MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
SIR JOHN POWER. FIRST BARONET.
Founder <y the Kilkenny Hunt.
MEMOIR
OF
THE KILKENNY HUNT.
COMPILED BY ONE OF ITS MEMBERS
IN THE YEAR OF ITS CENTENARY, 1 897.
DUBLIN: HODGES, FIGGIS, & CO., LTD., GRAFTON STREET.
1897.
SIR JOHN POWER. FIRST BARONET
founder o_f the Kilkenny Hitn:.
MEMOIR
OF
THE KILKENNY HUNT,
COMPILED BY ONE OF ITS MEMBERS
IN THE YEAR OF ITS CENTENARY, 1 897.
DUBLIN: HODGES, FIGGIS, & CO., LTD., GRAFTON STREET.
1897.
s
PREFACE.
IN publishing the following Memoir of the Kilkenny Hunt the Compiler is fully conscious of its short- comings and imperfections ; and were it not that he felt that in the centenary year of its existence some record of its life had become due, he would not have attempted the task at all. Many diffi- culties have beset him in carrying it out. Had an attempt been made to write it ten years since, these would have been considerably less ; for not only have all the older members of the Hunt, who might have communicated much of what they had experienced themselves, and what had been related to them by some of the original members, passed away — some within recent years — but many of the written records which were in the family of the founder have disappeared. The Compiler has, therefore, had to rely much upon his remembrance of facts related to him many years since, and upon the kindness of a fc\v friends, who gave him such
PREFACE.
information as they possessed, or placed in his hands such records as remained in their families. Amongst these must be mentioned Lady Power, Mr. Robert Watson of Ballydarton, the family of the late Lord James Butler, and Mr. James Poe.
The Compiler trusts that the matter, such as it is, will prove of some interest not only to sportsmen living within the precincts of the Hunt, but to Irish hunting-men generally, as giving a chronicle, im- perfect though it be, of the first County Hunt Club established in Ireland.
Whilst disclaiming the intention of posing only as landator temporis actt, it has been the aim of the Compiler to rescue from oblivion the circumstances attendant on the establishment of the Kilkenny Hunt, and the details of its earlier sport, rather than to record the doings of later times — a task which can easily be carried out at any future time by reference to files of sporting and local journals, which contain ample and well-written material. He has, therefore, passed over rapidly the last twenty years, trusting that the sport which has been enjoyed during that period ma}- be full}- chronicled by some later and better historian of the fortunes of the Hunt.
In arranging the matter contained in the Memoir, it has been deemed advisable to relegate to a series
PREFACE.
of Appendices certain lists of hounds, lines written on the Hunt, correspondence with regard to country and other subjects, which might have tended to load unduly the body of the volume with matter which would probably prove uninteresting to some of its readers ; and in doing so, the Compiler has endea- voured, so far as is possible, to place each subject chronologically rather than with regard to its nature — an arrangement which he trusts will meet with the approbation of the majority of those who may honour him by reading this little record of our old County Hunt.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. Portrait of SIR JOHN POWER. First Baronet . (Frontispiