot, probably does not dine in Hall
after beagling, Ijut has a " banquet " in his own rooms from the
College kitchens. / wonder if the Master ever sees his hounds fed
after hunting. — Believe me, yours sincerely,

Eenest St. Maur.

The gastronomy of Cambridge beagling has a chapter to itself.
[Jnofiicial " Athenaeum Bloods " do sometimes lunch in comfort and
come out late in a " Pitt taxi." As to Masters' care of their hounds
here is the answer, and I am sure that no one will be more pleased
than my correspondent to hear that his hypothetical and very gentle
satire on latter-day luxury is, so far as working beaglers are con-
cerned, misplaced, as the following extracts show. — F. C. K.

When feeding, I always let the thin ones out first. By doing
this they get first chance, and pick out a lot of meat. The fat
hounds will not want nearly as much as the thin ones.

On hunting days they w^ere never fed, but had their big grub
at 3 o'clock the day before. On the morning after hunting, they
always had some thin grub. This keeps them quiet and makes them
sleep.

The kennels ought always to be clean and fresh by 9 a.m., and
care should be taken not to let any water stand on the paving.
Hounds are very apt to catch rheumatism, and too much care cannot
be taken.

The water troughs should be well washed out before fresh water
be put in. The bedding should always be dry, and if very wet,
should be moved even if not at the proper cleaning time. — Anon.

When feeding, hounds should always be " drawn." It makes
them twice as handy, and enables you to get those out first that
want feeding up.

If hounds are wanted to hunt more than 3 days a week, they
must have heaps of meat.

' A motor beagle van is out of the question. It would be far too expensive in
initial cost, upkeep, and renewal. Time is money as a rule, but the diti'erence in the
time beagles are on the road is small.

THE FAEMEES' BOOK 185

Green food and sulphur ought to be given at least once a week.

Hounds must be in condition if hares are to be killed. The
harder they are, the more days they can hunt, and the keener they
are in breaking up the hare.

Use "Sanitas" or some disinfectant in the kennel freely, also
have a post in the yard. It keeps the yard cleaner.

See the hounds fed sometimes after long driving meets. I have
found the food laid out on the kennel floor before now when I have
gone up unexpectedly.

Always tell Bob what hounds you want out next day or you will
be sure to find some lame 'uns that he thinks sound enough.— K. W.

Some hounds that we had, had not had their dew claws cut.
They were the first to go lame. This seems to show that puppies
should always have their dew claws cut.

I hunted all through one frost. If you put salt down in the
sleeping-rooms, and round the feeding-troughs when they come in
from hunting, hounds' feet get as hard as iron. — K. W.

The following veterinary notes made by K. Walker seem worth
preserving : —

[Forms. R Santonini, grs. iv.

Areca nut, 3 h-

This makes one pill the right size for puppies six months old. Half
this pill for small puppies. Give fasting three times a week.

Dysenfertj. R Carbolic Acid, 3 i-

Water, 5 xxx.

i.e. a teaspoonful of carbolic acid in 1^- pts. of water. Give one
tablespoonful of the mixture twice a day. In a bad case three times a
day. Keep the hound from lapping cold water for a few days.

^*^ The above were got from Worral, Huntsman of Old Berkeley
Hounds,

Distemper. R Digitalis Powder, grs. xii.

Tartrate of Antimony, grs. iii.
Nitre, powdered, 3 i-

Makes twelve pills. Give one every morning. Tie up hound in
warm dry place. Feed on warm slops.

186 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Yellows. R Calomel, grs. x.

Ethiops Mineral, 3 ij-
Rhubarb Powder, ,~ iij.
Castile Soap, 5 i.
Barbadoes Aloes, 3 -|.

For a beagle this makes two dozen pills. After a preliminary dose
of castor oil give one pill night and morning.

Mange. R Oil of Turpentine, 3 iv. Flowers of Sulphur, 5 viii.

Oil of Tar, 5 viii. Train Oil, pint 1.

^*.;f The above are from Antony, Devon and Somerset Stag
Hounds.

Another recipe (out of H. S. Gladstone's Diary) : —

R Sulphur, powdered, h lb.
Neat's Foot Oil, h pt.
Paraffin, 2 pts.

Give three dressings on alternate days. Then wash all over with
dog soajx Epsom Salts as required.

Breeding. — Don't be afraid of breeding too many pups. The
more you get the more you will have to choose from. It does not
matter in a pack of beagles if a bitch does run mute, if she has a
good nose breed from her all the same. If one does not get a certain
number of hounds entered every year a time comes when the pack
will consist of old stagers and no third or fourth season hounds.

It is absolutely necessary to get walks in the country for bitches
that are going to whelp, as I have found out to my cost. It is
always best to get as many walks, or promises of walks, for puppies
as you can, as when it comes to the time for sending off the pups
those who have promised to walk the pups find they can't do it after
all. Always start in good time to look out for walks.

Every Master is bound to leave as many hounds as he took on,
and should breed as many pups as possible.

It is to be hoped that future Masters wall try their best to
get the Trinity Beagles into the Stud-book. This can be done
by breeding from Stud-book bitches and sending to Stud-book dogs.
Every Master is an honorary member of the Association, and by

THE FAEMEES' BOOK 187

paying £1 becomes a member. He should then enter the young
entry and in time the whole pack will be in the Stud-book, and
hounds can be shown at Peterboro'. It much increases the value of
the draft, as many people will not buy hounds which are not eligible.
Hounds which have three of their grandparents in the Stud-book are
eligible. — D. G. Hoare.

AVhen hounds first came from walk I dressed them all over with
parafl&n and yellow sulphur (1 pint paraffin in } lb. sulphur well
mixed, added to which should be some spirits of tar).

At same time I gave them a good dose of sulphur in their grub.
This is a safe plan, as very often hounds from walk are mangy and
out of sorts.

When they first come into kennel they are sure to be very
wild, and you can't exercise them too much or get them used to
you. I used my first year never to miss being up at feeding-
time. — Anon.

The Beagle Cart

Beagles being short-legged and slow need a van to convey them to
the meet if it be any distance from home. In the early days, all
meets being walking meets, they could foot it ; though having to
scuttle behind mounted men hurrying home to Hall was hardly fair.
As the hunt became welcome farther afield a conveyance had to be
improvised, and the obvious makeshift is a spring-cart with a pig-net
and plenty of straw. With the new Kennels and decent management
came a proper though seemingly not a well-designed van, now worn
out and replaced. — F. C. K.

The Beagle cart is the property of the Beagle Hunt. It is kept
at J. Free's, Madingley Eoad, winter and summer. Free takes the
contract of taking the hounds to the meet. His contract with me
was 10s. per diem every day he horsed the cart. For short meets,
such as Five Bells, etc., he only charged 8s. 6d. He is a good old
man, and knows the country and farmers well. He is also very
oljliging in lending his stables and buildings in case we want them
for l^rood-bitches or as a hospital.

188 THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Free began driving the hounds out when the fir-st covered van
was built in 1880. I can well remember old Free. He had a per-
fectly round face, a bright red complexion framed in snow-white
whiskers, and beady eyes. He looked like the typical ferocious
Anglo-Indian Colonel Sahib of the comic papers, with the ferocity
left out. He is still alive and well though considerably aged, and
his son now drives out in his stead.

In March 1895 the Beagle Hound Van was given a coat of paint,
and a tarpaulin nailed on the roof, which was very much "wanted. —
K. W.

This I can well believe from recollections of my own time, as also
the need of paint. The top of a hound van is very like a deck, and
it is a sure sign of old age when planking ceases to be watertight
and needs covering with canvas or Linoleum. The soundest and
neatest job in such cases is to stick stout caUco down on to the roof
with marine glue and copper tacks, using plenty of glue and pressing
the cahco down on to it with a flat-iron. A beading can be tacked
down on the margins, and the rao-oed edo-es trimmed off to make a
neat job. Paint three coats. It would be better to use flexible paint,
as this will not crack when dry. It can be prepared as follows :
Boil 2 oz. hard yellow soap in a little water. While boiling add
two pints best boiled linseed oil, hot. On cooling, add turpentine,
I pint, and oil of vitriol, half a wine-glass. This can be applied
alone or mixed half and half with ordinary paint of any desired
colour.

Canvas or very stout cahco might answer, tacked down with
copper tacks, without the glue, and painted as above. It would be
more easily renewed. — F. C. K.

A new Beagle cart would be a tremendous boon to the T.F.B. If
any Master had the money to spare, or felt that he could raise
a subscription to buy one, he should not hesitate to do so. —
H. S. Gladstone.

Next year the thing was done, and it is a great credit to the
Shropshire carpenter that the old van had held out so long (twenty
years). — F. C. K.

A new hound van was built for the T.F.B. in December 1900

THE FAEMEES' BOOK 189

Ijy Thoru of Norwich. The cost was £50 : 8s., and this was partly
defrayed by subscription by ex-Masters and Whips of T.F.B. —
W. E. Paget.

The cart should have its roof varnished every summer to keep it
in good condition. Make Bob do this as he has lots of time in the
summer. — D. G. Hoare.

In the above " painted " is cancelled and " varnished " substituted.
Personally I think painted canvas would be better. — F. C. K.

Here is a leaf torn out of a lecture note-book and lying loose
among the T.F.B. papers, written by some Honorary Secretary
unknown. It leads us from the hound van through rates, taxes, and
tips to the important and delicate matter of farmers and the arrange-
ment of meets : —

Hounds are taken to the meet at a cost of 10s. a time. It has
been suggested that there might "be a saving if Bob drove the van and
we kept the horse ourselves. But though Free's bill is big, it saves
us a great deal of trouble. He contracts to supply the horse always,
and ours would be sure to go lame. (Our sometime Secretary clearly
knew the law of Luck.) Also this plan would never give Bob time
to clean up kennels when hounds were out.

I am sure that this is sound economy. There is no worse policy
than that of " spoiling a ship for a ha'p'orth o' tar." There is an
insurance element in jobbing in that you know the worst. Holland
Hibbert told me that he effected a saving by not having the van out
for some of the shorter w^alking meets, and going on with the hounds
on bicycles, and bringing them back. But this is as hard on hounds
after a heavy day as the riding home with them which was the
fashion of Currey's time. And Whips have told me that it is extremely
difl&cult to keep hounds together on the road on a dark night, especi-
ally through the mean streets which have to be traversed in the last
mile. The paragraph on rates and taxes is dry and is omitted ; also
the method of enumerating hounds for Inland Eevenue, which is
confidential. — F. C. K.

It is the custom to send £1 a term to Hopkins for the men who
look after the brake horses.

The farmers are done slap up. They get two luncheons at

190

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Cottenham and a big fizz dinner. This dinner miglit be made
cheaper if the Master of the Drag were willing ; but it is rather a
big job to tackle. Still, if the Trinity kitchens would undertake a

The Morning after the Farmers' Dinner, circa 1896, according to
C. Pascoe Hawkes, Esq., who drew this.

cheaper dinner at the Victoria Eooms, or somewhere else, money
might be saved.

A comment in pencil in another hand says : —

The result of this would be a cold dinner. " Lion " more popular
with farmers.

THE FAKMEES' BOOK 191

You ought to have no difficulty about getting meets. Don't be
put off by " No hares " in the meet book ; often there are hares to be
found one year and not the next. Beware of Six Mile Bottom.

In pencil : —

Quite true. Hares far too numerous for it ever to be possible to
hunt there for some years.

All the above are anonymous. — F. C. K.

The observations on farmers and meets requires more selection,
and is more entertaining than the previous matter, which, though
perhaps dull, is sound and useful, and so free from redundancy and
vain repetitions that I have given it almost in fuU. The notes on
meets should revive many pleasant memories. The confidential
entries on the idiosyncrasies of the farmers are — well, there's a deal
of human nature in farmers, and human nature is never all good, nor
all bad, thank God. Farmers can be pompous, blustering, slim as
" Brother Boer," pot-hunters of the blunderbuss and " long dog " order,
greedy for a festive dinner, or hospitable sportsmen and thorough
good sorts. All need humouring, the last as much as any, for they
are often a bit sensitive, and are the last sort of men on wliose corns
one should even unwittingly tread.

The farmers on whose land we hunt are not all of the farmer
class. Some few are squires of high degree, of one of whom, a most
worthy Admiral, it is recorded that he is " not a bad chap but wants
buttering." The world is small, and a Whip whose home is far away
was given the book to play with and found the above entry. The
Admiral was his uncle ! This shows that one cannot be too careful,
and all extracts on this head are divorced from their context, though
most of the notes tend to show good qualities even under unpre-
possessing exteriors. All beaglers cannot have the overwhelming
tact of a " Mother " Hunt, or talk of crops and prices with the demure
seriousness of " Judy " Carr-EUison. But any one can learn to apply
the following wise rules, which are partly in J. S. Carr-Elhson's hand-
writing and partly in Kenneth Walker's, and most beaglers must
have learned the rudiments of the game at home : I know my own
father taught me. — F. C. K.

192 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Hints concerning Fakmers

1. All farmers are " Esquires " and must be treated as equals.

2. If any row occur, apologise most humbly and ask to lunch next
Market Day to talk it over.

3. Never pass a farmer in the street without stopping to talk.

4. In case of ininor farmers, and also unpopular with farmers
round, first try and soothe. If no go, take no notice and discontinue
cards. iV:i?.— Take care to find out all about offenders before taking
these measures.

5. Game should be sent to as many as possible, especially to those
on whose land hares are killed.

6. Before beginning hunting go round and leave cards, or if
possible see all farmers.

7. It is a good plan to have lunch at Cottenham Eaces, and ask
all farmers.— (i2.>S^. V.P.)

8. The hunt dinner ought certainly to be kept up.

The above are in Carr-ElHson's handwriting, though I doubt if they
are his. But Eules 2 and 3 are exactly like him. Eule 5 has had a
pen drawn through it, I think wisely. Undergraduates do not kill game
on the land, and game bought or procured from home is a little " far
fetched " and too hke a mere " tip." These eight rules cover the
whole ground, and whoever drew them up knew farmers. I think that
many older and (ex officio) wiser men would lead happier and more
successful lives if they learned and applied them. Many a man who
is a mere candidate might have been " M.P." by now if he'd known
half of them, and IF ever I am a Bishop, I shall have them printed
on a card, and give every priest who goes to work in any country
parish in my diocese a copy. The University might also adopt them
for tbose who do agriculture and will have to manage estates, and
they might also be helpful to College Bursars. You will, of course,
take these observations half in jest. I think them worth taking whole
in earnest as well.

The remaining eight rules are, with one or two exceptions,
positive rules for carrying out the above precepts. They are all

THE FARMERS' BOOK 193

ia K. Walker's hand except No. 16, which is initialed H. S. G. —
F. C. K.

9 (^vide 7). I got tickets from the Athenajum Club ^ for farmers'
luncheon in the Athenaeum tent at Cottenham for 2s. 6d. apiece.

10. Ditto, ditto for nothing.

11. See that every farmer gets a card. It does not cost much,
and they think a great deal of it. Be especially careful to see that
all sheep farmers get a card, and notice if you have a bye meet.

12. When you get to know the farmers you can ask them if
notice that you are coming will be sufficient without writing for
leave.

13. Take the bad country in its turn with the best. The farmers
think themselves slighted if you always go to the " fen country."

14. Go regularly to the Corn Exchange.

15. If possible get one or two farmers to lunch every Saturday.

16. It is better than either 7, 9, or 10 for Masters of the Drag,
Harriers, and Beagles to give a separate lunch between them for all
farmers at Cottenham.

The Corn Exchange rule is a tradition which goes hack to Foot
Drag days. No. 13 is most important. It is, of course, a kindness
for the farmers to allow us on their land, but it is also in many
cases a great pleasure. There are many who accept hospitality from
no sponging motive but from a most wholesome love of good fellow-
ship, and who are still better pleased at a chance of dispensing it. I
had charge of a fen parish, Manea, in the winter of W. H. Wiggin's
Mastership, and the beagles came to us twice. I need not say that
to myself they were red-letter days in a very quiet winter, but the
farmers who came out were delighted. One of them hoped they
would come again whether I were there or not, and asked what fee
was charged for the sport provided !

There is a Rule 17, but goodness knows what it is doing in this
galley ; it relates to ordering tea at the inn on driving days after
hunting.

Come we now to the notes on the various meets and on the

1 In Trinity Street, not Pall Mall.

0

194 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

farmers and others who provide the sport. In this matter the book
provides an embarras de richesse, and if everything was published just
as it is put down, I could easily get my head broken, especially as I
know something of several of the people mentioned from other points
of view. As regards the meets there is really not very much to say,
except that it is interesting to note their ups and downs in the matter
of hares. Many of the meets in the book are lost to us now, as
through many years of poaching and of game preserving hares have
become extinct in some parts and swarm in others. Meets can be
divided in two ways, according to distance or country. They are either
walking, driving, or train meets, and the country is plough, fen, or
gooseberry, and in some parts where good sport might be had, so
much care has to be taken to keep hounds out of coverts that they
are not worth going to. Madingley Woods are an especial taboo.

Teinity Backs, the country round the rifle butts, is variously
described : — -

Very nice country if you can find anywhere near cricket grounds.
Poor near butts. Too many hares, all plough. — Anon.

I think it is a beastly country. — J. S. C.-E.

Good scenting country. Pdght number of hares. Have had
good sport every time we met there. — K. W.

In recent times it has been quite good. T. Holland Hibbert
thought it one of the best. — F. C. K.

Chesterton Cross Eoads was good, but is getting built over.
Towards Histon much of the country is now planted with fruit, which
means " woodland " hunting. Sport, of course, not so good, but I see
more of what there is now I am getting old. — F. C. K.

Grantchester is well spoken of, especially as good country " to
see hounds walk." (I have seen tlie whole of a very fine hunt here
without running a yard. It is undulating, and the fences are cut
down. — F. C. K.)

Five Bells was a regular meet when I was yoimg. We never
go there now. The following note in K. Walker's hand shows why.
— F. C. K.

THE FABMEES' BOOK

195

Five Bells is a plough country, and hares generally run to
Frohock's covers. The T.F.B. must not interfere with the Cambridge-
shire, and rather than cause any ill-feehng we ought to give up this
meet.

Waterbeach Slap Up is noted as "capital country" and
generally a safe find. If you run into the gardens and they behave
well ptarmigan would go down well, being cheap and new io them.

This is one of the common operations of fen agriculture, and shows how T.F.B. can repay the
farmers' kindness. "One good turn deserves anotlier." — Drawn by A. H. Penn.

The Observatory. — Hares are safer here from long dogs and
guns than anywhere in the neighbourhood.

Fen meets give the best sport but are the most difficult to arrange :
a curmudgeon on a hundred-acre holding can spoil a couple of square
miles. There is also a good deal too much " long dog " work going
on. I give one or two typical cases. Most fen meets are train meets,
and then only such country as is close to a station is practicable.

Waterbeach FEN.-n-Lovely country, nearly all grass, and hares
as big and strong as donkeys. The most difficult country to keep in

196 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

with. The greatest care should be taken to keep tlie country.
Coulson always has a hare and ought to have 10s. to £1 when you
meet there. — Anon.

Hares almost extinct. Would be a good thing to put a hare or
two down, as the worst poacher has gone. — A. F. P.

I doubt it — they are all coursers and poaching blackguards in that
part.— J. S. C.-E.

Our best country. Hares just right. Grass. A beagler's
paradise. — K. W.

SwAVESEY. — A ripping country all along the side of the railway.
The very worst country for poaching in England. Every one has a
lurcher and is proud to kill your hare. Horse-whipping is the only
remedy. Very few hares indeed. — A. F. P.

There is no remedy in any of these places. The long dog firm have
a lawful right on certain holdings, and have, of course, elastic con-
ceptions of their neighbours' landmarks. There were several about
when I was asked out to walk up partridges on that ground last
September.— F. C. K.

As regards the farmers it is interesting to see how many of them
are entered as thorough good sportsmen and most hospitable, and by
no means remarkable that even these, being human, " by no means
object to butter." We all like to have pretty things said to us, at
least I respond more or less readily to such treatment, and if the
farmers like butter the beaglers Kke bread and butter, and cunning
hints are scattered through these pages as to where it is to be
had gratis.

To the rule of giving no names I must make one exception, that
of the late J. B. Close, an old rowing Blue, who lived at Little
Shelford, hunted and rode his own horses on the tow-path when
coaching First Trinity Boats, and took this club to the Head of the
Eiver. " J. B." was an all-round sportsman, and the entries con-
cerning him are deUghtful, as follows : —

I. Has been very good to us. Very hospitable and knows well
the inner wants of the beagler.

THE FAEMEES' BOOK 197

II. (on another page hut in the same handivriting). Write to
J. B. Close, Shelford House, and ask for a lawn meet.

We are all lairly human. [I have initialed any comments of my
own based on personal knowledge. — F. C. K.]

A. was a yeoman known to me under circumstances having
nothing to do with beagling. He had the name for being very close-
fisted among the cottagers, and he liked being " top-dog," consequently
he lived in a state of chronic friction with the parson, who was also
prejudiced in favour of his own way. This village contained an
atheist cobbler, whom A. chid for not attending church. A. admitted
friction, but said that he should still attend, aye, if " the Devil himself
were in the pulpit ! " " Eh," said the cobbler, " I can quite believe
you, Mr. A., you'd go and hear the Devil hisself so long as he did your
dirty work for you, and {red.) it'd have to be precious dirty work as
you wouldn't do yourself ! " At least, that is what the cobbler said
that he said, and, as he was a man of unfettered speech, he probably
did say it. Kow for the entry re A. in the Meet Book.— F. C. K.

Good sportsman and fond of us. A queer chap, always asks you
on other people's land, but never on his own. Be politeful. Keep
him quiet in a gentle sort of way. Gets us a lot of good country.

Babbles a bit, and likes to hear himself babble at a Beagle Dinner,
or anywhere else where there is any one to hsten. But a thundering
good chap, a very keen sportsman, and, what is more, knows some-
thing about it, and is a good friend to T.F.B.

A. always professes to get leave all round. Care should be taken
that he does this.

B. always knows where a hare lies. One of the best. Had a pack
of harriers some years back. Is very keen and good for a speech at
the Drag and Beagle Dinner.

He used to come out mounted, and to this day I remember the
mince-pies he gave us at tea, and the demure and lofty discourse
maintained with him by J. S. Carr-Ellison on agricultural subjects.
There was plenty of "butter," but it wouldn't have melted in
J. S. C.-E.'s mouth.— F. C. K.

C. (a neighbour of B.) likes you to meet at his house once in a
season.

198

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Does you well. [So there was a second alteruative to B.'s mince-
pies.— F. C. K.]

D. is sulky, but has come round.

E. is an A 1 sportsman. Should be taken notice of.

F. Ditto. In reduced circumstances.

G. is rather a poacher. " You must not believe all you hear." i
H. All right. He and . . ., his tenant, are not on very good terms.
I. Ill-mannered dog. Laps a great deal, does nothing.

J. has taken 's land and gives this meet. He is one of the

best, and very good company at dinner. Verb. sajj. !

K. (an hotel keeper) has no longer a
farm. He is a very good sportsman (breeds
horses, etc.) and knows nearly every farmer
in Cambridgeshire. Should be asked to
lunch when you go to the Corn Exchange to
see the farmers.

L. (1) Be careful. Good, but wants see-
ing.

(2) I think he is a capital old chap, very
keen to have us. He likes to be given the
hare when killed, and is very pleased with a
present of game. His two sons are nice
fellows and very keen.

I remember him myself and vote for
second opinion. — F. C. K.
M. Be careful. No manners. All right.

N. One of the most ill-conditioned blackguards I ever met. Shot
our hare in front of hounds. His father was all right, but the son is
a devil.

Skcond Laugest
Katepayer.

O. ])e very deferential to 0., who is "second largest ratepayer

in

P. will give this meet. Like the rest of the litter, he's one of
the best.

Q. Al chap. Pleased to see you. Very keen on breeding,
especially shire horses. Does you proud after hunting.

^ Refrain of .i " Gaiety " song of tlie period.

THE FARMEES' BOOK 199

R. (1) Very good chap. Very superior.

(2) R. warned us oft".

I believe the explanation to be that R. has done very well, and
" climbed," and that T.F.B. interfere with pheasants. R. and A. N.
Other used to give us tremendous teas. — F. C. K.

S. Capital chap. Will walk pups. Very anxious to please.
Always gets leave all round for us, and makes things straight.

T. As old S. says, he likes to be courted.

U. Very good chap, but gruffish manners. Anxious to see us.
Will probably give tea to whole field, so do not order tea at pub.
till last minute, on chance of U. asking us.

I remember him, and should say he was dry, but very keen.
— F. C. K. X

V. All right.

There is a great deal in this brief description. V., whom I know,
is a hustling scientific farmer with holdings in many counties, and
a keen sportsman when he has time. Once satisfied that beagling
was straightforward sport, and that no unreasonable damage would
be done, it would be " all right " ever after. A hard-working man
" wi' a guid conceit o' hisself," but no time for " butter." — F. C. K.

W. If you go right up the Fen, mind W., who does not want us
on his land and sent me a lawyer's letter.

X. I had letter from X. of warning me off' his gooseberry

(? raspberry) canes. He then asked for a ticket for lunch at
Cottenham.

Y. A keen sportsman. Ask him to ride with you.

Z. (1) A County Gentleman. Very kind and hospitable. Does
not, I think, object to butter.

(2) An invitation meet, but would probably give leave if you
wrote and asked him. Nice country, but too many hares.

(3) Quite one of our rottenest meets. Huge fields about one
hundred acres or more each. Hares always make for ground where
there are never less than six hares in every field. Generally a lot
of people who delight in riding over hounds' backs. The worst of it
is you can't danm them.

(4) Let us go any time we liked, before or after Christmas. Gave

200 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

us tea at whicli he provided champagne, port, and very good
cigars.

Here, then, is a procession or pageant of as many sample
" farmers " as there are letters in the alphabet, and including all
sorts and conditions of men, and some very ill-conditioned, " Peerage
folks" and "Post Office Directory folks," from tatterdemalion
"long doggers" to County Gentlemen, every one of whom is
human, and is ticked off with a mot juste. A typical farmer of
substance, " A.," heralds the procession, and " Z.," a County Gentle-
man, brings up the rear.

The following extract from a record of a day over the above
country is an interesting coincidence : —

" A lot of people out riding (some of whom should have known
better), who rode over hounds nearly all day long, and played the
giddy ass generally. So I stopped between four and five o'clock after
a very annoying and very rotten day."

" The worst of it is you can't ' damn ' them."

You might not suspect that any romance underlay the notes of
sport and hospitality provided by Z. Two of those who are referred
to in the notes " now live happily ever after," and, if you have ever
read a fairy story, you of course know what that means ! — F. C. K.

The last entry in the volume runs : —

" See new book " — which gives me furiously to think. I have not
been shown the second volume, which must contain the memoranda
for the fen meet at Manea, which it falls to my lot to arrange, so
that I come into the procession of farmers myself ! I wonder what
they say of me. I only gave them sandwiches, bread and cheese,
cake, beer, and whisky, stand-up fashion, before hunting, and the
things normal people have at tea-time, viz. tea, bread and butter,
divers cakes, and little buns and jam. No hot sausages, port wine,
or cigars, and certainly no " bubbley " wine. And therefore : —

What T.F.B.
May say of me.

THE FAEMEPtS' BOOK

201

Is ill a book
1 may not look.

What Mrs. K.
Did say of they
Was, " Locust horde,
Who swept my board ! "

Somebody drew a very unflattering caricature of " Our Host at
Manea" in the T.F.B. Club book. Then some one rubbed it out, for
fear of my seeing it and being cross, I suppose.
But the outline could be traced over, and, such as it
is, here it is ! I really believe they enjoyed them-
selves, for they seemed glad enough to come again.

But this is meant to be a business chapter, and we
must remember an important class that has not yet
been considered — the subscribers. " The man who
pays the piper has a right to call the tune," as says
the proverb ; but Trinity Foot Beagles are not run
on those hues. The piper plays his own tune, and
those who like it may contribute when the hat goes
round. This scheme has many advantages. The
contributor, an he called the tune, would have to
guarantee the piper, which under existing conditions
he does not do. The piper piping at his own risk
keeps his independence, and the subscriber gets the
tune he likes, as it is obviously " business " for the
piper to study his audience. It may even be wise for
him to find them chairs during the performance. " Some calls them-
selves Masters of ounds," said old Jorrocks, "when they pay the
difference atwixt the subscription and the cost, leaving the manage-
ment of matters, the receipt of money, payment of damage, and all
those sort of particklers to the secretary." That is exactly how
T.F.B. is managed, and, though John said, " That's not the sort of
Master o' 'ounds I means to be," it works very well, as the appended
balance sheet of ]\Ir. M. E. Barclay's year shows.

Our Host at Manea.
The Rev. F. C. Kempsoii !

202

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

T.F.B. BALANCE SHEET

Season 190G-7

Receijits.

Subscriptions —

October Term .

£140

5

0

Subscriptions —

Lent Term .

109

0

0

Sundries

26

11

10

M. E. B. (i.e. "difference

atwixt tlie subscrip-

tions and the cost ") .

10

19

2

Total £286 16 0

Expenditure.

Keep of hounds
Brake and Van bills
li. Floate (" BoIj ") .
Printing and Stationer}
Farmers' Dinner
Kennel rei)airs
Rates and taxes
Annual payment to the

Parker and Ball loan
Sundries

. £74

4

5

. 61

7

0

. 49

5

11

. 28

0

1

. 21

3

3

. 13

0

7

. 14

13

4

. 15

0

0

. 10

1

5

Total £286 16 0

Doubtless this was au exceptionally prosperous year, for, barring
the debt un the Kennels, there was even a slight profit. The differ-
ence between the October and Lent term subscriptions would
presumably be due to Whips making their contributions at the
beginning of the season. The balance sheet does not go into details,
but it clearly distinguishes between what must be the inevitable
expenses of all packs of beagles, and those which are necessitated by
the special conditions of University life, namely, the brake and
beagle van, the printing and the farmers' dinner. It must be
remembered in regard to other expenses that the Trinity Beagles are
the only hunt that can put two alternative packs in the field.

The subscription on which the hunt is carried on is 30s. a term,
the special condition of University life cutting the hunting season
in two. This is for private subscribers; Whips pay £10 a season
each. Also the brake used on driving days is not included in the
subscription, it is paid for by those who use it at 25s. per term.
But the cost of conveying hounds to the meet is included in the
subscription. As therefore these two items are lumped together
under one head in " expenditure," while, under " receipts," hunt and
brake subscriptions are not entered separately, it is none too easy to
disentangle the details of finance. In J. S. Carr-Ellison's year, the

THE FARMEES' BOOK 203

"difference atwixt the subscriptions and the cost" was considerably
higher, about £30. In those days the subscription was £1 : Is. a term,
and there was no brake. Those who were members of the committee
cart paid for it, and others hired their own conveyances. It was in
E. Ft. T. Corbett's time, 1893, that the subscription was raised, and it
is remarked that the "extra 10s. does not seem to make much differ-
ence to the average undergraduate."

But it is time to turn to the advantages offered to the subscriber.
Sport shown must vary with the season, but the standard is high
and in this direction there is nothing to complain of Weekly cards
of the meets are posted to such as have paid their subscriptions.
A. F. Pease started this plan in Lent term 1888, and it has been
carried on ever since.

The brake was instituted somewhere in the days of the Walkers
and of H. S. Gladstone. This was a great convenience as the cost
was much less than that of private hiring. Also by that time
bicycles had come into general use, and I imagine that the average
beagler was become less able to drive. At first members were
allowed either to subscribe £1 : 5s. for the brake, or to pay 2s. a time.
The latter system, however, gave much trouble to the secretary.
There was also some mauvaise honte about demanding the fare. So
this very convenient arrangement was given up. Privately owned
motor bicycles and cars and " Pitt taxis " seem likely to put an end
to brakes altogether.

For a subscription pack to be a self-supporting success, it is
obvious that the feelings as well as the interests of subscribers must
be as tactfully considered as those of farmers. Hunting " brings folks
together that would not otherwise meet," and the pleasure of knowing
and mixing with other like-minded men is as fundamental a part of
the attraction as, in the narrow sense of the term, the sport itself I
do not mean by this mere idle gossip. Man is social, and whatever
he takes an interest in, he likes to talk about. In any case, new-
comers must be made to feel that they are welcome. In ordinary
life this is never a difficult matter, but the welcome which one
undergraduate extends to another is a very delicate affair, and one in
which seniors may hardly dare to intervene. The difficulty is not

204 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

lessened by the fact that regular beaglers tend to become a family
party on very intimate terms, so that a new-comer who turns up
without introductions may very easily feel "out of it" and be
discouraged, and the more desirable the recruit, the more likely he
is to feel thus. On this delicate matter, I feel the more bound to
speak in that I know that a good many possible subscribers are lost
in this way.

Now what is to be done ? The evil hits the Master's pocket
fairly hard, and yet he himself can do little, as in the field he and
his whippers-in have their work to do, and the situation is made no
easier by the fact that many followers, like Charles Lamb at his
office, arrive late and go away early. Much can be done by the
Master shaking hands with new-comers at the beginning of each
term, and saying, " Pleased to meet you," or words to that effect.
Farmers are not the only human beings who value the good opinion
of the " quoloty," and appreciate these cheap yet valued attentions ;
and his greeting should be followed up, though not too effusively.
But how ? I answer that there is the T.F.B Club, which is in fact if
not in name a committee, in that the members frequently meet and
" talk shop." Of these eight three are non-official and do not carry
whips. These members should be keen and patriotically disposed to
T.F.B., and should quietly and tactfully make themselves agreeable
to the field. It might be an improvement if the secretary were not
a Whip, as then he could the better know his field.

Perhaps, but this is going farther, members of the T.F.B. Club
who are not Whips should wear the Club uniform with a different
head-gear, and that all members of the Club should bear some small
share in guaranteeing expenses, instead of letting the whole risk
fall on the Master. This would be fairer on the Master, and would
give them all an interest in securing a good body of supporters.

I feel that in saying so much at my age I have been greatly
daring, and also realise that a freshman does not expect much, and
can be left to find his own level. But all men do not start beagling
as freshmen, and in making a new start in a new world want to be
helped over their first shyness — it is nothing else. The matter is
one which needs brains and care and some definite policy, mere

THE FARMEKS' BOOK

205

spontaneous civility is not enough ; and the Master cannot do it all
himself, he needs help. But it is the little things that tell.

It would probably be good policy to send a card of the first meets
of each term to be placed on the screens of all colleges and clubs,
with a note appended to the effect that it is open to members of all
colleges to become subscribers if they wish. — F. C. K.

The drudgery of beagling is even yet not quite done. There are
accounts of runs to be sent to the press. It is to the credit of the
pack that accounts of runs should be sent to The Field, and I am

Drawn by G. V. T. Hawkes.

sure, especially in connection with matter considered in preceding
paragraphs, that it is " pohcy " to send in accounts to the Granta.
And why not also to the Cambridge Bevieio ? The zeal with which
this last duty is performed varies with the times. The burden of
this should not be laid on the secretary, who has already quite
enough to do.

Should any reader who is not a beagler read through to the end
of this chapter he must realise, I think, how much work beagling
involves, and if he be a " don " or a schoolmaster he may exclaim at
the amount of time and energy diverted from what he will call
"more important subjects." There are men who come up to the
University to learn the principles of some definite profession whereby

206

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

they may earn their bread and butter ; for such, that sort of work
must come first. But there are also those who come up in order that
they may be generally well educated; for such, and especially for
those who are to enter the army, or to become men of affairs, or to
manage their own estates, or be incumbents of country parishes,
I can believe that the method, economy, tact, and management of
men which are learned in keeping a pack of beagles, and dealing with
farmers and subscribers, is no bad training. I am certain that it is
infinitely better than any game.

This chapter cannot be better concluded than in the words with
which a former secretary concludes his remarks on a loose sheet in
the book : —

" No time for more. I hope these notes may help a secretary
who finds himself with a pile of papers he knows nothing about.

Floreat Scientia

ET

T. F. B."

A MiNOU Farm EH.

CHAPTER IX

MODERN BEAGLING

The running Imntsnien nieny.

jrordsvo7ih.

HEN once an institution, be
it Club, League, Hunt, or
Monastery, has established
its traditions, it settles down
into a routine and ceases to
have a history : hencefor-
ward the thing that has
been is the thing that shall
be, year in year out, and
there is little to record but
names and dates, and in
such a case as ours, runs. Go
over any number of Minute
Books of any number of societies, and you will find that nine times
out of ten everything worth reading is to be found on the first ten
pages, and after that : —

" In the seventh month and on the six and twentieth day of the
month began Og to reign over Bashan, and he did good (or evil) ^ in
the sight of the Lord, and he reigned seventeen years in Zoar and
was gathered to his fathers, and Nimrod his son reigned in his stead,
twenty and three years reigned he in Zoar." And he also did good or
evil as the case may be, but good or evil of such humdrum sort that

1 Probably both.
207

208

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

the details are not worth printing. And then Nimrod slept with his
fathers, and Agag his son reigned in his stead, and so on ad infinitum
si non ad nauseam I

With T.F.B. it is none otherwise. They drive out and beagle and
usually have a tolerably good day, occasionally a " red letter," and
sometimes a " rotten joyless " one. Occasionally a riding day is (or
rather was) arranged for, and every season there are one or two
swimming days, usually without pre-arrangement. Beagling over, one
has tea, and drives home to bath, dress, and dine, and now and again
the Proctor comes in to dessert, till ]\Iay term comes round and a
new Master takes office, when more green coats are ordered at the

In the Good Old Times.

tailor's, and all is to do over again ; the only difference being that
the life of an undergraduate is shorter than that of a Palestinian
kin», and that though there were bad kings, sometimes very bad ones,
in those parts, there have been no bad Masters of T.F.B., though one
must suppose, as the rustic observed of divers brews of beer, that
some were better than others.

To briefly review the matter. Before Currey's time there were
intermittent packs of hounds followed on foot and hunting something
animate or inanimate, the last of these being the " Foot Drag." Here
followed the Interregnum. From Currey's time onwards, however,
there has always been a subscription pack of beagles hunting hares,
known first as the Foot Beagles and then as Trinity Foot Beagles.
To " Mother " Hunt and P. Burges we owe the Kennels and green
coats; to "Jack" Milne, "Bob"; and to "Judy" Carr-Ellison, the

MODEEN BEAGLING 209

double pack hunting four days a week. Since then there has been
no new departure, though several useful reforms and improvements
have been effected, and dilapidations made good.

A new hound van, for example, replaced the now decrepit vehicle
which had done duty since " Mother " Hunt's time, and whose long
and honourable service did, as has been said, great credit to the
Shropshire carpenter in whose shop she was built. Various necessary
repairs and improvements have been effected in the fabric of the
Kennels, and what is more, the freehold of the site has been secured
to the Hunt. Also a field has been secured of great use in hound
breeding. Also Eeaveley was discovered. And last, but by no means
least, some genius invented the safety bicycle, and the unwritten law
against " bogwheels " has succumbed to force majeure. More
recently still motor bikes and " Pitt taxis " have appeared on
the scene.

I hope, in parenthesis, that some of the older members of this era
will not mind being included in the rising generation. All, I take it,
are young who are not yet old enough to have sons up and supporting
T.F.B. But no sooner do we cease to be young than we begin to
wish to be thought so. So if there are any old enough not to be
young and young enough not to wish to be thought young, they wiU
soon outgrow that transient condition and forgive me !

To begin with bogwheels. I remember coming up for the May
term of 1890 as a bachelor, and that these " safeties," as they were then
called in contradistinction to the high bicycles which still held their
own sufficiently to be called " ordinaries," began to pervade the
streets, though 'Varsity men so far did not touch them. But one day
A. M. Allgood said to T. A. E. Sanderson, who repeated the matter to
me in after years, " Blow the bloods " (or words to that effect), " let
us learn to ride bicycles." Which they did, defying convention, I
believe, even to the extent of using them to go and look on at the
Polo ! The next milestone on the downgrade was when my wife and
I were staying with a distinguished professor of mathematics in the
Lensfield Eoad, and their niece, who was dining there, begged our
moral support to overcome her uncle's and aunt's strong prejudice
against a lady owning and riding a bicycle. Then Mr, Dunlop

p

210

THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

invented the pneumatic tyre, and Society took to bicycling in
Battersea Park, and rumour had it that to be in the movement you
had to have a bicycle enamelled to match your frock ! What ancient
history it all seems now !

This craze had no direct connection with T.F.B., as coloured
bicycles were of course a peculiarly feminine phenomenon. None

the less, beaglers, like every one else, learned to bicycle, and prejudice
could no longer stand against practical convenience. " Five Bells,"
for example, on the Huntingdon Eoad, had always been a " walking
meet," and the bicycle on such occasions was irresistible. From this
to using them for driving meets was a very small step, and one that,
moreover, saved money, and so the thing was done — done so
effectually that bicycles were even used by Master and Whips for
taking hounds out to exercise. One day I actually saw them thus
taking hounds past " Hyde Park Corner " and u}) the Hills Road.
Not having been in personal touch with T.F.B. since the late eighties.

MODEEN BEAGLING 211

the spectacle gave me quite a shock. In these last days, when I can
again sometimes go out to see the fun, I myself bicycle to the meet,
without shame indeed but with a feeling that the old driving days,
even if they cost more, were better. To such a pass have things
since come that when two brake-loads of modern beaglers came out
to a driving meet, and one brake was starting home early, there
were searchings of heart as to who should drive ! So that, thanks to
the insidious bogwheel, the country is " going to the dogs, sir ! "

Since then I have seen a Whip in the Drag in full war-paint with
mahogany tops and spurs riding a bogwheel home from Hopkins's
stables ! But to proceed with our annals.

There is a note appended to the hst of Masters and Whips for
the year 1892 to the effect that the Master of that year. Lord Milton
(now Earl FitzwiUiam), was the last to buy the hounds from the
preceding Master, which of course means that he gave the pack to
his successors in trust for the benefit of the hunt. No details are
obtainable, so that it is only possible to put the bare fact on record.
Indeed the years from October 1889 to January 1895 were quite
uneventful : at least no records or communications of any sort are
forthcoming.

In January 1895, as no Master could be found to take on the
hounds, a Beagle Hunt Committee was formed, consisting of the
Huntsman, Whips, and three others, as follows : —

Kenneth Walker, Huntsman.

R. F. Allgood ^

R. R. Crewdson

A. C. Lupton I ^^'^">^-

W. H. M. Ellis J

C. E. Pease,

A. B. P. Harrison,

H. G. Carr-Ellison.

At this period either things again began to happen, or at least of
what then happened there are abundant records, chiefly vxemoranda
left by Messrs. Kenneth and Nigel Walker, and Mr. Hugh S.
Gladstone's very full diary. These deal with the repair of the

212 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Kennels and the purchase of the freehold, with the beginnings of the
annual visit to Reaveley in Northumberland, and to various other
matters of interest. Did we adhere to chronological order Reaveley
should come first, but " business first and pleasure after " is a whole-
some motto, so I shall begin with the improvements in the Kennels
and the purchase of the site.

Memorandum entered in the Farmers' Book by N. 0. Walker

When I became Huntsman in the Easter Term of 1897 the yard
was in a shocking state. A subscription was started, and all the old
Masters and Whips were asked to subscribe. About £43 was raised
in this way and the yard re-cemented at a cost of £45. This was
done by Key of Victoria Road, who guaranteed it for five years.

The next move was to get dwarf walls and railings put up in
place of the old (wooden) palings. This Burges (the landlord)
agreed to do for us and to charge 4 per cent on the expenditure.
He also proposed to make a grant in perpetuity to the Committee or
the Huntsman of T.F.B.

Mr. Burges's letter relative to this matter has fortunately been
preserved, and it here follows in extenso : —

Letter

St. Stephen Street, Bristol,
March 17, 1897.

Dear Sir — Replying to your letter on the 10th inst., would you
kindly obtain an estimate for the wall you require, and I will lay the
matter before the Trustees to whom the land the Kennels are built on
now belongs, and I feel little doubt that they will accede to your
views. I cannot help thinking that, in the interest of the Beagles,
the present arrangement should be placed on a more satisfactory
basis. As matters stand, I and Mr. Rowland Hunt, when the Beagles
were placed on their present footing (originally they were kept in
the back yard of a pub. opposite Magdalene, and fed on college scraps
at a shilling a head per week by the publican), raised subscriptions
to build the present Kennels, get a van, etc. But we could not raise

MODEEN BEAGLING 213

money enough to buy the land, so my father bought it, and the
understanding was that he would resell it, if required, at a reasonable
price to the Committee, it being hoped that later on we could raise
money to buy it. We were, however, unable to do this, and the
consequence is that the Kennels have been built and a lot of money
spent on land not the property of the Committee, and though during
my lifetime nothing is likely to be done to disturb the Committee, it
is clear that legally the Trustees of my father's estate could claim
land, buildings and all. My view is that the simplest and most
satisfactory course to adopt would be for the Beagle Committee or
Master to take from the Trustees a grant of the land in perpetuity on
ground rent ; they would then be quite safe. The cost of this would
not be more than £5 or £6. The ground rent would be the present
rent plus such additional rent as would be required if the wall and
railings were put up ; and the cost of the transaction might also be
added to that of the railings, unless you have money in hand to meet
it. The only other course would be for the Committee to raise
money enough to purchase the land out and out.

Ask your wall contractor to send me a full estimate and measure-
ments of the proposed alterations ; the railings, to make a good job,
shovild be set in strong stone coping. — Yours faithfully,

(Signed) P. Burges.

Nigel Walker, Esq.,
Pitt Chil), Cambridge.

Mr. Walker observes that the proposal to grant the land in
perpetuity was open to many objections. What these were he does
not say, but it must be obvious that a committee of undergraduates
whose personnel is constantly changing, and any or all of whom might
be " infants," could not conveniently become holders of real property.
It has been found convenient for all permanent clubs and societies in
the University to liave senior graduates as treasurers and trustees so
that financial continuity may be secured, and though the Beagles are
not run on the lines of an ordinary club, yet it is obvious that their
permanent property should be duly vested in Trustees : and the action
taken by Mr. Walker in this matter is clear evidence of his wisdom

214 THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

and business capacity, as his Memorandum, which continues as
follows, abundantly shows : —

I managed to get Mr. Parker (of Mortlock's Bank), and Mr.
W. W. Bouse Ball, of Trinity, to buy the Kennels from Mr. Burges at
a price of £170, including the cost of the walls, etc. Mr. Parker and
Mr. Eouse Ball are now our landlords, and hold the Kennels as
security for the money advanced, till we have paid off the debt. A
subscription was started to obtain part of the £170, and a certain
amount collected, and at the end of the 1897 season the Committee
paid some more money exclusive of the rent. As we pay 5 ^ on the
amount, it is obvious that the more money is paid off the smaller the
rent becomes, till at last the Kennels will be the property of T.F.B.
At that time the course I should propose would be that Mr. Parker
and Mr. Eouse Ball should continue to hold the Kennels, but merely
as trustees for T.F.B. If each Master were to take on the Kennels
as his own property, it would cause infinite trouble and be an endless
legal expense.

(Signed) Nigel 0. Walker.

On the opposite page of the Farmers' Book is the following
comment : —

What Mr. N. 0. Walker says on the opposite page is quite
correct, but he omits to say that each year the Master of the T.F.B.
has to pay £10 of the Kennel purchase debt as well as 5 ^ on the
existing amount. It may at some time be feasible to raise a sub-
scription to pay off more than this sum, some years. If not, it would
appear that in fifteen years' time (a.d. 1914) the Kennels will be the
property of the then Master. At that period it would be advisable to
ask Messrs. Parker and Bouse Ball (or if dead their trustees) to hold
the land as trustees.

(Signed) Hugh S. Gladstone.

Dated February 2, 1899.

So cumbrous an arrangement as conveying the freehold Jrom
Master to Master is manifestly absurd. The actual situation at the

MODERN BEAGLING 215

present moment is that shown by the following communication from
Mr. Eouse Ball :^

In 1897 the condition of the Kennels was such that a considerable
sum had to be expended in order to put them in order. To raise the
money, Mr. E. H. I'arker and I agreed that if the members of the
Hunt would subscribe £50, we would buy the hmd and the buildings
on it for £125. It was arranged that this sum should be repaid to
us at the rate of £15 a year, and that on its being cleared off we
should hold the Kennels for the Master and Committee of the Beatles.
We carried out the transaction through Barclay's Bank, guaranteeing
it against loss.

By 1908 the whole of the sum advanced to us had been cleared
off, and the land and Kennels were then conveyed to Mr. Parker,
myself, and my former pupils, Mr. N. 0. AValker and Mr. Anthony
Buxton, for the use of the Beagles. In 1906 an additional plot of
land in the vicinity of the Kennels had been bought for £100, and
this also is held by us for the use of the Beagles.

The additional piece of land referred to is an oblong grass
paddock on the opposite side of the Histon Koad to the Kennels, and
which is a valuable addition to the Hunt premises. It has been
most efficiently fenced in and divided, and Kennels for puppies and
brood bitches erected, as already described in Chapter V. Thus ends
a prosaic but most important episode in our history ; one which
places T.F.B., so long as Master, Whips, and private subscribers can
find money for current expenses, on a sound financial and business
footing with all the necessary capital in the way of land and
buildings.

It w^as about this time that the Beagle Brake ceased to be a
" Committee Cart," and was open to aU subscribing beaglers who cared
to join it.

It has always been a problem to know what to do with such
packs as the T.F.B. during vacation time. The obvious solution for
vacations that fall in the hunting season is for the Master or some
other "young squire" who has country at his disposal to take them
home and hunt them there, and it is manifestly an advantage to

216

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

o-ive the young hounds some experience analogous to cub-hunting
before October Term begins. Fortunately beagles have no such
well-defined territory as have foxhounds, and T.F.B. have shown
sport in such diverse districts as Tunbridge Wells, Hampshire,
Bridgnorth, and the North Country. The connection with the last
has been long continued, and became marked in the period of the
Peases Carr-Elhsons, and Allgoods. J. S. Carr- Ellison has his

A Little Quiet Fun with the Beagle Brake.

This represents the brake at a hater date, when Mr. E. Barclay was Master.

Drawn by A. H. Penn.

own tale to tell of early North Country visits, which ended in the
annual season at Eeaveley. As follows : —

I had very good sport with the beagles on the Cheviot Hills
in Northumberland. Allgood had a few hounds at Ingram, and he
and I bought a few more from Wilton the dealer at Hanwell, and
though we did not kill many hares we had great fun. Then the
next vacation we walked some hounds for Pease, and had better

MODERN BEAGLING

217

sport. Allgood hunted our little lot till his people moved from
Ingram to Nunwick in another part of Northumberland, and then
I hunted them. We had some capital hunts, and generally accounted
for our hare. The hill hares stood up longer before hounds than
south country ones, being fed on hard hill grass, and they also had
no heavy ploughs to tire them.

I used to keep the beagles, about ten couple of the best, during
vacation, when I was Master, at my father's place, Hedgeley, in
Northumberland, and having secured walks for the remainder
of the pack, I used to take Bob Floate, the kennelman (who, I be-
lieve, is still with the pack),
north with me. Bob was
quite a character, and very
handy about the place, and
in the summer time was
quite an acquisition to our
village cricket XI. ; he was
a fast round arm bowler.
Bob had never been in such
a hilly country, and when I
showed him one day where
we were going to hunt, he
looked at the hills in amazement, and said, " Lor', sir, these be
wunnerful 'igh 'ills, these be." Sometimes my meets were a long
way away, as I liked, especially in the autumn, to get right away
among the Mils, and so clear of tillage ground ; I used to drive
the beagles about in a spring cart with a pig-net over the top, and
very often if I was staying away overnight my luggage in a bag
in beside them.

One time I had arranged to go and stay a couple of nights at
Byrness in Eedwater (not far from the Carter Fell) with that keen
sportsman and popular man, Mr. Jacob Robson, Master of the Border
Hounds. I had to borrow a light-legged cart-horse to drive the
beagles, as my father's horses were engaged, and off" I started one fine
autumn day about the 20th of September 1888, dressed in my beagling
kit, my luggage and a pair of saddle-bags and the beagles |n the

J. S. C.-E. Beagling in Northumberland.

218 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

spring cart. I drove 15 miles to a little village called Alwinton, on
the Coquet, where an elderly cousin of mine, Arthur Carr (lately dead,
poor chap), who was keen on hound work, was to join me, he having
come from Newcastle-on-Tyne. I got to our rendezvous, Alwinton,
about 1.30, but no signs of Arthur Carr, and he did not turn up till
4.30, and then we had 12 miles to go by a liill track to Byrness.
There is no road for a cart the way we were going, so we put our
things into the saddle-bags, and off we started, my cousin leading
the mare. All went well till we were nearing the Eidlees, about
6 miles from Alwinton. It was now beginning to get dark, and
the cart mare was getting tired, my cousin lost the track, and I soon
heard them floundering about in some boggy ground, and heard
other things too. Just at this time the beagles got on the line of
a travelhng fox or hare, and off they went, and I thought I had seen
the last of them. However, they came back to my rate, and having
got a guide at the Eidlees, to show us over the worst part of the moor,
we eventually struck the main turnpike road a mile or so below
Byrness, and were very glad when we got there. The next day we
had quite a nice run, and killed a hare. When we were running
we were astonished to see a man running in the opposite direction,
away from hounds ; we could not make this out at the time. When
we went into Byrness after hunting, we heard a queer-looking man
had come to the back door and asked for food ; this he was given.
Later that evening a policeman turned up on a bicycle, and on
learning which way the man had gone, he went off, and captured
his man the next day near Morebattle in Eoxburghshire. The man
had committed a vile murder in the parish of Birtley, Northumber-
land, and he thought when he heard the beagles running that he was
being hunted down.

This was the becfinninLj : a further note shows that it was through
his younger brother, H. George Carr-Ellison, that the visit became
an annual institution. (F. C. K.)

My younger brotlier George went up to Cambridge about '93,
1 think, and in time became a Whip, and it was he who persuaded
the then Master, K. Walker, to bring the beagles up to Northumber-

MODEEN BEAGLING 219

land for the month of September. They took a farmhouse called
Eeaveley, and hunted the country round about, had good sport and
a jolly time. They have been up nearly every year since. The
last time I saw them was in 1908, when they came over and had a
day or two at Hatterburn, near Yetholm, where I was then living.
They have improved in looks since my time, and I was greatly
pleased with their work. Barclay was Master.

As regards the first visit of the series we are fortunate in having
Mr. Kenneth Walker's account in the form of a diary, which gives
a quite vivid account of a most delightfully " simple life " of sport
and hospitality, where rough shooting, fishing, cub-hunting, and such
lighter joys as picnics and tennis-parties fill up all the spare time.
It was originally intended for publication in Baihjs Magazine under
the title of a " Bedlamite in Barbaria."

A Sporting Trip to Northumberland with the Trinity
Foot Beagles, September 1895

Saturday, Aug. 31.— To-day we go to Northumberland. Amid a
scene of great excitement a horse-box containing 20 couple of hounds, 8
couple of puppies, K. Walker (Master and Huntsman), A. C. Lupton
(first Whip and Hon. Sec), left Bardsey Station at 7 a.m.

Travelling in a horse-box is comfort combined with callousness as
to the troubles of travelling. All the luggage, feeding-troughs, etc.,
goes in the luggage compartment of the horse-box ; with rugs and
papers it is as good as a first-class carriage. No one can come in, and
one is shunted from one train to another without the trouble of
changing.

We breakfasted at York and lunched at " Canny Newcassel," and
arrived at Hedgeley station on the Alnwick and Cornhill branch at
2.30 P.M.

Here we were met by George Carr-Ellison, who had been the
chief organizer of the trip (living close by).

Bob, the kennelman, brought on the hounds, the luggage came in
a farm cart, and ourselves in a bus.

After a drive of 3 miles we arrived at our destination, Reaveley

220

THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Farm. The farm is right up the valley of the Powburn, among the
hills. We found all prepared for us. G. A. C. Shipinan, a fellow
Cantab., who had been stopping with Carr-EUison, with the assistance

of Mrs. Fenwick (our house-parlourmaid
and cook), had put things straight.

Hounds were put in a kennel with
the open front boarded up. A puppy-
run was made out of the coach-house.
No one lives near us but the shepherd,
and 2 farm hands. On all sides of us
are high hills, some up to 1000 ft.,
covered with bracken and heather.

By the time we had settled down a bit
it was time for dinner, consisting of cold
beef and beer. A pipe and so to our beds.
Beds ! How little did we think of our
future troubles with beds. Mine was a
fold-up bed (usually about 2 a.m.), and
well named it showed itself

There are three bedrooms, two sitting-
rooms, and a bedroom for Mrs. Fenwick.
Mrs. F. shares her room with three cats
and a dog, Nancy. Shipman shares his
with Nell, the spaniel. Lupton and I
share a room with his dog. Whiskey,
and a harrier pup. Drummer, from the
neighbouring pack of harriers.
Sunday, Sept. 1. — Up at 9 a.m.
Looked round the place, everything is going to ruin here. The
river is in front of the house, about 200 yards off.
Carr-Ellison to lunch.

After lunch we tickled trout in the river, as the popular opinion
in these parts is against Sunday fishing (with a rod).
Monday, Sept. 2. — Up at 7 a.m.

Met at Chesters, about 2 miles u]) the river, at 8. Very hot, no
scent. Found a hare, but soon lost her. After drawing again for

A Caricature of K, Walker
By C. P. T. Hawkes.

MODERN BEAGLING 221

some time, we decided to go home. Just then Lance Allgood, the
Master of the Harriers, came up to talk to us, and he put up a
leveret, which hounds killed after 15 minutes near the shepherd's hut.
Blooded the puppies well. Johnny and George Carr, L. AUgood,
and two strangers came hack to lunch. Heat very oppressive, so after
lunch I retired to bed with a touch of sunstroke. Mrs. Feu wick
advises whisky " het." In the evening I fished and caught 3 small
trout. Breamish trout seem to run about 10 to the pound. Cold beef
and beer for dinner. Whisky not yet come from Alnwick.

Tuesday, Sept. 3. — Up at 8 a.m.

Went with the rest to shoot rabbits on Eeaveley Glidders, a rocky
hill the Carrs have given us shooting over.

Bag 12 rabbits, some of which we had for lunch at 2.30. Eished
in afternoon. To bed at 9 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 4. — Up at 5.30.

Met at 7 A.M. at Greenshaw Hill, 3 miles up the valley.
Eound in a turnip field. Ean a ring and lost hare. Tried back and
hounds hit her off again, and ran into her near the farm. Eound a
three-legged hare and killed her.

Mrs. Allgood, L. Allgood, G. and J. Carr-EUison were out.
Eished in the afternoon.

To dinner with Carr-Ellisons 4 miles off. In our oldest clothes
for eel-spearing, but no eels were speared as none were seen. It
turned out a bad night.

Thursday, Sept. 5.— Up at 8.30.

All went rabbit shooting. MuUins and Dunn, Carr-Ellison's
keepers, helping. Johnnie joined us about 11.30. Bag 20 rabbits.
Back to lunch at 5 p.m.

Border whisky from Alnwick has arrived. Eished in the even-
ing. Normy Lupton arrived. J. and G. Carr to supper.

Friday, Sept. 6. — Met here at 9 a.m.

This was a " skirt " meet. As meeting so late the sun dries up the
hills, and there is no scent. Ladies cannot get up for the early
meets, some of them at least. There was a large field out, two Miss
Carrs, J. and G. Carr, two Miss Cresswells, three Miss Brownes, Col.
Ilderton, C. Carr, Col, Mrs., and Miss Buckle, etc.

222 THE TFJNITY FOOT BEAGLES

While we drawing for a hare, the ladies, who were riding, began
larking over a wire fence with wood on the top. Miss (Bobs)
Cress well's horse refused, but she stuck to it, and got it over. Horse
proceeded to run away and got among some clothes-lines, which caught
her in the throat and dragged her off. Her stirrup flew at least 4 ft.
into the air, and she fell heavily, with her throat very badly cut.

Hounds were taken home, and every assistance given from the
farm till the doctor came in 2^ hours after the accident occurred.
Col. Buckle and Carrs to lunch. Fished in afternoon. Brevity put
down.

Saturday, Sept. 7. — Shot at Hedgeley with Carrs. Bag, 10 brace
and 3 ral)bits.

Sunday, Sept. 8. — To church at Whittingham in village cart,
back to lunch.

Monday, Sept. 9. — Have changed meets to Tuesday, Thursday,
Saturday, so as not to clash with foxhounds. Shot rabbits on Eeaveley
didders. Dr. Fenwick rode in from Akeld to lunch. Comical,
Gladsome, and Songstress put down.

Tuesday, Sept. 10.— Up at 6.30.

Met at Ingram at 8.30.

Found a hare on the glebe land, but soon lost her. No scent, too
much bracken. G. Carr to sleep and dine.

Miss Phyllis Browne, Miss and Mr. Cresswell were out.

Wednesday, Sept. 11. — Slept on mat in sitting-room, as G. Carr
had my bed.

Up at 2 A.M.

Cooked breakfast, and walked 5 miles to Glanton to meet my
horse (from the Bridge of Aln). The Percy met at Callaly at 5 a.m.
Back to lunch at Pteaveley at 12. Went on to a picnic at Linhope
given by Carrs. There were there four Carrs, ourselves. Miss Cress-
well, Miss P. Browne, Mrs., Col., and Miss Buckle, Mrs. and Miss
Shield, Mrs. and Miss Lambert.

Thursday, Sept. 12. — Up at 4 A.M. Met at Prendwick. Had
two rare good runs and a kill. Hounds look in grand condition,
and pups all entering well.

Among those out were Mr. A. Carr, G. and J. Carr, Frank Crispe,

MODEEN BEAGLING 223

Mr. and Miss Cresswell, Miss P. and Baby Browne. After hunting
we were invited in to lunch by Mrs. Crispe, pohshing off a big ham
and about 2 dozen eggs and a barrel of beer.

Fridmj, Sept. 13.— Up at 7.30.

" Skirt meet " here at 9 a.m.

No scent. Found a hare which ran two rounds, and hounds could
make no more of it. J. and G. Carr, Col., Mrs., and Miss Buckle, three
Miss Brownes, three Americans, three Carrs, three Lamberts, and
four Strangers. Lunch was served on the front farm wall. Shot in
the evening.

Our food consists of stewed, curried, boiled, mashed, and soup
rabbit, and a lot of hard work can be done on it.

Saturday, Sept. 14. — Up at 7 A.M.

We walked to Brauton, where we met the Carrs, who drove ns over
to play Bedlamites v. Lorbattle at Mr. Coltman's of Lorbattle Hall.

Was not out 0 1st innings, and made 5 and bowled second innings.
Ground was very soft. We were beaten. Drove back to Branton and
walked to Eeaveley. Cis and self asked to lunch at Callaly to-morrow.

Sunday, Sept. 15. — Up at 8 a.m.

Cis and self walked to Whittingham Church, 5 miles. After
church walked on with the Brownes to Callaly for lunch. The museum
at Callaly Castle is a wonderfully good one, and very interesting. The
stables are lirst-class, and built on very good plan. Played pat ball,
and walked back to Eeaveley, 7 miles, in Sunday boots over the hills.

Monday, Sept. 16. — Up at 3 A.M.

Walked over to Callaly to meet Percy at Beanley Wood. Cis
and I managed to head the fox. The first time I have ever done such
a thing. However, it was only cubbing, and no one saw us. Walked
on to Whittingham and had breakfast at Bridge of Aln.

Trained to Alnwick. Hair cut, and got some flies. Went round
Alnwick Castle, and was shut up in same dungeon by same man that
I was shut up by 10 years ago. The only difference was that I was a
little bigger, and there was electric light in the dungeon. Went over
the Castle stables. Carriages and harness are good, but horses would
disgrace a knacker's yard at the Zoo. Splints, curbs, spavin in
abundance.

224 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Train back to Hedgeley.

N. Lupton went away, and T. Fenwick came from Callaly, and
Buckle from Edlingham to sleep. Much rowdiness during the night.
So Cis and Self got a ladder and climbed up from outside with water,
for which we were both rolled on the gravel in front in our night
costume. Mrs. Fenwick to the rescue with a broom.

Tuesday, Sept. 17.— Up at 430.

No one would turn out. However, with aid of a hunting horn,
Mrs. Fenwick, and a big musical box in the hall playing " The Silver
Churn," I managed to get them all up.

Met at Chesters at 6 a.m.

To-day we had the first rain we have yet had here. Eained all
day, and we could not find a hare.

Shipman and Buckle left.

Wednesday, Sept. 18. — Up at 3 a.m.

Walked to Callaly to meet Percy hounds at 6 a.m. Breakfasted
at Callaly at 10 a.m. Walked to Bridge of Aln, and trained to
Hedgeley with Woodcock, who has come to stop. Walked up to
Eeaveley. Total, 15 miles along the road.

Thursday, Sept. 19. — Up at 5 a.m.

Walked to Branton, where we met O. Carr. He drove us over to
Callaly, where the hounds had gone the night before. Met at Callaly
Castle at 7 a.m.

Cis Lupton laid up, so had no Whip.

Very hot, and very little scent.

Deene Thrunton and Lorbattle Crags. Found a leveret, and had
her dead-beat when puppies got on a fresh hare. Having no whipper-
in, could not stop them. She ran the road for | mile. Camber taking
the line the whole way, the only one who would acknowledge it.
Hounds threw up in a stubble. Sun was very hot, and no scent, so I
took hounds back to Callaly, where we had breakfast and stopped to
lunch. The field were three Miss Brownes, J. and G. Carr, Fenwick,
and four Strangers.

Drove back to tea at Hedgeley, and walked back to Eeaveley.

Friday, Sept. 20.— Up at 8.30.

Fished down to Branton, and walked (m to Glanton for bandages

MODEEN BEAGLING 225

for ankle. Tennis-party in the afternoon at Carrs'. G. Carr drove
us back to Eeaveley.

Saturday, Sept. 21. — Up at 6 a.m.

Met at Fawdon at 7 a.m.

Found a hare, hounds raced her down to the fir spinney over
Fawdon Hill. They took a line out into the stubble, and back into
the cover. Hare had gone down to the river and doubled straight
back into the pack. Kill. Time, 15 minutes.

Found another hare in the bracken, but, like " them bloomin'
violets," the bracken smells too strong, so there is no scent.

Found a third hare on Fawdon Hill. Ean her up the hill and
round. Then she took a beat out into the vale. Hounds threw up in
a stubble. I cast back up the hill, and in about 10 minutes hounds
hit her off again on a grass headland. They ran hard past Fawdon
sheep dip, up the Clinch, and straight over to the Ingram hill. After
a severe pull up the hill I viewed her hopping about dead beat on the
top of the hill. Hounds were turned to me by Mr. Pringle of
Branton, and they got a view. She sunk the hill, and hounds raced
for blood. Pringle was a good first on his horse. Self second, Cis
third, the rest nowhere. When I picked her up she was quite stiff,
like all dead-beat hares when killed. Gambler found her, worked
hard all through the run, and was first into her at the kill. He is
this year's entry, and ought to be a rare good one. Only fault is he
is mute, but for beagles that makes no odds. Time, 45 minutes, not
including checks. Hounds were so beat they would hardly get up
to break her up. She had the biggest scut I have ever seen on a
hare. It will look well nailed upon the door. We all lay down for
about an hour and then walked home. The field were J. and G. Carr,
two Miss Carrs, C. Carr, Harbottle, Scot, Pringle, P. G. Band, Miss
Browne. Walked over to tea with Carrs in afternoon.

Sunday, Sept. 22. — Drove over in Mulhn's cart with the old
white cob to lunch at Long Framlington with the Fenwicks,
14 miles. Arranged a meet for Tuesday. Drove back to Callaly,
where we had tea. Man drove back the trap and we walked home,
7 miles.

Monday, Sept. 23. — Got two horses from Bridge of Aln.

Q

226 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Cis and Self took hounds over to Long Framlington, where we
were to stop the night and hunt next day.

Lunched on the way with Eev. Shield at Whittingham, and

inspected his basset hounds. On to Long Framlington, where we
arrived about 6 p.m. Dr., Mrs., two Miss, Jim Fenwick, and Hodgson,
Cis, and Self at dinner.

Wliisky and smoke and so to bed.

Tuesday, Sept. 24.^-Up at 5.30 feeling rather cigar and whiskyfied.
Met at Framlington Gate at 7 a.m. Drew the hills and riverside
moor for a tod. Drew blank for 3 hours. Then I took hounds over to
the other hill, where we met L. Allgood, M.H., who told us where to
find a hare. We found an old jack hare in a wood. After a rare
gallop of 25 minutes all over old beut grass fields, with banks and flying
jumps mixed, hounds ran into her. She must have been at least
10 years old. I never saw such a wiry-looking hare, even my old
pig-sticker could hardly perform the " funereal obsequies."

Screaming scent breast high. Hounds flew, Gambler leading
them, with Gaudy and Garnish close beliind. Only one check in the
wood the second time round, when I got a. toss in a bhnd drain.

Took hounds home to Keaveley via Bridge of Aln with Cis and
J. Carr. We parted at Powburn with many mutual congratulations.
Never were such hounds, such horses, such men.

N.B. — The Bridge of Aln whisky is good, also that at Powburn.

Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Browne

request the honor of

Mr. Walker's

presence on the occasion of

the marriage of their daughter

Ethelswyth

with Mr. Miles Halton Tristram,

at the Parish Churcli, Whittingham,

on Wednesday, September 25,

at 1.15 o'clock,

and afterwards at

Callaly Castle.

An answer will oblige

to Callaly Castle,

W^hittingham, R.S.O.

MODERN BEAGLING

227

Wednesday, Sept. 25. — We were invited to above ceremony. Cis
and I had to take our hunters back to Bridge of Aln on the way to
the wedding. We had no best wedding garment, so liad to do our
best with what we had. I wore my old
grey hunting coat, and a dress white waist-
coat, buttoning up the coat to pretend
it was a real waistcoat, jack -boots under
the trousers, and J. Carr's old hunting hat
that he had six seasons ago before he was
Whip to the Percy. He had concertinaed
it twice, and all the silk had been rubbed
the wrong way. We rode to Bridge of
Aln and walked on to Whittingham
Church. After the wedding Cis went
home, so I borrowed his gloves and stick
and went on in the Carrs' carriage to
Callaly. Drove back to Hedgeley to tea
and walked back to Eeaveley.

Fenwick came to stop.

Thursday, Sept. 26. — Brown of Bridge
of Aln sent Cis and Self up two horses. We
went to meet Percy hounds at Callaly at
11 A.M. Skirt meet. Selby did not really
try for a fox.

Had a lesson in cooking entrees at Callaly from the cook for our
big dinner to-night.

Present at dinner, J. and G. Carr, Cis, Fenwick, Crispe, and
Eobson, and Self. Great success, though no one would eat the rabbit
entree, as it had been skinned and cut up with my old pig-sticker
hunting knife, and cooked in the mange mixture pan which had been
cleaned out for the occasion. Before dinner we turned out a bagged
hare which only stood up for 10 minutes. Just as well, as hounds and
horses had both been fed.

Friday, Sept. 27. —Up at 5 a.m.

Met at Ingram at 6 a.m.

No scent, found two hares but could do nothin£' with them.

Wedding Garments.

228 THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Drove to Hedgeley with G. Carr and railed to Eglingham. From
there we walked on to Leamington Wood where Miss Buckle was gi\'ing
a picnic. Enjoyed myself thoroughly. We walked to Whittingham
and trained to Hedgeley. G. Carr drove us up to Eeaveley.

Saturday, Sept. 28. — Met at Prendwick at 8 a.m.

Good scent, but as Cis was knocked up there was no one to whip
in. Had two good runs but did not kill.

Great lunch at Mrs. Crispe's. There were out four Carrs, two Miss
Carrs, two Miss Brownes, F. Crispe, Miss Cresswell. In the afternoon
I walked to Glanton. Fen wick left.

Sunday, Sept. 29. — Tidied up the house, and paid a farewell
call to the Carrs.

Monday, Sept. 30.— Back to Cambridge to hunt till term Ijegins.

Everything wrong. No food for hounds. Bob's landlady away ;
no water laid on, though it had all been ordered. Cambridge is
depressing.

From this trip I learned several things : —

1. Not to walk farther than necessary in jack-boots.

2. One must have a good temper if four or five men are all living
together.

3. A bicycle would have been a godsend.

4. The Cambridgeshire plough leg muscle is no good for climbing
Northumberland hills. It is quite a different breed of muscle.

5. A little Northumbrian speech (very poor).

6. Get fat in the summer so as to have something to draw on in
the winter. Hard work on hard condition all the year round means
a certainty of getting knocked up.

The advice for men and hounds to start a hard season's work
with a Little spare fat, is, from the standpoint of medical science,
thoroughly sound. (F. C. K.)

The foregoing diary was accompanied by a letter in which the
author says that "the Carr -Ellisons were very good about the
shooting, and gave us all the shooting round. We used to get twenty
or thirty brace of partridge and black game and numerous rabbits,
and we had miles of fishing, also from the Carr-ElHsons. It seems

MODERN BEAGLING 229

hardly credible that such good sport can be had under such natural,
not to say primitive, conditions in the British Islands of these days.
Most men who must stay at home and yet wish to get clear of
civilisation, succeed only by putting to sea in yachts of small tonnage
and working their way round the coast without professional assist-
ance. The two sorts of life have, by the way, much in common,
including the need for a very good temper when several men dispense
with the conventions and live au naturel at very close quarters."

As a matter of personal history it is not perhaps irrelevant to
say that N. 0. Walker, who is now a Director of " Pickfords," and
has a house on the water's edge in Portsmouth Harbour, where
his firm has some coasting trade in motor barges, has become a
keen and capable amateur sailor-man, and is skipper and owner of
the Wild Duck. The following is from a letter of his : —

" I wonder who is now living round Shelford. J. B. Close of
course left some time ago, and has just died. His house, when I
was up, used to be a great rendezvous on Sundays for boating and
beao-lins men, and one Bagnall used to live at Little Shelford, a
great man for spaniels. But I have not seen him for years. [F.
Bacrnall is still at Little Shellbrd. — F. C. K.] He married a Miss
Dunn, whose brother used to receive
us at Little Shelford in my days,
when we hunted the country round
the Monument between Little Shel-
ford and Newton."

All beagling round the Shelfords
is now given up, as there are now too
many hares. J. B. Close was an old
rowing Blue, who came up to coach
First Trinity and take them head. ,.

He was of the cheeriest, and had a

wonderful voice when coaching which would have been perfect for
cheering hounds. He was a shortish, heavily built man, and used to
ride his own huge hunters on the tow-path. I was myself also
coaching boats at that time, and caricatures of us both appeared in
the Granta and are here reproduced.

230 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Close, Walker, aud my humble self being all in various ways
amphibians, gives me to think why we are so scarce, and why boating
men who are country bred do not join the beagles, or, if they can
afford it, go with the drag or foxhounds from time to time ; as was
the case in earlier days, when, for example, P. Burges was a Third
Trinity oar. I once propounded the question to a mounted Blue on
the tow-path, and he could give no reason except that nobody ever
thought of it. So far as hunting was concerned, he had never been
across a horse in his life till his tow-path duties compelled him, but
beagling was sport that he greatly appreciated, yet it had never
occurred to him to go out for a bye day with T.F.B. ; and rowing
men, though their Hfe, as he said, is almost slavery, do get a certain
number of days off in the hunting terms. When one came to think
of it, he supposed that complete preoccupation with one sport was
rather narrow-minded.

The following extract from Mr. H. S. Gladstone's diary marks
the occasion of Mr. N. 0. Walker's resignation : —

" No eulogistic effort of mine can truly tell the sorrow that we
feel on the occasion of our Master's (N. 0. Walker) retirement.
Baffled only by an exam, and a paltry want of £ s. d., he has
thought it his duty to resign a position which has been practically
made by him. . . ."

The language of the above is perhaps a leetle flowery, and may
make Mr. Walker blush ; but it is none the less substantially and
positively true. The comparison is another matter, fol- there were
Masters in previous ages who did great things in their day. For
example, Mr. Nigel Walker himself says : " The present state of the
pack is in a very great measure due to my brother (K. Walker),
and I had only to carry on his work." The truth is that all
institutions which are governed by tradition tend to settle down
into easy-going ways, and that energetic and zealous men are needed
from time to time to infuse fresh life into the good old ways. And
it is evident that from this point of view the two Walkers deserve
a place beside Currey, Mother Hunt, and others, who were restorers
of paths to dwell in. So that, as I have said, the eulogistic remarks
in the Gladstone diary are substantially and positively true.

MODERN BEAGLING 231

Mr. Gladstone's diary, by the way, is a mine of information, and
all old beaglers should be grateful that it has been placed at our
disposal, as it is more intimate than any of the other documents
that have come into our hands. It shows how a Whip feels under
reproof, the nerves of a Master when he first takes command in the
field, and that jealousy and irritation are not unknown. AVe do not
absolutely need to be told this, because wherever human beings
are gathered together, there these things must of necessity crop up.
And the test of a gentleman is not that he never has angry passions,
or at least never lets them rise, and is therefore the complete Stoic
(if he were so he would be a prig and no gentleman), but that if he
does let those passions rise, soon gets them under control again, and
has the grace to be ashamed of himself, as in one case the diarist
confesses himself to be. Here is the case in point : —

" Mr. A. B. C. has resigned his place on the Committee. He did
so as he thought he had been badly treated ; doubtless the appoint-
ment of Mr. D. E. F. as Master came as a blow to him, and I fear
that Messrs. G. and H. showed scant regret for him. Be this as it
may, I do not think our lost friend should do and say the various
things he has done and said ; which I expect, by the time this book ^
becomes interesting, he will be ashamed of."

These are just the knocks which hurt most when we are young.
There is nothing so vexing as finding that others don't take us quite
at our own valuation, and the fact that though our own estimate may
err on the side of optimism, yet the judgment of others may none
the less be erroneous and unjust, makes the situation no pleasanter.
However, " A. B. C. and I are still friends." So the matter reveals no
more than wholesome friction, by which we learn not to think of
ourselves more highly than we ought to think. Here are the diarist's
first experiences in office : —

Thursday, Oct. 14, 1897. — Found at Fulbourne. This was
nothing more than a prehminary meet to get ourselves into training,
and as I for the first time hunted in pink (I mean green) I practised
hard to try and crack my whip, and at any rate look as if I knew how.

E. F. Allgood, who had been a Whip for two years and then

1 i.e. the dial'}'.

InT.F.B.C. Book.

232 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

resigned " to give the others a chance," at this time joined the ranks
of beagling poets by laying down in verse the duties of a Whip.

On hearing of my appointment as third Whip to the T.F.B.
" Tick " Allgood sent me the following verses. — H. S. G.

I

Good luck to you and also to the others,
Whose worthy backs the new green coat now covers.
Well may they go through many a gallant run —
Oh, how I wish that I could share the fun.

II
Hark now to me and for a while just listen
How best that coat successfully to christen ;
For skirting Whips the job is not so easy,
And on cold days you'll find it somewhat freezy.

Ill
When at the meet avoid that loud whip cracking,
Till you spread out be sure such noise is lacking ;
For on hard roads your lash is sure to break,
And puppy hounds you must not timid make.

IV

When hounds are drawing, with language fine
Instruct the " field " that they must keep in line,
Or else you'll find they will in bunches walk,
Joining perhaps in noisy " chateau " talk.

V
If, when alone, a hare you chance to see,
I think myself it's best to quiet be ;
For lifted cap will substitute a holloa.
And now be sure the hounds you do not follow.

VI

Now you will be on either left or right.
Just wait a bit and keep the hounds in sight.

MODEEN BEAGLING 233

Till you can see which turn she means to make,
Quickly you'll then the same direction take.

VII

For every hare is sure to make her round
And then revisit the field where she was found ;
For in this term no travelling jacks you'll find,
Nor wanton does to paths of love inclined.

VIII

Now often when your hare, her circles once completed,
Is just the time the Master's skill's defeated ;
For information to you he'll apply.
And on your news with confidence rely.

IX

Go to the place where you first saw the hare,
Blow then your whistle, do not move from there
Till huntsman comes, then point to him her line ;
Then right or left again your steps incline.

However great one's zeal, one cannot attain perfection all at ouce,
and a learner must Ije content to take reproof patiently and in good
part.

" Several errors of mine were well sworn at by the somewhat
of&cious ' Talim ' (a senior Whip). L. G. B. is most aggravating and
discouraging. But when in cold blood one sees his excellent advice
and appreciates what a rare good chap he is, though ' when heated in
the chase ' decidedly testy." — H. S. G.

But the learner takes sound advice in good part, perseveres and
makes progress, till, like the Industrious Apprentice,^ he eventually
rises to the dignity and responsibility of Master.

^ Here is the record of how he resisted the temptation to become an idle one :--
"On Oct. 26, 1898, I paid my first visit to Newmarket, going over with Tick
AUgood on a tandem (bike !). I returned with less than I went and was not
particularly entertained. If racing is a thing that grows on one, I do not think I
shall give it a chance."

234 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Here is the final stage in the progress of the Industrious
Apprentice : —

" Opening meet under H. S. G., day worthy of a novice, scent
poor and hounds wild, numerous little fiends of boys making enough
row to please Oscar Bennet in his ' crowds ' for Julius Ctesar and the
like, but for the sport ! ! ! Met at Horningsea Gorse, got a hare away
from the Gorse, but hounds were a long time in coming out. Our
hare took us straight away across two ploughs towards Guy Fen.
We worked a slow and doubtful line which got colder and colder,
and at length chucked it after half an hour. Great doubts as to
whether we hunted a ' yellow dog ' or a hare, 10 to 1 on the former.
Back to the Gorse w^here a ' very red hare ' was viewed away to the
right, got on to her, but only ran her as far as the Bailey's Farm
before we lost her, so tried the Gorse again. Our hare broke the
same way again, and took us all along the river, and to the right
across the road, worked a slow line round Bailey's Farm, and then
back across the road again to the Gorse ; here we dallied for a while
and then went home."

The diary also contains records of another young huntsman's
first blood.

"Tumpington, Oct 11, made famous by that Miles Ptowland
Backhouse killed his first hare here ! ! ! Some there are who say it
was lucky K. Walker was present, but it is question at present under
consideration whether a huntsman should ask advice of his field."

A7iswer.—" Yes."— H. S. G.

Our last detailed records are those of W. E. Paget's Mastership,
and consist of a letter from Mr. Paget himself, and of some
reminiscences of Mr. Godfrey Lawson, a Whip, and they carry us
into the present century and to times which come almost within
living memory. It was in Paget's year that the new hound van was
built by Thorn of Norwich. At this period there was a pack of Uni-
versity Harriers as well as the T.F.B., and for some time the two com-
bined to hold a point to point meeting and give races to the farmers.
This meeting was, of course, nothing like the event that " Cotten-
ham " is, but it seems to have been very good fun. The account of
the meeting in 1897 is preserved in the Gladstone diary.

MODERN BEAGLING 235

" The Harrier and Beagle Point to Point this year (1897) took
place near Barton. As N. 0. Walker superintended it, with B,
Hardy as his 'collaborator/ I need hardly say it was a success.
Tebbutt won three races and had a spill at the end. D. Harrison
hurt himself very badly, and Whitfield lost his horse, so that it
was rather a disastrous meeting for some. The only beagler who
distinguished himself was Balfour, who won the Beagle Sweepstakes
on one of Backhouse's numerous stud. Mather broke his collar
bone."— H. S. G.

Seems to have been very good fun.

Letter

Nanpaxtan, Loughborough,
December 10, 1910.

Dear Holland Hibbert — Let me congratulate you most heartily
on the proposed history of the T.F.B. As my Mastership was of
comparatively recent date, I am afraid I cannot give you much
information which you have not already got.^

When I first went up to Cambridge in October 1898, Mitford
was Master, and Backhouse, Buxton (L. G.), Gladstone, and Barry
whipped in to him. Mitford showed good sport and was well served
by his whippers-in. Cooper was a quite exceptional runner, and
Backhouse and Barry both hard workers.

Mitford was followed by Gladstone. After Gladstone came Kidd,
who hunted them for one season. I was " down " for the two winter
terms as I had broken my thigh cubbing, but from all accounts
Kidd showed very good sport, was very keen, a hard worker, and a
good hound man. At the end of his first season Kidd appointed
Finch, Ptoberts, and myself as whippers-in, but then had to give up
owing to illness, and asked me to take them on, which I did in
May 1901.

I had the hounds for the season 1901-2, and for 1902 up to
Christmas, when I went down. I think Godfrey Lawson could
supply you with particulars of my Mastership.-

1 Fears quite groundless. There is less information forthcoming anent the modern
period than any other. - He has done so.

236 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

When I took over the hounds there were a lot of big dog hounds,
and, what was worse, a lot of them were mute. These I drafted, and
generally aimed at getting the pack more level, about fifteen inches
Though I disKked big hounds, I found that if too small they could not
stand the heavy plough and the constantly getting wet crossing the
dykes in the fen country. The bitches were a very useful lot, and
amongst the best were Fairmaid and her three daughters. Fretful,
Frantic, and Friendly; also Garnish, a black -and -tan, and a
wonderfully good hound in her work, especially as a road hound.
Victory, Gaiety, Earity, and Justice were also first-rate hounds.
The two dog hounds to whom T.F.B. appear to have been most
indebted for their best hounds were Victor, by Malpas, Mabel ex
Malpas, Countess, and Boaster, bought from Mr. Wynn. This
blood was combined in Gambler by Victor ex Guilty, litter sister
to Garnish, and I consequently used him for my own pack, the
Charnwood, and he bred me Fanciful, a very good-looking hound, and
from my Ptosebud, by T.F.B. Eingwood ex their Eosebud, he bred me
a Htter of four, three of them being red, and one of them was dam
of Eeveller, champion at Peterborough in 1909. I mention tliis
because these were the first red or liver-coloured beagles I ever saw,
and I am at a loss to account for the colour as there was no trace of
it as far back as I can trace these hounds.

To Kidd belongs the credit of breeding what 1 consider the best-
looking dog hound T.F.B. have ever had, viz. Forman, a perfect
topped hound, with good shoulders, well set on neck and head,
wonderfully sprung ribs, good back and quarters, and well carried
stern. His top was hard to crab, and the only fault I could find was
with his front ; he was too broad and a little out at elbows, but this I
put down entirely to having entered him too young — he was entered
when little over six months old, and never missed comino; out three
days a week — no wonder his front feet went !

Fretful, his dam, was a beautiful little hound on harrier hnes.
She would be hard to beat at Peterborough now, but in her day ear
and head properties were what were most considered in beagles.

I forgot to mention that I tried at tlie commencement of my
Mastership to get the pack entered en masse in the Stud Book, but,

MODEEN BEAGLING 237

though they had offered to do so in previous years, the Committee
could not see their way to doing it then. So the only tiling
was to use Stud Book sires, which I am glad to see has been since
done.i

[Here follow convivial particulars dealt with in the next
chapter.]

I doubt if there will be any tiling of any use in this rigmarole, and
I can only excuse its length on the ground of the great interest
I have always taken in T.F.B. — Yours very truly,

(Signed) W. Edmund Paget.

I am sure there is no reason to apologise for so interesting a
" rigmarole," giving the family history of so many members of the
pack. It fits in moreover with

Me. Godfrey Lawson's Eeminiscences

My first season was 1899-1900, when the Master was C. B. Kidd
— now Master of West Kent F.H. — and Whippers-in, H. C. Wood
and P. H. Cooper, now a clergyman.

Kidd was a very persevering if not a fast runner, and quite a
fair huntsman, while both Wood and Cooper were excellent runners
and whippers-in. Cooper used to have a beagling maxim of:
" First cook your hare and then catch it ! "

The next season, 1900-1901, W. E. Paget, well known with the
Quorn E.H.— his father once having been joint M.F.H. — took on
the hounds, with F. D. Finch as 1st and Arthur W. Ehymer-
Eoberts as 2nd Whippers-in. (Ehymer-Eoberts had the sobriquet
of " Poetic Bobs.") Paget was quite a first-rate huntsman. As
regards running, he was a remarkably " game " plodder, seeing he
had a chronic " game leg," which was due to an accident with the
Quorn.

I remember the first time I saw him was in the summer term
1900, before he was Master, when he was driving the Pelican cricket
team to a match in a brake, and as he had rather a disreputable
cap on, I took him for one of Hopkins's stablemen ! As a rule, how-

1 Cf. entry in " Farmers' Book " by D. G. Hoare.

238 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

ever, he was, and is still, a " model of neatness," and is a particularly
graceful horseman. It was not long before he augmented his force
of " hound turners " by the addition of Godfrey Lawson and
Humphrey G. Barclay, as 3rd and 4th Whips respectively, while
James Winstanley Cropper acted as a very efficient secretary. A
Beagle Club was also formed consisting of master, secretary, and
whippers-in, ex officio, and two others, whom I think were W. H.
Otter and P. H. Wykeham. The weekly dinners were sometimes
great fun. Mr. Lawson introduced the custom of drinking lime-
juice, and on one occasion, at a dinner in his rooms, a telegram was
sent to King Edward VII. wishing him many happy returns of his
birthday, or congratulating him on some such event, and the reply
is, I fancy, kept in the famous Beagle Book.

The cornet and a fox-terrier called " Match " invariably joined
in the post -prandial choruses, the accompanist usually being Mr.
Otter or Mr. J. C. Newman (" Noggs "), who was famous for his
falsetto voice (if not for his false set o' teeth !) and the many times a
day he played " Whisper and I shall hear " or " Just one Girl " (with
variations !) on various pianos in sundry friends' " digs." This hero
was a member of " Maudlen " College, and I think about the best
horseman " up " in my time. I remember that he was so fond of
riding that he was the despair of his college " rowing bloods," one of
whom, on the occasion of some boat races, besought him to " come
and make hunting noises on the bank," in order to spur (!) on his
college crew to victory.

Anent the story of J. C. Newman and the " rowing bloods " afore-
said, I have unearthed the following verses.

[Still poetry ! but this is the last !— F. C. K.]

"NOGGS ET PEAETEREA NIHIL!"

(Tune — " Maudlen may make more row ! ")

Oh Noggs, we pray thee come and row

For Maudlen and the cause !
Quit, quit your hunting for the nonce

And bravely " take up oars."

MODEEN BEAGLING 239

But if you cannot rise to this,

At least do come and holloa
Sweet hunting sounds, begarbed in coat

Of pink with tails of swallow.

Your whoop is sure to cheer the " cox " !

Your spurs provoke a spurt ,
Till friend and foe will cry, " By Jove !

They're splendid through the dirt ! "

So Noggs he went and loudly yelled,

" Huick forrard ! " " Gone — away ! "
" Loo in, my beauties ! " " Eoust him out ! "

" Oh hip, hip, hip — hooray ! "

Of course the Maudlen crew " romped home "

The easiest of winners !
And Noggs has ever since been drunk

(A " toast " at Maudlen dinners !)

This same Mr. Newman or Noggs, or Newman Noggs, is also
an ardent sailor-man, for I find him among the members of the
Cambridge University Cruising Club and also of several Norfolk
Yacht and Sailing Clubs. (F. C. K.)

H. G. Barclay was a magnificent runner — the best during my
three years, all things considered, though I think Harry Fordham of
Eoyston could beat him for a short burst {i.e. "animated bust").
He was " one of the very best " and had a wonderful influence for
good and is now in holy orders. He had a splendid old character of
a greyhound called "Sailor," with which, together with any other
" long-dogs " we could " beg, borrow, or steal," some of us used to go
coursing (by leave of the keeper) in the Bottisham direction on the
rare non-hunting days, and great fun it was. On one occasion
Barclay was caught on a Sunday when " Sailor " had just run into a
hare, but the sporting hare-owner (must have been an (h)ar(e)istocrat)
allowed the matter to be settled by a contribution to Addenbrook's
Hospital.

240 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Amongst hovinds that I remember at this period were : Gracious,
Eector, Marquis, Trumpeter, Eorman, Firelight, Fretful, Friendly,
Eacquet, Earity (all tan), Lawless, Garnish, Garston, Victory, Gambler,
of which Trumpeter, Eacquet, and Lawless strike me now as having
been the best in the field. Trumpeter was a bit wild, but I think I
never saw such a " glutton for work " among any kind of pack I have
ever hunted with. Forman was not at this time, in my humble
opinion, as good as he looked (I think he was the finest-looking
beagle dog hound I have ever seen), as he was rather apt not to
" throw liis tongue " sufficiently.

I remember him once leading the whole pack off after a cur dog
when Paget and I were exercising down the Backs on bicycles during
the May week, and I could not stop them till we lost our cur (which
in the course of the hunt had turned up Silver Street, and then
doubled back !) through his bounding over an unjumpable (to beagles)
garden gate.

These proceedings were a source of great surprise to Hazlerigg,
who happened to view the chase roll by ! Among the followers of the
T.F.B. whom I recollect were : Arthur M. Luckock (" squint eye " !),
Mapplebeck, John Dormer (also a fox-hunter from the Cleveland
country), H. D. Bentinck (afterwards a whipper-in), M'Intyre (a
keeper of whippets !), Eobin Barclay (a running Blue and some time
Whip), Graves, Montgomery ("Gaunt"!), Tommy Eussell (whipper-in),
Stanning, Harry Longman (Whip), S. S. Steel (who once told a private
detective that he was " John Jones, of Jesus," and was also a well-
known follower of Mr. Scott-Plummer's hounds in Selkirkshire),
Edwards, Williams, J. C. Newman, Lord O'Hagan, Harry Fordham,
Tony Buxton (afterwards Master), Van. Duzer, Walter Eothschild,
A. W. T. Channell [also a good sailor-man. — F. C. K.], David Hoare,
and C. Hoare. David Hoare was the greatest celebrity, having
started his hunting career when still at Harrow, where he, his
brother (who went into the Indian Army), and another boy combined
to keep a cry of four couples of beagles on the quiet, with which they
used to hunt a drag, as hares were too scarce in the neighbourhood
of the farm where the pack was kennelled (in a pig-sty !) and there
was seldom time to go very far afield. David at Harrow was called

MODERN BEAGLING 241

" Seppy " as he was Hoare " Septimus," and it is on record that he
once or twice took one of his hounds through the Headmaster's house !
Quite a daring " cast " ! I remember he once very kindly helped me
to take T.F.B. to Dawson's farm (on Caxton Gibbet Eoad) on
bicycles at the end of the term when practically every one " had
gone down," and we had an excellent day, when two hares were
accounted for — one by the help of an ubiquitous coUie, which seemed
to greatly please Quinten Gurney, who was the only member of
the field ! Wilfred Lucas, Bird, Northen, Gwynne, and A. D. P.
Campbell (a Whip who always said every hare was a fresh one !).
Jim Cropper was the best man, I think, of all whom I remember at
running " to " hounds.

I. Met at Earith Bridge, March 1, 1902, 60 minutes.— On this
occasion I hunted hounds as 1st Whip in H. G. Barclay's (Master)
absence, and we had a great day — would have lost hounds altogether
in dark if Tony Buxton had not managed to keep in touch — did not
get back to Cambridge till nearly 10 p.m. ! So much for a " tea-total
horn carrier " !

II. Thriplow to Foxton. — Mr. Barclay had a riding meet — rode
" Plumber."

[This is the last " riding day " recorded. — F. C. K.]

III. Trinity Backs, Oct. 11, 1901. — My first hare, hunting hounds.
A great thing in connection with the T.F.B. was Harrier and

Beagle Eaces,^ of which I have a card dated March 6, 1901. The
meeting was held near the Five Bells on the Huntingdon Eoad, and
we had to ride twice round the same course. The stewards were :
E. C. Henn-Gennys (then Master of the Harriers), W, E. Paget,
G. Hargreaves, Hon. V. B. Ponsonby (Master of Drag), Prince P. de
Caraman Chimay, starter ; Henn-Gennys, Clerk of the Scales ; G.
Hargreaves, Judge ; C. B. Kidd. There were five races — the Harrier
Point-to-Point, the Farmers' Point-to-Point, the Beagle Sweepstakes
(5s.), Open Sweepstakes, Farm's Sweepstakes and Matches.
The entries in the Beagle Eace were : —

1. W. E. Paget's br. g. The Chef .... Owner.

2. G. Lawsoii's br. g. Father Christmas . . . Owner.

^ As before described, now extinct. — F. C. K.

242 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

3. H. G. Barclay's br. g. Gallott .... Owner.

4. R. V. Gvvyune's cli. g. Scandal ....

5. W. Hesketli's br. g. Hector Owner.

6. H, E. Howard's br. g. Haakim . . . H. Longman.

I think every horse refused some time during the race ! Several
beaglers owned horses— J. C. Newman's " Banker " (a very good old
chestnut) being a great celebrity.

Harry Fordham was a great " Thruster."

Sam Steel was possessed of a famous horse called "Puff and
Blow," supposed to have carried his great weight magnificently in
what he described as a great hunt— the " point " being from Mark's
Wood to Avesley Wood, both in the Fitzwilliam country !

I was possessed of three different mounts during my three years,
viz. " The Laird," " Father Christmas," and " The Plumber." " The
Plumber " was a splendid little horse, and " Father Christmas " quite
useful. A joke we played once or twice on passing Girton on the
way home in the brake, was to walk the horses and then sing, " When
we are married " !

Paget was succeeded in the Mastership in the middle of season
1901-2 by Humphrey Barclay, I remaining 1st Whipper-in and
Secretary, which I had become at the beginning of that season — the
other Whips being D. G. Hoare, T. W. Eussell, and H. D. Bentinck.
A. D. P. Campbell (famous for the good mutton-chops he always gave
his guests) was also a Whip at one period during my three years at
Trinity.

Here the history of Cambridge Beaghng practically ends, having
been brought down to times almost within living undergraduate
memory. Further records consist in stray entries in the T.F.B.
Club records, and are of such lighter sort as to be dealt with " after
dinner " in a last frivolous chapter. To all things there is an end,
and at Cambridge it comes quickly. Whether you think ending sad
or not is a matter of temperament, and depends on which of two
little girls that my mother used to know you most resemble, one of
whom was a pessimist and the other an optimist. When they had
had a particularly good time the pessimist used to say : " All gone !

MODEKN BEAGLING 243

Never no more again ! " But the optimist : " All gone ! More
to-morrow ! "

So far as Cambridge days are concerned I am sure the optimist
is right, for thougli " never no more again " is written across 'Varsity-
life for most of us, there is none the less " more to-morrow," as the
world is wide and life still before us. Here is a yarn of the last day of
a season written by Mr. W. H. Barry in his own hand in the Gladstone
Diary. The diarist records that he himself being Secretary was too
busy with accounts to go out himself, and that " W. H. B." was very
keen about writing the record.

To FINISH THE SEASON

To begin the day, there being only Nigel and Self, we drove out
the old hound van in great form. Having sampled Cole's beer we
went on to Lay's farm, and soon found a "jelly" in the meadow next
the gardens, and ran all along the outskirts of the village back to
the gardens, then across the dry plough, could make nothing of her.
There being now five of us, we retired to the White Horse for lunch,
and amongst other things got outside a pint of shandy gaff, which
afterwards we regretted very much. Starting again, we soon found
a hare in a rough grass field, on the far side of the dyke, bordering
the railway. Scent had impro\ed a great deal, and they pushed her
along at a very fair pace left-handed nearly to Yen Drayton. We
here walked up to her and ran very fast back again and across the
large grass meadows between the railway and the river. She turned
right-handed, crossed the railway back again over the dyke, and up
to the village allotments. She here got up all amongst them, and
ran back across the dyke and railway into the meadows again.
When we got up to them they were in the lane between the railway
and Holywell, and though we cast all round we could make nothing
of her, and I think she must have squatted in one of the fences on
the side of the lane. It was a very pretty hunt indeed, all over grass
and hounds running very well together all the time. We were handi-
capped in not seeing quite where they threw up, otherwise I think
we might have killed her as we had run very fast for a long hour.

Having again (!) paid a visit to the White Horse, we drove back

244

THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

rather sorrowfully, as I believe this is the last day Nigel and I will
have with the beagles at Cambridge. Would that we could have
many more, but at any rate it was pleasant to end up with a really
good hunt, which I think we shall remember for many a long day.

" All gone, never no more again ! " at Cambridge ; but we hope
that for all good sportsmen there will be " more to-morrow " else-
where.

(^u^koJULJ-&^ ircA<M-^ ^ UA^^A^

CHAPTEK X

AFTER DINNER

How very good it is to think

The world's so full of meat and drink.

R. L. Stevexson.

HEN Mr. John Jorrocks enun-
ciated his great dictum that
"All time wot ain't spent
in 'untin' is wasted!" it
is clear that he made it
with certain reservations in
favour of dinner, a subject
on which his views are pre-
served to us in some detail,
such as that the oldest port
wine is not necessarily the
Lest, that cheese is an effi-
cient material for filling the
chinks, and that one should always sleep and breakfast in the same
house as one dines. Indeed, he even went so far as to promise James
Pigg never to go hunting on " a drinking day." Few men who hunt
or love any kind of sport fail at some time or other to discuss
gastronomy, the proverbial saying, "As hungry as a hunter,"
accounting for the fact. And was it not because he was famished
that Esau, on seeing Jacob sod the red pottage of lentils, sold his
birthright for a mess thereof ?

" AV'ere I dines I sleeps, and w'ere I sleeps I breakfasts," is as

245

246 THE TEINITY TOOT BEAGLES

sound a maxim as has come from the mouth of any sage, but it
cannot be literally followed by the young, as they are not free so to
do ; for wherever members of the Uni\ersity in statu pupillari may
dine, their elders insist that they shall return within their College
gates, or lodging-house doors, by midnight, so that, however pot-
valiantly they may sing,

" "We won't go home till morning,"

they seldom put the threat into execution (an they did there would
be serious consequences) ; and once having slept elsewhere there is
not much point in returning to the banquet hall for breakfast —
indeed there have been occasions when it could hardly have been
tidied up in time. This of course relates to those prehistoric ages
in which our Founder gave his definition of a gentleman as "One
who behaves as such even when he is drunk," and one cannot suppose
that a T.F. Beagler ever transgressed that rule. Since then one
Master has introduced lime-juice as a festive cordial, and on one
occasion twelve running huntsmen broached but one bottle of
champagne, and even then there was a glass or so left over for the
waiters !

But in those earlier days, as Lord Ernest St. Maur shows, even
sporting undergraduates did not dine out of Hall nearly so freely as
is now the case. In those days the dinner was earlier, and men used
to " wine " after Hall in their rooms, just as their more conservative
seniors still do in Combination Eoom.

I remember once hearing the late Master of Trinity Hall, Dr.
" Ben " Latham's, account of the change. He was paying calls, and
so was I, and he began discoursing to his hostess on the degeneracy
of the modern undergraduate who " dwank no wine " ! When he was
young dinner in Hall was much earlier, say five o'clock ; and after-
wards, when the High Table adjourned in state to the Combination
Pioom, juniors would also forgather in each other's quarters for their
wine and dessert. They did not, said Dr. Latham, drink excessively,
])ut — "we talked a gweat deal." The manner of the thing must
have heeii much like the illustration on the cover of a pulilication,
long out of print, called

T. Holland Hibber i .

(',. W. i;\R> I A^■.

^ m

-% l, . «

^^J^'

A i 1\i:a\ LI I.N .

I. l.A\\M)\. U. 111'. (.ElJl.U. U". E. CiAUUUM. K. 1-ALCONKK. I. UMl.l.AND II 1 1. |;1-.K 1 . .M. (_. Al.liKlcur.

AFTEE DINNER 247

PAULO POST-PRANDIALS ;

OR,

Only some little Stories after Hall.

When the wine had gone round two or three times, and talk was no
longer in spate, chapel broke up the assembly, and, prayers done,
each man went to his rooms and read. But, said the old Master, all
that was of the past. Dinner was now much later, and after it men
just had a " cup o' corfee and a cigawette," and then, if they had
nothing better to do, " Vey went to ve featre." They were in too
digestive and sleepy a condition for work. Both " corfee " and
" cigawettes " were, from the speaker's tone and expression, marked
symptoms of decadence.

The whole discourse, by the way, started from a case he had just
come across of a man whose excuse for cutting his coach was that he
had been to the theatre.

No, he continued, men did not drink wine now ; at least, they
kept no stock. They had wine when they gave a dinner, but,
0 tem'pora ! 0 mores ! it was ordered in for the occasion, and the
consumers being unseasoned and the wine bubbly, very little went
to their heads. He always knew when men gave dinners, because
when he was tutor they used to come and ask leave.

" And I used to say, ' What do you want to give a dinner for ? '
and they'd say they were coming of age or something ; and I'd say,
' Let me see ! Didn't you come of age last term ? Never mind, you
can have your dinner ; but wemember you mustn't come of age again
till next term ! ' "

Dr. Latham, by the way, was an ardent oarsman, rowing regularly
at five in the Ancient Mariners, and he was always keen to secure
men who showed promise of oarsmanship rather than horsemansliip.
There is, or was in my young days, an apocryphal tradition ^ to the
effect that he always looked a candidate for admission over with
special regard for his legs. If the candidate seemed likely to shape
well, and would promise to " wow " and not " wide," hopes would be

1 My authority was one "Box" Davies, a Welshman, who was up at the Hall in
the early eighties, and with me afterwards at St. George's Hospital. Where he got
it from J don't know.

248 THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

held out that perhaps a little scholarship might be found. If, how-
ever, the candidate's legs looked unsatisfactory, he would say, " I
see you wear tight twowsers" (the emblem in those days of pronounced
horsiness). " I think you'd better go to Magdalene ! " — of course, the
Magdalene of the high and far-off days of " Mother " Hunt.

To return, however, to the convivial habits of beaglers. The
records go back behind even those days to the times of the Merton
Arms rdgime. That, remember, was in days when after dinner
wining was as inevital)le as dinner itself, and when dons, at least
other than such youthful innovators as Dr. Henry Jackson, still
wore tall hats.^ There was no formal beaglers' wine club, but
H. Cavan Irving tells us that the then Master, Valentine Whitby
Vickers, " was great on nuts, and often after Hall they came to my
rooms, which were quite near the Dining Hall at Trinity, and when
most of us were drowsy and half-asleep, Vickers would call out, ' I
say, Mister, have you any more nuts ? And the port is nearly done.' "
This homely tale belongs to a simpler time, before such affectations
as the " sinful life " were invented, when men dined from a joint and
drank solemnly of vintage wines afterwards. When such men made
a FEAST in those days, the fare was the same ; but special pains were
taken that the saddle should come from a four-year-old down-fed
wether, and the wine was such as the host, or his father before him,
had nurtured from its youth up in his own cellars. Those men
were epicures in their own way, and are perfectly presented, with
the help of the late Mr. George Du Maurier, in a certain back
volume of Punch. Two gourmands, one fat and the other lean, are
sitting in a club and talking.

Fio^st Gourmand. I say ! that was a beautiful saddle of mutton
Tom gave us last year.

Second Gourmand. Yes ! I often wish I'd had another slice of
that saddle of mutton.

The very plain dinner of very special quality was part of a
definite, and in its way excellent, system of self-indulgence, in which
the palate's capacity to discriminate vintages was not to be marred

' There is still one habitual tall hat of Victorian pattern surviving, that of Mr.
Aldis Wright, Vice-Master of Trinity.

AFTEE DINNEE 249

by highly seasoned dishes. A parson cousin of mine once dined
with Mr. John Corlett, " Master " of the Pink Un. There was, he
told me, nothing for dinner but turbot and venison, but very marvel-
lous Madeira " sack " to follow. No doubt there are still numerous
survivals of this school of high hving and plain thinking. I myself
was brought up in those traditions, and I think that they were
bound up with the fact that, though smoking was not treated as the
" filthy " hole-and-corner habit it had been in quite early Victorian
times, still one could not smoke where and when one pleased as we
do now, and one never expected to finish one's dinner with a cigarette
or smoke of any kind. Tobacco was reserved till the ladies had
retired for the night, and it was de rigueur to change one's coat, so
that one should not smell of tobacco ; to smoke when drinking the
wine of those days was almost as great a sacrilege as it would even
now be to play bridge in church.

Fashions change slowly, and there are places where the older
ways still survive. I have stayed in a house for partridge shooting
of the old sort, which began with zest on " The First," and where
the son of the house and myself were both tainted with modernism,
in that we had hammerless ejector guns. Such September shooting
had used to be honoured with the best after-dinner vintages, and
our host kept up the old traditions. But as soon as the wine had
gone round the son went out and came back with cigarettes and
matches, which he handed round on his own account. I was, in a
sense, the son's guest, and knew him well enough to refuse ;pro tern.
But another guest gravely took a cigarette, laid it by his glass, and
went on with his wine. The son, not taking the hint, then pressed
matches upon him ; he took one and laid it carefully beside the
cigarette. When coffee came in and he had said " No more wine,
thank you," he took up the cigarette and lit it with the match,
to the vast delight of the seniors, and the comparative discomfiture
of the son.

To such times do the after-dinner habits of the early beaglers
belong, and though not on all points a laudator temporis acti, I
like those old ways, though there is much to be said for lighter
meals and less liquor, the quick coffee and smoke and au adjourn-

250

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

ment to bridge or gay half-childish games, such as Dumb Crambo
and impromptu charades.

A decade later we begin to see signs of the general transition.
There was then a beaglers' wine club, The Inseparables, with a
distinctive coat. The coat was a plum-coloured velvet jacket with
silver braid with the arms of Trinity, two clasped hands and the
motto " Quis Separabit ? " on the pocket. It was confined to
beagling Trinity men, and so shows that the tradi-
W[^* tion of wining after Hall was not dead; for it is

V ^-jif/ only so long as men dine in College that after-

dinner clubs and societies must (for sheer con-
venience' sake) be confined to members of one
college. The entertainment consisted of wine and
fruit after the old fashion, blended with " smokes,
cards, and a sing-song," which are of the newer
time. The authority for this statement is J. S.
Carr-Ellison, who adds : " I believe the Inseparables
died out shortly after my time. I know that my
brother [H. G. Carr-Ellison, Whip in Kenneth
Walker's time. — F. C. K.] had a different dining
jacket, green velvet with a silver hare about the
collar." This was the coat of the T.F.B. Club,
which remains unto this day, and of which more
hereafter. Suffice for the present to say that the
inauguration of this Club marks definitely the end
of the old after-dinner wine tradition, which,
whatever its drawbacks, was for many reasons more elastic and
sociable, because more homely. The change has been helped forward
by the development of club dining-rooms, which has considerably
diminished the extent of private undergraduate hospitality. A
change, of course, in no way confined to beaghng circles.

Before that time, as every one knows, there was no alternative
to dinner in Hall, always a hurried and comfortless form of " stoking,"
other than a meal in one's own rooms supplied from the College
Kitchens, or dinner in a pretentious and exorbitant hotel. There
was nowhere where one could turn in on the spur of the moment

T.F.B.C.

AFTER DINNER 251

and find a comfortable luncheon of modest proportions and reasonable
price, with some one to talk to, and an emergency dinner was to
be had only at the Prince of Wales ^ (" Bruvet's "), which became
also a sort of " pirate " college kitchen, where there was a table d'hote.

Some few years later opportunities for sociable luncheon sprang
up. King's started a luncheon in Hall after the manner of a Club,
and first Trinity and then other colleges followed suit. The ad-
vantages of the system were well expressed by a member of one
of the smaller foundations, who complained to his tutor that no
such amenities were, in their case, provided. " I so much dislike
luncheon alone," he said, " that I always have to ask some one in,
and so pay for two luncheons. Now, if luncheon were provided
in Hall, sir, I should have a neighbour to talk to who paid for his
own luncheon." The Pitt Club, the Union, and, later, the Hawks —
the only Clubs with a large enough membership and premises —
started luncheons and later dinners. More recently, the Pitt, the
only Club of the three now closely concerned with sport, has
fitted out a most convenient private dining-room where various
clubs, societies, and informal coteries - can forgather. And so
the modern social system of dining, rather than wining, is fully
established.

With regard to the clubs to which beaglers have belonged, there
was a time when many of them were at the Hawks. I remember
being told, by whom I cannot remember, that H. Hastings Clay, in
the earlier eighties, was active in getting beaglers into that society,
and so making it a centre of sport ; and it is an interesting and
undesigned coincidence that one of the Masters of those days, A. E.
Milne, was a member of the Hawks and not of the Pitt ; though
now, of course, the former is purely athletic and " Philistine," and
the latter the only home for " Barbarians." Also the dining-rooms
have increased the practical importance of clubs in the scheme
of things.

No discourse on Cambridge Club life would be complete without

1 The "Prince of Wales" is now defunct, and the premises occupied by a
pastry-cook.

^ The Ancient Mariners, for example.

252 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

some allusion to that small but exalted institution, the Athenaeum,
originally, I believe, a sort of debating society for high-caste under-
graduates of literary sympathies, whose symposia are to this day
called " Teas." The relation of this club to T.F.B. is of some interest.
The following entry occurs in Mr. H. S. Gladstone's diary : —

" In October 1897 I was elected a member of the A.D.C. (Amateur
Dramatic Club), but did not take it up. On February 1, 1898, a
similar honour was done me by the Athenseum, which I likewise
refused. ' Cut your coat according to your cloth ' is a motto to be
remembered."

This indicates what was certainly the fact, that membership of
that club involved the possession of more than average means ; and
a Master of that period told me that beagling was held to be the
poor man's sport, and that T.F.B. officials set their faces against
membership of clubs which could in any way, directly or indirectly,
interfere with that very wholesome tradition. And when I told
him that in these days Master and Whips were made "Athenseum
bloods," more or less ex officio, he shook his head. Then comes a
further entry in the diary.

"Being elected a second time to the Athena3um, I wrote home
for parental permission, which was, I am delighted to say, granted
me. 'Miles' (M. E. Backhouse), Clem (C. Mitford), and Melville
Balfour were all elected at the same time ; so beaglers were in force."

The event is recorded in the T.F.B. Club Book by a neat coloured

drawing of Athene's literary owl, signed H. S. G. The bird, with

round spectacled eyes and a big cigar, is drawn in brown ink, and

is remarkably like Jack Spraggon, who, be it remembered, w^as

sufficiently literary to dictate the account of the Puffington run to

Sponge. She, the owl, stands on a red morocco copy of Becliford,

and is blazoned in a red and white device, which is intended for the

Athenseum colours,^ though the ink is too deep a red. Below is the

aspiration —

Let us hoi^e this bird of omen will be
One of good omen to T.F.B.

and the record that it was " drawn on the occasion of the Master

^ Pink and white.

AFTER DINNER 253

and two first Whips, also Mr. S. E. Baldwin, being elected members
of the Athenffium."

Thus began the new tradition, of which Mr. Gladstone gave me
the following account in conversation. Up to that time members
had been very wealthy. Also at the symposia, or " Teas," every
toast had to be drunk in a bumper, which, with many toasts, made
the night unnecessarily " wet." On attending the first banquet, he
(H. S. G.) flatly refused to conform to this rule, and later he and
others had succeeded in keeping certain merely wealthy candidates
out of the Club. The subscription, as I am informed, has since
been reduced, so that " means " should not be so essential to
membership.

This does not mean that Mr. Gladstone persuaded the " bloods "
of his day to copy too closely at their feasts the intellectual placidity
of the dinner of the Four Masters hereinafter recorded ; there was
still plenty of life. For example, at a " going down " dinner of a
beagler at about this time, things were not merely lively but, as the
diary records, " uproarious." And no names are mentioned even in
the original, " as the days may come when we may be glad to say, etc.,
etc." These are, taken broadly, words of wide prescience. Youth
does many wild things of which it would be afterwards glad to have
left no written record which might perchance be brought up against
it in after life. But in this case I am fain to confess that nothing
very desperate happened. " Candle-shades were worn as hats " —
true, but so do the grave and reverend signors of Trinity dress their
heads with paper gauds from crackers on Christmas night in Hall.
Also Queen Victoria's health was drunk with musical honours —

For she's a jolly good fellow !

and the fun is said to have been so fantastic as to " beggar descrip-
tion." "At 11.15 the Proctor came in, and M. said to him, 'You
are always asking for my name ; now, what's yours ? ' To which he
replied, 'Gray of Queen's!' A. told him he was a good sportsman.
. . . He proved to be of the grit A. said he was, and took no names."
To many generations of Cambridge men the name of "Joey" Gray
is familiar, and his sportsmanship is known icrhi et orhi ; and that

254 THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

he saw fit to take no names is of itself evidence that nothing very
desperate occurred, and that no one need have minded his name
appearing, for there is nothing immoral in noise and high spirits.
L)r. " Ben " Latham, who was a really good old man, saw no more
than youthful effervescence in such festivities, and there is nothing
more ; nor is there any desperate wickedness in driving hansoms
down Jesus Lane in dress clothes, with cabby as " fare."

The mention of Dr. Latham brings up the dinner of the Four
Masters, given by Dr. Latham and recorded by H. S. Gladstone.
" We sat down," he says, " the Master of Trinity Hall, the Master
of Jesus (' Black Morgan '), the President of Queens' (Dr. Ryle, a
Divinity Professor, afterwards Bishop of Winchester and now Dean
of Westminster), the (late) Master of Selwyn (Bishop Selwyn the
younger), Newall the Astronomer, one other, and H. S. G. ! ^ The
latter felt nervous. ..." He talked the politics of the day with
Newall, and history with Professor Eyle ; both, but perhaps particu-
larly the latter, "must have been interested and elevated — who

SAID AMUSED ? "

Now, I think that Mr. Gladstone ought to have enjoyed liimself,
as all four "Heads" at least (I know nothing of the Astronomer)
were the best of company. Of " Ben " Latham I have already told a
tale. He was with his dog " Wob " a well-known figure in Cambridge
in my time, and much beloved by all Hall men, whom he used to
invite to his house to play billiards, and while play was going on
would come in aud talk to them. Of one he asked what Tripos he
was taking, and was told the " General Tripos," to wliich he answered,
" Oh ! the Genewal Twipos. Well, I tliink you'd better sit down for
a bit and keep quiet ! " The undergraduate in question I knew as a
droll if somewhat disreputable fellow, but with all his faults he was
devoted to the old man. The " General Tripos," by the way, was a
bogey to many beaglers.

I used, as an ordination candidate, to attend Professor Eyle's
lectures on the History of the Jews, and he made them delightful ;
though of what use the knowledge would be to me in the execution

^ " H. S. G." being a Master of Hounds, ought not tlii.s to liave been called the
dinner of the Jive Masters ?

AFTEK DINNER 255

of my functions I have not yet found out. I once saw him on the
Backs on a hot " Scarlet " Sunday afternoon in May Week in the
black silk cassock, scarlet gown, scarf, and velvet square cap of a
Doctor of Divinity, and carrying a large cream silk umbrella with a
green lining. It was an exceptionally gorgeous colour scheme and
strongly suggestive of Gilbert and Sullivan. He had been in Miss
Evans' house at Eton, and Annals of an Eton House records that he
was " a most charming little boy."

Dr. Morgan, Master of Jesus, was known as Black Morgan in
contradistinction to the late and famous tutor " Eed Morgan," of
whom ("Black" Morgan) a Jesus man ^ older than myself told me that
he was, as a rule, very lenient (in his tutor's days) to those who were
hauled for ordinary escapades. But once when a man came up for
something dishonourable and shoddy, he greeted him all down a

corridor which led to his rooms with " You're a d d cad, sir !

You're a d d cad, sir ! ! You're a d d cad, sir ! ! ! "

Bishop Selwyn, Master of Selwyn, had been, as his father also, a
great rowing Blue. He also, by the way, had been in Miss Evans'
house at Eton. In later years he was a cripple and used to go about
on a hand tricycle which he steered with his Ijack, but he retained
liis boyish spirits as long as he lived. About that time a son was
born to him at the Lodge, and seeing one of the tutors - going out
through the gate, threw up the window and shouted right across the
Court, "I say, Hudson, he's got a good long back ! Do to row Seven!!"

Now I maintain that any one, even the youngest of beagling
" Athenfeum Ijloods," should have spent a very pleasant evening in
such company.

One of the advantages of after-dinner gossip is that there is no
obligation to stick to the point, one may ramble freely, and I tliink
it time that we should drift into farmers' dinners in my time and
teste J. S. Carr-EUison : —

" The Drag and Beagle Dinner to the farmers and those on
whose land the two packs hunted was generally great fun, and it was

^ Dr. Dixon, who rowed in Jesus boats in the days of Hockim and the elder
Fairbairn, during their long period of headship.
^ The Rev. Robert Hudson.

256 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

always a merry evening. I am sure that it did good, and that it was
appreciated by the farmers."

In those days the dinner was given in a room in Green Street,
wMch began life as the Debating Hall of the Union, and we were set
round the tables two and two (i.e. two farmers together and then two
'Varsity men), so that every man had a farmer for a neighbour on
one side and an undergraduate on the other. I have often wondered
why ordinary dinner-parties are not arranged in that way, as then
every guest would have both a man and a woman to talk to. After
dinner came speeches in which there was plenty of " butter," and I
remember the speech of one of those of whom the Farmers' Book
records that he was "quite fond of getting on liis legs." During
dinner old " Wliite-headed Bob," the blind fiddler, used to play tunes,
and of course there were songs. I remember Ijeing commandeered
on to my legs and the only thing I could think of (I can't sing for
nuts) was "Three Jolly Post Boys," and of course we had "We'll
all go a-hunting to-day," which, I think, Sleath-Green, Master of the
Drag, sang. J. S. Carr-Ellison had a fine repertoire of Irish songs
of the Ballyhooly kind, of which the refrain of his best was —

Every man provides his donkey
In the Ballylooby Horse.

And Willoughby (the Hon. G. H. D., Master of the Drag) had a

great song about one

Mrs. Grady,
A widow Lady,
Has a daughter whom I adore.

No one could attend the dinner who did not pay for a farmer as
well as himself, and so the farmer who sat next to one was in a real
sense one's personal guest, and I think we all felt the obligation not
merely of providing good eating and drinking for those on whose
land we hunted, but also of exerting ourselves to be agreeable. And
so we really did enjoy the dinner.

In those days there were A.D.C. smokers, which were a sort
of amateur music-hall show. For these you could get a pass in
from any member, and a fair number of beaglers used to attend.
" Mrs. Grady " was a most popular turn, and so was a man who

AFTEE DINNER 257

mimicked a Scotch Presbyterian minister and a young Oxford
High Church curate ; and there was a mock conjuring display,
somewhat on PeHssier lines, in wliich an undergraduate named
Audley Miller, very broad in the beam, was made to disappear,
which he did by crawling off the stage behind a plank laid edgeways
and about six inches deep.

Mention must here be made of an obscure and ephemeral
institution called the Puss Club. This was discovered through
the Minute Book being left derelict in a Malcolm Street lodging-
liouse. The landlady, having found it, gave it in to Dr. Morley
Fletcher, who ordered it to be carefully kept in the Pitt safe, where
he told me I might see it. The book contained little information
except that the members wore a claret-coloured coat, and presum-
ably because the members were more or less enthusiastic beaglers,
perhaps less rather than more, as Lord Ronaldshay — a moving
spirit — was Master of the Drag, a roast hare was always 'pUce de
resistance at the l)anquet. Naturally a club drawing its members
from so small an area did not long survive the going down of its
first founders. Still the point is of interest as taking us outside
official circles.

Letter

Eden Hotel, Cap d'Ail,

Alpes Maritimes, France,
January 21, 1911.

Deaii Sir — Your letter of the 18th re the T.F.B. has been
forwarded to me here. I fear my recollections of the Puss Club are
somewhat dim. I think it was restricted to members of Mr. H. 0.
Davidson's (formerly " Vanity " Watson's) House at Harrow, of
whom tliere happened to be five or six up at Cambridge about the
years 1894-97. I think we dined more enthusiastically than we
beagled. We used to hold a dinner two or three times a term, I
believe, to which we invited guests. In common with most dining-
clubs of that time (University undergraduate dining-clubs, I mean),
we had a distinctive dress in which we dined, i.e. a magenta-coloured
smoking-coat. I am not sure who was the genius to whom this
garment owed its creation.

258 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

I regret that I have no livelier recollections to give you of so
important an institution ; mj information will, I fear, prove to be
even scantier than the " minutes." — Yours truly,

(Signed) Konaldshay.

But of all festive institutions connected with the T.F.B., the
T.F.B. Club is both the last and the greatest. It has, moreover,
the advantage of having kept permanent memoranda, which form a
most valuable contribution to recent liistory. They are contained
in two books bound in beagle-green morocco, and the records extend
over just twenty years. They contain, of course, no matters of
serious import, but beyond the dry statistics of when and where
dinners were held, and who were present, they record many lighter
and more cheery incidents, chiefly in the form of entertaining and
often very clever pen-and-ink sketches. These books come in,
therefore, most opportunely as covering the more recent period of
our annals, for which little or no other information has come to hand.^

As to each age there attaches some special feature of interest,
to the beaglers of the first decade of the twentieth century belongs
the honour of giving to the world the lighter side of the sport. The
records are full of drawings of various degrees of technical merit, but
as a whole presenting a verital)le Comedy of Beaghng. These
drawings are of value not only for their intrinsic humour, but also
because they show that, though the science of hunting is by no
means lost sight of, yet it never obscures the fact that one goes
beagling, just as one goes boat-racing, shooting, or cruising, for fun.
To do otherwise is

Propter vitam vivendi perdere causas :
i.e.

To drown sport in its own technicaHties.

The T.F.B. Club, like all sound institutions, " kinder grew " like
Topsy. For some time there had been a Committee, the Mastership
being in commission, and what more natural than that the Com-
mittee should dine together ? Then came a time when a Master

^ The beaglers of this period are, of course, not yet old enough to be reminiscent.

AFTER DINNER 259

was willing to take the w"hole burden on his shoulders again, so the
Committee was dissolved. But the dissolution of a Committee is, of
course, no excuse for abandoning so excellent a custom as dinner, so
on November 9, 1892, in the Master's (R. S. Hicks) rooms. The
Club was formed, rules were drawn up, and five members, viz. the
Master, the Whips, and one other, mutually elected themselves the
original members, to wit : —

R. S. Hicks — Master.

W. E. Rogerson — First Whi}).

H. C. Browning — Second Whip.

E. R. T. Corbett— r/wr(^ Whip.

I). H. Doyne.
A. M. Allgood was still " up," and was unanimously elected, but
declined to become a member, and Mr. A. N. Watney was chosen to
fill the one vacant place.

RULES OF THE T.F.B. CLUB

\. That this Chib be called the Beagle Club.

2. That the Master of the Trinity Foot Beagles for the time being
shall be the President.

3. That the Committee shall consist of the Master and the three
Whips of the Trinity Foot Beagles ; any two of which, and the Master,
shall form a quorum.

4. That the Club shall consist of not more than six members.

5. That the Club shall dine once a week in one member's rooms.

6. That the member in whose rooms dinner is held shall have the
privilege of inviting one guest.

7. That the Club dress be white waistcoat, green velvet coat with
lighter green silk facings, and silver hares on each side of the collar.

8. That any former member shall have the privilege of dining with
the Club.

9. That one black ball in three shall exclude, and that the
President shall have a casting vote.

10. That a general meeting may be called at any time by the
President.

To complete the formal history of the Club —
In 1895 the Mastership again went into commission, and the
following entry occurs : —

2G0

THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES

January 18, 1895.
Owing to the formation of a Committee in place of a Mastership, it
is necessary to alter rules —

4. That the Chib is increased, and limited to eight members.
Also Rule 1 1 was added to the effect that

All members of Hunt Committee become members of this Club.

( F. C. Fenwick.
(Signed) - R. F. Allgood.

( R. R. Crewdson.

Thus things continued until 1898 when the following memo-
randum is entered : —

At a Committee Meeting held on Tuesday, October 23, 1898, the
following resolutions were passed : —

(1) That the Committee dissolve itself and become a dining-club as
before, and the Huntsman be absolute Master.

(2) That the dining-club consist of eight members, and that an
Entrance Fee of £2 be paid on the election of each new member.

(3) That the annual subscription for a AVhip be £10 inclusive of all
privileges.

Since this last reform the constitution of the Club remains
unchanged, the only other alteration being that, instead of having
one guest of the evening, the host is allowed to ask as many as he

Proposal for a Fancy Dress Dinner. Costumes from "The French Maid,'
A Musical Comedy of the Period.
Drawn by H. S. G. From T.F.B.C. Book.

AFTEK DINNEE 261

pleases. From this date l)egiiis the tradition of Whips paying a
higher rate of subscription than the ordinary private beagler.
Entries record that it was some weeks before members all turned out
in correct mess uniform, the last offender being Mr. Doyne, who
broke Kule 8 by not wearing a white waistcoat.

The only events in club history to be recorded are that G.
Lawson tells us that in his day lime-juice was introduced at the
Club dinners, and there is an entry in book opposite a dinner held
in Lent Term 1907, which states —

" Among twelve gentlemen three-quarters of a bottle of cham-
pao-ne were drunk. 0 ye gods ! what would our grandfathers say?"
In spite, perhaps l)ecause^ of, such preternatural sobriety, members
accuse one another of terminological inexactitude. It is recorded,
for example, that on that very day "our hare, when dead beat, goes
into a ruined cottage and runs out between the Master's legs, much
to his disappointment " ; the truth of the tale being made the more
vivid by a circumstantial diagram. Artistically, it is not good
enough to call a drawing. But there follows, with the Master's
initials —

" This is an alisolute lie. I was nowhere near the door ; / should
have had the sense to shut it if I had, I hope ; some other l)lighter
let her out, but she was finally killed. — M. E. 15."

This introduces us to the T.F.B. pictorial records. The first
drawing is a sketch of FroHc, " late T.F.B.," and the only recorded
lady guest. Though what she was doing, and where passing her old
age, is not recorded. As drawn, she is much too large for her head ;
her girth also is ample, and her expression one of pla'.id repletion,
which is how a guest should look after dinner. This was at a last
dinner of the season, on March 15, 1893.

The next item of interest is the appearance as a guest of C. Fascoe
Hawkes on November 15, 1895, and beside the signature a neat
little drawing of a Whip turning hounds. Later in the term he was
asked again, and draws another and more flamboyant Whip, also
turning a hound, this time with greater spirit, for his attitude is one
of almost Bacchanalian fury, and the tail-end of a hound ventre a

1 In vino Veritas 1

262 THE TPJNITY FOOT BEAGLES

terre is most wisely making a hurried exit from the page. At the
first dinner of the Lent Term he again turns up and contributes a
sketch of Mr. Cecil Lupton as a " flying squadron " on a fairly bony
old crock, calling upon a hound, who seems to be improperly mixed
up with the crock's legs, to ware riot. A fresh hare is making a
rapid departure.

The moral of the foregoing seems to be that if you like being
asked out to dinner you should draw funny pictures in your hosts'
Minute Book ; but do not be too prodigal : the artist's rule should
be, one dinner, one sketch. Mr. Hawkes's drawing should be well
known to such as read the Granta, as he drew various figures which
constantly head recurring news, such as Lawn Tennis, Piowing Notes,
etc. Several of his works are published in this book other than
those contained in the Club records. He was subsequently elected
a member of Committee, and therefore of the Club.

The next contributor to the collection is Mr. H. S. Gladstone,
whose work is not of such technical excellence as Mr. Hawkes's ; but
his drawings are full of spirit and movement, and he displays an
especial knowledge of the fashions of the period, as may be seen
from a study of a wood nymph and from the millinery of the lady
beaglers who are listening to what Mr. Kenneth Walker had to
say to the empty hound van at Little Shelford. There is also a
rough but life-like sketch of Mr. Gladstone out partridge-driving
when he should have been beagling. Being young and an under-
graduate, he has but one gun and no retriever, yet he is clearly
doing great execution, though one of his birds is an obviously active
and vigorous runner.

At this point the Club enters a note of disgust with one of its
members for wanting "amalgamation," though the sentiment is
afterwards cancelled. This is the only documentary evidence of a
movement set on foot at the time for incorporating the T.F.B. with
the Amalgamated Athletic CIuIjs at Trinity, which, by the way, is
the position occupied by the Christ Church Beagles at Oxford. Mr.
H. S. Gladstone told me of this in course of conversation, and was
under the impression that Mr. Eouse Ball, one of the trustees, was
a supporter of the proposal. Mr. Eouse Ball, however, himself told

AFTEE DINNEE 263

me that he was against it, as the Beagles, in spite of their name, are
really a University and not a College institution, which is of course
the right way to look at the matter. Had the change been effected,
the whole character of the Hunt, which depends so largely on its
complete independence and comparative informality of constitution,
would have been changed. Moreover there is no natural connection
between field sports and College es2Jrit de corps, and as Trinity
men have told me, their foundation is too big to foster such senti-
ments.

After this there is a blank period when nothing is recorded
except when and wliere the dinners were held and who went to
them ; and then they found two new artist guests, C. de M. Grant
and C. W. Jones. There are also many anonymous drawings,
including a sporting artist,^ whose power of presenting horses in
motion is admirable, and in a style somewhere between that of
Finch Mason and of Mr. Or. D. Armour of Punch fame ; and a series
of drawings, signed with the monogram of A, H. Penn, who is the
last and best of the T.F.B. artists. His style is natural and yet
grotesque, and he has a quite unusual power of putting comical
expression into both his faces and figures, he having the most
invaluable of all gifts for such work — a droll imagination. This
quality comes out with especial force in relation to an accident
which happened to Mr. E. G. Buxton when out with the Fitz-
william. The nature of the accident appears to have been con-
cussion, and, in consequence, he is shown as being trephined, which,
as every schoolboy knows, consists in boring a hole in the head (" to
let out the fumes," as Godonias said, or, rather, as Charles Kingsley
says that he said). However, be that as it may, the

Genius of Paget about to trepan
is as nothing compared to the heroic surgery here displayed. To
begin with, there are two operators at work at once, of whom one is
sawing the patient's skull, and the other is punching a hole with a
heavy hammer and powerful chisel ; this second surgeon is fat and
bathed in perspiration. So strenuous is the work that, though the

^ I propose to name him "Al," which hoth stands for Anonymous Xo. 1 and also
as a tribute to the excellence of the work.

264

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

patient is under chloroform, he is tied down to the plain deal table
with a stout rope lashing, as is most necessary, for he has got one
leo- free, with which he endeavours to kick the autcsthetist in the
stomach, though a brawny assistant with stout hairy arms has got

Vr '^.(^.'^Atriv <W^^ H^vLt^ ^U^K^ % uUtw-^C '^'^^^^--^'^K^m

AFTEE DINNEE

265

a good purchase on his ankle, and is hauling hard from under the
table; while the anaesthetist, to keep at a safe distance, holds a
spongeful of chloroform to the patient's face with a pair of domestic
hearth tongs. JMeanwhile, lest the patient's head should break the
teeth of the first saw, another and greater one is being held in
readiness by an attendant in the background, who is carefully
sighting it to see if the teeth are in correct alignment. But this is
not all, for a second pair of operators are waiting to take their shift,
one with a centre-bit and the other with an axe, and both are
watching, one with judicial calm and the other with a gleaming eye,
a poker and pair of shears heating in a brazier. The style is some-
thing like that of Mr. Heath Eobinson, but is, in my judgment,
more genuinely comic in that
it is nothing like so far-
fetched. Possibly the whole
incident is imaginary.

A more frequent and in-
evitaltle trial to beaglers, as
to all undergraduates, is the
examination bogey, symliolic-
ally presented by Mr. C. P. T.
Hawkes.

Another page (see illus-
trations in the Preface) of Mr.
Penn's work shows at least
as keen a humour and presents

a typical day's beagling. The first sketch shows the beagler at
12.15 in stout l)rogues and a vast coat inimitably posed on the
Pitt doorstep, while one of the page boys holds a bag of dry raiment
twice his own size in readiness for the brake. Others show him
between the hours of 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. actually engaged in beagling.
The last discovers him at 6.30 p.m. in the inn parlour, with the usual
stuffed wild duck and other ornaments, still devuurino- tea and l»read-
and-butter, with his big coat hanging on the door, wliile the Master
from the door objurgates the " blighter " for keeping the 1 )rake waiting.

Another shows " a little quiet fun " in the beagle brake on the

X.B. — The "General" is an Examination.

266

THE TKINITY FOOT BEAGLES

way to Fulbourne. The near side horse has turned round] into a
position impossible had there been a pole point, and there are one or
two other technical faults, but the facial expressions of the driver and
passengers more than atone for such trivial deficiencies.

Mr. Hawkes also contributes a drawing of an embryo beagler at
school labelled " Mr. E. T. Murray, cet. 13, and the Divining Eod."
Mr. Murray being in the prone position, we have no record of his
features, but the bearer of the divining rod is evidently Dr. Warre.

^

The drawing is in more ways than one a " tailpiece," and is reproduced
at the end of this chapter.

The adventures of the beagle brake, the perils of a swimming day,
and occasions such as Cottenham, a riding day, or a bye day with the
Eitzwilliam or the Cambridgeshire, when beaglers have witched, or
at least set out to witch, the world with noble horsemanship, are
among the more favoured subjects. Messrs. Hawkes and Penn both
treat of the beagle brake as running over something. Mr. Penn is
content with a dog. But it must have been an unusually solid dog,
as the shock precipitates one passenger on to the road. The artist
himself, who has the box seat, has had liis cap lifted sheer off his
head through his hair standing so stiff on end, while the Master's

AFTEE DINNEE 267

face is distorted with fuiy as of a Buddhist devil-dancer. Mr.
Havvkes shows it (the brake) as perpetrating the " Barnwell Murder."
It is a cyclist this time and he is cut completely in half The brake
and its passengers are but little perturbed, but a Whip from the box
seat is casting a spare pair of trousers down to the top half of the
cyclist as a lifebuoy is cast from the bridge of a steamer to a man
overboard. Though what use they could have been to the legless
half of the murdered man is hard to say.

There is an anonymous sketch of the brake at night, which would
seem to anticipate either the Post-Impressionists or the Futurists,
more probably the former, as the sketch is Impressionist, and it was
drawn after ^ dinner.

There are various sketches of beaglers out wild-fowling, and one
of a day at Orwell Brewery, when the T.F.B. seems to have killed
three brace of partridges, presumably Frenchmen. At the top of the
page is the pack (1^ couple) going off to the right, to the left a
silhouette of a partridge — at least it would have been a partridge,
Mr. Hawkes says, had not somebody blotted it. Below are six hooks,
from five of which hang partridges — at least circumstantial evidence
shows that they must be partridges, though they look more like
bustards. This is signed " H. S. G." Another page shows the Master
turned " Commodore," and taking the artist, again " H. S. G.," duck-
shooting in the Wash off Hunstanton.

So much for our comedy. But there is more than comedy in
a beagler's life, as in every body of genuine sportsmen who live
together in close intimacy, and, as the following letter in reply to
a request for a contribution from a l)eagler who says that beagling
meant much to him shows, that more is not for publication.

Letter

Dear Mr. Kempson — I hope you will forgive my not coming
out to see you, but, what with skating and beagling, I had my
afternoons very much occupied. As regards an article for the
Beagle Book, believe me, I was flattered by your request, but I
hardly see my way to doing it. It could only be about Eeaveley.

^ Post is Latin for after !

268

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Now those who have been there know what it is like, and as for
those who have not — well, I can't help thinking that one great
charm of it is that the life there is incognito. The doings and
sayings of a few more or less intimate people could not interest
the outside world very much, but they are treasured by the few
to laugh over in after years. That is my view,
and I think you will understand.
[I think we all do.— F. C. K.]
As regards the beagling itself I fear it
would take some one who is more of a professional
and better acquainted with hunting jargon to
deal with it.

[K. Walker has dealt with it adndrably. —
F. C. K.]

Believe me, I am sorry that I cannot assist,
but you see how it is.

Please remember me to Mrs. and Miss
Kempson. — Yours very sincerely,

W. DE G.

But I think he has helped us much. He
has expressed far l)etter than I could have done
the fact that there are some tales which must
not be told, even out of school.

It remains to me to wish all good luck to four
^Masters : —

(1) William Henry Wiggin, in whose year
the hounds first came to Manea, and I renewed
my relations with T.F.B.

(2) Thurstan Holland Hil:)])ert, in whose time
this history was begun, and to whom we will wish " good hunting,"
and also that in other ways he will live happily ever after.

(3) Ian A. Straker, in whose times this book was written, and
who is a l)enefactor.

(4) G. W. Barclay, in whose year the work is published, and
to whom we wish all success.

W. DE G.

AFTEE DINNEK

269

Also to all the young squires now at school, in the nursery, and
even as yet unborn, whom home influence and school discipline
have made into gentlemen and sportsmen, those, that is, who, in the
words of our Founder, would " behave as such even when . . ."
But that is, of course, never.

Beagling is a noble sport, and the hospitality which sportsmen
show one another when hunting is ever a joyous thing. Where-
fore I venture to conclude tliis history, as Caxton did his Morte
cV Arthur, with

" Here endeth this noble and joyous book."

-11

C:^-;^!*

From T.F.B.C. Book.

APPENDIX

LIST OF MASTEBS AND WHIPS

THE FOOT DRAG

(1)
1862-6. Master : R. G. Hoare.

(2)

Master : Courtney Tracey.

miips : H. H. Bagnall, Sir Henry Boynton, Bart.

(3)

Master : H. H. Bagnall.

TFJiips : J. C. J. Fenwick, — Lloyd.

II

THE "FOOT BEAGLES"

1867-70. Alaster: W. E. Currey, M.A.

JVhips : — Alexander, H. E. Gordon, H. C. Howard, Lord E. St. Maur,
J. F. Muggeridge, W. H.' Rod well, C. M. Meysey-Tliompson.

This is longer than Lord E. St. Maur's list. They did not, of course, all
serve at once, but dates are obscure.

271

272 THE TPJNITY FOOT BEAGLES

III

T.F.B.

1870-1. Master: W. H. Rodwell.

Whips : A. Tabor, E. S. Howard, H. C. Howard.

1871-2. Master: H. C. Howard.

WTiips : E. S. Howard, G. H. Longman, G. Macan, C. J. Cropper.

1872-3. i\f«sier ; H. C. Howard.

JFhips : G. H. Longman, G. J. Macan, C. J. Cropper.

1873-4. Hunts7nan: G.H.Longman.

IFJiips : C. J. Cropper, G. Macan, Visconnt Eljrington.

1874-5. Master: V. W. Vickers.

JVliip : J. T. Hornby.

1875-6. Master: V. W. Vickers.

Whips : J. T. Hornbv, A. S. Forbes, A. W. Turner, H. C. Irving,
J. R. Scarlett, W. Cunliffe.

1876-7. Master: V. W. Vickers.

mips : A. S. Forbes, J. T. Hornby, A. W. Turner, H. C. Irving,
J. R. Scarlett, W. Cunliffe.

1877-8. Master: W. Cunliffe,

JVliips : H. C. Irving, J. H. Beck, J. W. Dent, R. Cunliffe,
C. A. Tennant.

1878-9. Master: C. A. Tennant.

miijjs : W. B. Cannop, H. Scarlett, E. C. Meysey-Thompson,
H. Kelsall, R. T. Wilson.

1879-80. Master: C. A. Tennant.

miips : E. C. Meysey-Tliompson, R. Hunt, H. Haines,
— Musgrave, B. Jolmson.

1880-1. Master: R. Hunt.

IFhips : H. R. Cooke, P. Burges, Smith Lawson, E. E. Barclay.

APPENDIX 273

1881-2. Master: R. Hunt.

Uliips: W. Watkin Wyiui, — Galway, A. E. Green-Price,
H. Arkwright.

1882-3. Master : W. Watkin Wynn.

IVhips : A. Heber Percy, E. A. MUne, G. Buxton.

1883-4. Master: E.A.Milne.

Whips: G. Buxton, R. Drury, W. Hyde Parker.

1884-5. Master: E. A. Milne.

niiips : W. Hyde Parker, C. F. Young, A. W. Heber Percy.

1885-6. Muster: C. F. Young.

JJlnps : A. W. Heber Percy, J. Mills, J. Barnard, J. Miller.

1886-7. Master: A. F. Pease.

niiips: H. H. Clay, G. A. Miller, W. E. Pease.

1887-8. Master: A. F. Pease.

IVhips : H. H. Clay, G. A. Miller, W. E. Pease, R. W. Fox,
J. S. Carr-Ellison (January If

1888-9. Master: J. S. Carr-Ellison.

Whips : A. M. AUgood, J. H. Budgett, A. Burns, A. C. Hall.

1889-90. Master: A. C. Hall.

niii2)s : A. M. Allgood, C. D. Miller, M. Andrews, P. Conolly.

1890-1. Master: A. C. Hall.

JFhii^s : P. Conolly, C. P. Dear, F. A. Vaizey, E. H. Pease.

October 1891. Master: P. Conolly.

Jfliips : E. H. Pease, W. E. Rogerson, D. H. Doyne,
Viscount Milton.

January 1892. Master: Viscount Milton.

Whips: W. E. Rogerson, R. S. Hicks, H. C. Browning.

274 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

October 1892. Master: E. S. Hicks.

JVhijjs: W. E. Rogerson, H. C. Browning, E. R. T. Corbett.

January 1893. Master: "W. E. Rogerson.

JVhi2Js: H. C. Browning, E. R. T. Corbett, R. F. Allgood.

1893-4. Master: E. R. T. Corbett.

JFhips : R. F. Allgood, C. I. L. Allix, R. R. Crewdson, Sir
J. Whitcbcote (January 1894).

October 1894. Alaster : E. R. T. Corbett.

JVhips : R. F. Allgood, R. R. Crewdson, J. C. Fenwick.

January 1895. {Committee.)

Huntsman : K. Walker.

Whips : R. F. Allgood, R. R. Crewdson, A. C. Lupton, W. H. M. Ellis.

Committee : C. E. Pease, A. P. B. Harrison, H. G. Carr-EUison.

1895-6. Huntsman: K.Walker.

fFhtps: A. C. LuiDton, R. F. Allgood, H. G. Carr-Ellison, W. H. M. EUis.
Committee: C. E. Pease, C. H. D. Tanqueray, E. T. Murray.

October 1896. Huntsman: C. H. D. Tanqueray.

TFhips: E. T. Murray, N. 0. Walker, J. D. Crewdson.
Committee: J. H. Forsliaw, C. P. T. Hawkes, H. J. Meysey-Thomjjson.

January 1897. Huntsman: N. O. Walker.

Whiys : E. T. Murray, J. D. Crewdson, H. J. Meysey-Thonipson.
Committee : C. P. Hawkes, L. G. Buxton, G. D. Hall, H. S. Gladstone.

October 1897. Huntsman: N. 0. Walker.

JVliips : H. J. Meysey-Thompson, L. G. Buxton, G. D. Hall, H. S. Gladstone.
Committee : C. F. Mitford, j\I. Backhouse.

January 1898. Hxmtsman : C. F. Mitford.

Whips : L. G. Buxton, H. S. Gladstone, M. R. Backhouse, W. H. Barry.
Committee : P. Cooper, E. Mather, G. E. Belville.

October 1898. {Committee dissolved.)

Master: C. F. Mitford.
Whix)s : H. S. Gladstone, M. R. Backhouse, P. H. Cooper.

APPENDIX 275

January 1899. Master: H. S. Gladstone.

JVhips ; M. R. Backhouse, P. H. Cooper, C. B. Kidd, S. A. Boyd-Rochefort.

1899-1900. Master: C. B. Kidd.

JFhips : P. H. Cooper, H. C. Wood

1900-1. Master: W. E. Paget.

Jfliips: J. D. Finch, A. W. R. Roberts, G. Lawson, H. G. Barclay.

October 1901. Master: W. E. Paget.

JV}n2}s : G. Lawson, H. G. Barclay, H. K. Longman.

January 1902. Master: H. G. Barclay.

Whips: G. Lawson, T. W. Russell, D. G. Hoare, H. D. Bentinck.

October 1902. Master: D. G. Hoare.

imiips : A. Buxton, A. D. P. Campbell, F. J. Barclay, R. W. Barclay.

January 1903. Master: D. G. Hoare.

JVhips : A. Buxton, J. F. Barclay, V. Lindemere, C. G. Hoare.

1903-4. Master: A. Buxton.

miips : H. E. Backhouse, R. W. Barclay, C. G. Hoare, R. J. K. Barber-
Starkey, C. R. H. Wiggin (January 1904).

1904-5. Master: C. G. Hoare.

JJ^ips : C. R. H. Wiggin, Hon. J. M. Campbell, T. H. Barclay,
A. Churchill, J. G. G. Rea (January 1905).

1905-6. Master: C. R. H. Wiggin.

JFJiips : Hon. J. M. Campbell, T. H. Barclay, A. Churchill,
J. G. G. Rea, M. E. Barclay (January 1906).

1906-7 Master: M. E. Barclay.

JVhi2->s : J. G. G. Rea, M. C. Allbright, W. E. J. Paul,
H. A. Birkbeck.

1907-8. Master: M. E. Barclay.

Uliips : },L G. Allbright, A. G. Murray Smith, W. H. Wiggin,
R. G. Buxton, T. Holland Hibbert (January 1908).

t2

276 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

1908-9. Master: A. G. Murray Smith.

IVhips: W. H. Wiggin, T. Holland Hibl)ort, W. F. Gadduni,
G. R. Wiggin.

1909-10. Master: W. H. Wiggin.

Whips: T. Holland Hibbert, I. A. Straker, W. F. Gadduni,
G. R. Wiggin.

1910-11. Master: T. Holland Hibbert.

Jl^ips : I. A. Straker, A. R. Wood, W. P. D. Clarke,
R. H. Parker.

1911-12. Master: I. A. Straker.

JVhijys : W. P. D. Clarke, G. W. Barclay, S. Barthropp,
H. E. Parker.

1912-13. Master: G. W. Barclay.

IVhips : S. Barthropp, R. S. Clarke, G. H. Allgood.

From T.F. B.C. Book.

INDEX

Al illustratious, 12, 16, 97, 102, 263
Alexander, — , 66, 67, 69, 74
Allbright, M. C, 275

Allgood, A. M., 157, 159, 161, 167, 172,
209, 216

G. H., 276

L., 221

R. F., 211, 231, 260

W. L.. 163
Allix, C. I. L., 274
Anglesey Abbey, 96
Animal World, Cap. i.
Arkwriglit, H., Cap. i.
Atheuieura, The, 164, 172, 184, 193, 251
Atkinson, Rev. Dr., 80, 82
Atlay, Rev. G., 40

Backhouse, H. C, 12

M. R., 234, 252
Bagnall, F., 18, 49
Bagnall, H. H., 46
Bailey, 106, 120
Bailey's Magazine, 102
Baker, C, 93
„ F., 119, 121
J. 93
Baldwin, S. E., 253
Balfour, Melville, 235, 252
Ball, W. W. Rouse, 43, 51, 78, 119, 214,

262
Barber-Starkey, R. J. K., 275
Barclay, A. C, 45

E. E., 102, 107, 118, 121, 128,
155

G. W., 118, 120, 268

H. R. G., 238, 241

M. E., 201

R. W., 240
Barlow, 110
Barnwell, 129
Barry, W. H., 235, 243
Barton (Tollbar), 65, 69, 96, 109

Beagle Hunt, 187
Beck, J., 95, 97
Belper, — , 60
Bentinck, H. G., 240
Bentley, H. C, 102
Bevan, E G., 45
Bicester Hunt, 36
Birkbeck, H. A., 275
Bligh, Hon. Ivo, 118, 127
Blunt, H. \V., 74

"Bob," Cap. vi., 28, 151, 179, 185, 208
Border Hunt, 217
Bottishani Lode, 169
Bouverie, 11. H. , 74
Boyd-Rochefort, S. A., 275
Boyntou, Sir H., Bart., 271
Brinkley Hall, 168
Bristead, C. A., 57
Browne, — , 74
Browning, H. C, 259
Bruce, Hon. H. L., 36
Budgett, H., 157
BcRGES, Miss J., 68, 108, 110
BURGES, P., Cap. v., 178, 208, 212
Burns, A., 152
Butler, Lord A., 69, 74
Butler, A. J., 60, 74
Buxton, A., 182, 215, 240
Buxton, F. W., 45
,, G., 140, 142

L. G., 235

R. G., 263

Caius College, 41, 92, 159

Callaby, R., 141

Callaly Castle, 223

Cambridge Review, 4, 25, 49, 60, 205

Cambridgeshire Hunt, 66, 171, 195

Campbell, A. D. P., 241

Hon. J. M., 275
Campion, Dr., 130
Cantelupe Farm, 96

277

278

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Carr, A., 218
,, Colouel, 159
J 227
Carr-Eu'isoii, H. G., 218, 219, 252

,, J. S., Cap. vii., 40, 44, 79, 93,

177, 191, 208, 216, 250,
255
Cattistock Hunt, 139, 144
Channel, A. W. T., 240
Chatteris, 143, 156
Cherryhinton, 120
Chesters, 220
Chesterton Manor, 96
Chimay, Prince P. de, 241
Christ Church (Oxou.), 35, 51
Churchill, A., 275
Churchill, Lord R., 42
Clare College, 57, 80, 142
Clark, J. W., 60
Clarke, R. S., 276

„ W. P. D., 6, 77
Clay, H. H., 156, 251
Close, J. B., 72, 196, 229
Clowes, P., 82, 90
Cobham, 60
Cockerel, S. P., 10
Comberton, 65, 68, 96

CONGLETON, LORD, 37

Connop, W. B., 97

Cooke, H. R., 85, 113, 120, 125

Cooper, P. H., 235, 237

Corbett, E. R. T., 203, 259

CORNWALLIS, F. W. M., 36

Corpus College, 130

Coton, 157, 169

Cottenham, 10, 45, 130, 158, 190, 199, 266

Courtney Tracey, 43, 46

Cousins, E. R., 157

Crawley, — , 60

Crewdson, R. R., 260

Cropper, C. J., 78, 83, 88, 90, 152, 238

Currey, W. E., M.A., Cap. iii., 73, 101, 183,

189, 208, 230
Curtis, 0. S., 128

Darlington Foot Harriers, 152

Darnley, Lord, 105, 118

Darwin, 74

Dear, C. P., 273

Dent, J., 95, 97

Devon and Somerset Stag Hunt, 186

Dickens, H. F., 65

" Distemper " recipe, 185

Dorner, 240

Doyne, D. H., 259

Drag, The, 44, 47, 182, 190, 197, 208

Drury, A. W., 142, 143

Duberley, H., 74, 75, 76
Durnford, W., 58, 61
Duzen, Van, 240
" Dysentery " recipe, 185

Earith Bridge, 170

Ebrington, Viscount, 82, 89

Ellis, W. H. M., 211

Ely Road, 65, 69, 121, 170

Essex Hunt, 143

Essex Union Hunt, 127

Eton Hunt, 51, 105, 114

Everard, — , 74

Exeter College (Oxon.), 37

Faruborough, 81

Fellowes, 123, 126

Fen Ditton, 169

Fenwick, F. C, 260

Fenwick, J. C. J., 47, 152

Fenwick, T., 224

Field, The, 71, 92, 106, 152, 161, 205

Finch, F. D., 235, 237

Fitzwilliam, Earl, 134, 166

Fitzwilliam Hunt, 266

Floate, R., Cap. vi., 18, 162, 167, 173,

179
Foot Drag, 50, 55, 62
Forbes. A. S. , 272
Fordham, H., 239
Forshaw, J. H., 274
Forth, 74
Foulmire, 81, 173

Fox hunted by T.F.B., 65, 120, 156
Fox, R. W., 87, 157
Framlingtou, 226
Frost, P., 57
Fulbourne, 65, 120, 231

G., W. de, 268

Gandy, — , 129

Girton, 96

Gladstone, H. S., 19, 30, 32, 42, 92, 152,

186, 188, 193, 203, 211, 214, 230, 235,

252, 262, 267
Gordon, H. E., 72
Grant, C. de M., 148, 263
Granta, 89, 205

Grautchester, 68, 143, 158, 194
Gray, J., 253
Green, L., 102
Green-Price, A. E., 273
Gunton, Rev. F., 119, 122, 140, 145
Gurney, Q., 241

Haig, B., 129

Haines, H. G., 97, 101, 114, 120

INDEX

279

Hall, A, C, 166
„ G. D., 274

Harcourt-Vernon, — ; 45

Hardcastle, —,107

Hanlwicke, 66, 69, 168

Hargreaves, G., 241

Hariiigtoii, Rev. R., 40

Harltou, 96

Harrison, A. P. B., 211

Harston, 96

Hauxtoii, 169, 173

Haverhill, 119

Hawkes, C. p. T., 143, 190, 205, 251, 262,

265
Haydou Hunt, 159
Heber-Percy, H. \V., 143, 154
Henn-Gennys, E. C, 241
Herefordshire (North) Hunt, 40, 180
Herefordshire (South) Hunt, 40
Heythrop Hunt, 37
Hick's Harriers, 80
Hicks. R. S., 259
Hill, H. B., 37

„ M. V. B., 37
Histon, 66, 148, 199
HoARE, C. R. G., 44, 50, 62, 240
HOARE, D. G., 44, 180, 187, 189, 240
Hoare, R. G., 44
HOLLAND-HlBBERT, T. , 6, 47, 158, 189, 194,

235, 268
Houeywood, — , 62
Hornby, J., 90
Horningsea, 96, 234
Howard, E. S., 67, 74, 79, 152
Howard, F. G., M.A., 107
Howard, H. C, 66, 74, 77, 81, 89, 91,

152
Howard, M., 90
Hunt, R., Cap. v., 76, 85, 97, 124, 140.

155, 158, 178, 191, 208, 212, 230. 248
Hyde-Parker, Sir W., Bt., 141

Impington, 96, 143
Ingram, 227

Irving, H. C., 92, 97, 152, 248
Isleham Fen, 118

Jackson, Professor H., 49, 54, 62, 123, 142,

243
Jebb, Sir R., 59
Jed Forest Hunt, 167
Jesus College, 157
Jesus Lane, 14, 32, 39, 106
Johnson, B., 97
Jones, C. W., 263

Kane, J. S., 74

Kelsall, H., 97
Kempson, Rev. F. C, 201
Kidd, C. B., 236
King's College, 61

Latham, Dr. H., 246, 254
Lawrence, E. G. , 157

G., 235
Lawrence, Lord, 45
Lawson, G., 235, 237
Lawson-Smith, E. M., 115, 121
Leake, T. N., 82, 88, 90
Ledbury Hunt, 160
Lindemere, V., 275
Linton, 96
Lloyd, 47
Longman, G. H., 79, 82, 90

H. K., 240
Long Melford, 141
Long Stanton, 66, 97, 121, 166
Lord's Bridge, 67
Lucas, W., 241
Luckock, A. M., 240
Lupton, A. C, 211, 219
Lydiard Beagles, 66

Macau, G., 79, 82, 90, 92

M'Intyre, 240

M'Leod, R., 82

Madingley, 158, 194

Magdalen College (Oxon.), 36, 38

Magdalene College, 41, 47, 76, 98, 101, 105,

114, 117, 119, 122, 178
"Mange" recipes, 186
Manton, "Mr.," Ill
Mapplebeck, 240
Marshall, M., 74, 95
Mason's Harriers, 74
Mather, E., 274

Mertou Arms, 49, 57, 64, 66, 78, 95, 98
Meyrick, L. 0., 154
Meysey-Thompson, C. M., 271

E. C, 97, 102, 114, 125
H. J., 274
Mildmay, F., 102, 121
Miller, B., 102, 124

,, C. D., 157, 163, 172

,, G. A., 155, 173
Milne, Rev. E. A., 102, 135, 139, 179,

180
Milton, Viscount, 77, 96, 134, 166, 211
MiTFOHD, C. F., 181, 235, 252
Montgomery, 240
Morgan, Dr., 254

MuGGERiDGE, J. F., 47, 57, 63, 66, 73, 75
Murray, E. T., 266
Musgi-ave, 114, 120

280

THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES

Nankivvell, 74
Newbold, J., 74
New College (Oxon.), 36
Newman, J. C, 238
Newmarket, 111, 120, 122, 129, 168
Nickalls, C. P., 36
P. W., 36

O'Hagau, Lord, 240
Old Berkeley Hunt, 185
Old Berks Hunt, 36
Oriel College (Oxon.), 38
Orwell, 165
Otter, W. H.,238
Oxfordshire Hunt, 36

Paget, E., 69

Paget, W. K, 189, 234, 237, 240

Parker, Mr., 212

Paul, W. E. J., 275

Payue, — , 68

Pease, A. F., Cap. vii., 131, 178, 181, 183,

196, 203, 216
Pease, J. A., 45

., H. P., 169, 171

,, W. E., 156
Penn, a. H., 164, 195, 265
Percy Hunt, 222
Phelips, — , 62
Philips, L. C. W., 163
Pitt Club, 106, 119, 127, 184, 203, 251
Ponsouby, Hon. V. B., 241
Portman, Lord, 143

Proctor, 10, 106, 140, 145, 154, 208, 253
Puckeridge Hunt, 128

Quorn Hunt, 237
Quy, 155, 159

Radclift'e, Delnie, 3
Rampton, 96, 110, 117, 131
Reaveley, Cap. ix., 162
Redditch, — , 90
Rendall, —,64
Rhymer-Roberts, 237
Ricardo, — , 81, 90
Riley-Smith, T., 142
Roberts, A. W. R., 235
Rodwell, W. H., 66, 74, 78
RoGERSON, W. E., 259

ROXALDSHAY, LORD, 257

KothschiM, W., 240
Rouse Ball. See Ball
Royds, — ,74
Russell, — , 74

,, T. W., 240
Ryle, The Rt. Rev. H. E., 254

Saffron Waldeu, 127

Sanderson, T. A. E., 170, 209

Sands, M. A., 36

Scarlp:tt, H., 97

Scarlett, J. R., 92

Scott, The Ven. Archdn., 71

Seely, J. B., 157, 171

Selby, W., 167

Selwyn, The Rt. Rev. Bishop, 254

Shearburn, — -, 121

Shelford, 96, 120, 135, 165, 196, 262

Shropshire Hunt, 113

Six Mile Bottom, 81, 191

Slater, The Rev. Canon, 130

Smith, M. 0., 157

Snelgrove, J. S., 72

Spectator, 7, 19

St. John, Hon. E. T., 74

St. John's College, 50, 65

St. Maur, Lord E., 5, 56, 63, 71. 183,

246
Stanning, 240
Steele, A. G., 118, 121

,, S. S., 240
Storringtou Beagles, 133
Straker, I. A., 139, 152, 268
Stretham, 156
Suffolk Hunt, 142
Swavesey, 97, 121, 196

Tabor, A., 79

Tanqueray, — , 62

Tennant, C. a., 92, 95, 101, 114, 125

Third Trinity, 41, 129

Thompson, C., 5

H. G., 60, 66, 71
Timons, — ,74
Touche, Lord, 135
Tracey, Courtney, 50. (See Courtney

Tracey)
Trefusis, Hon. J. F., 36
Trevelyan, G. 0., 55
Trinity College, 54, 80, 106, 119, 130, 157,

160, 190, 194, 196
Trinity Hall, 64, 159
Turner, A. W., 92
Tweutypeuce Ferry, 170

Vaisey, E., 163, 170
Veterinary recipes, 185
Vice-chancellor, 130
Vickers, V. W., 90, 99, 114, 248

Wale, Colonel, 69
Walford, — , 74

Walker, K., 31, 49, 78, 166, 177, 179-85,
188, 191-6, 211, 218, 262

INDEX

281

Walker, N. O., 31, 116. 211, 229, 235

Ward, H. R., 36

Wardale, T. R., 82

Warre, Dr., 260

Waterbeach, 65, 90, 117, 131, 195

Watson, G., 153

Watt, — , 50

Wharton, W. H., 102

Wheatland Hunt, 112, 120, 123

Whitclicote, Sir J., 274

Whitehead, F., 157

Wiggin, W. H., 193, 268

Willingham, 81

Willoughby, Hon. G. H. D., 256

Wilson, R. T., 97

Wood, H. C, 237

" Worms " recipe, 185

Wright, C, 126

Wykeham, 238

Yarborough, Earl of, 102
"Yellows" recipe, 186
Young, C. F., 143

THE END

Printed by R. & R. Clark, Limited, Edinl>u>^/i

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

THE "GREEN FINCH" CRUISE.

By F. CLAUDE KEMPSON.

Illustrated by the Author. Demy 8vo, 5j- net.

"Unlike most books on cruising, 'The Green Finch Cruise ' is not written
from the point of view of the 'one-sport' man, but the common commonplace
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"Mr. Kempson has a happy knack of narration, and really carries his
readers with him by his own siieer enjoyment of his trip. He is a useful
monitor, too, and gives away hints of every kind to the adventurers who may
come after." — llie Globe.

"A compound of Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll, and AV. W. Jacobs." — Morn-
ing Post.

"The larkish log of a south-coast cruise, with highly original pen-and-ink
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THE MISADVENTURES OF A HACK
CRUISER.

By F. CLAUDE KEMPSON.

With 50 Illustrations from the Author's Sketches. 61= net.

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makes most excellent reading." — Yachting World.

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that he will go clean through it and be quite sorry when the little holiday
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"Told with a picturesqueness of detail and a manifest truthfulness which
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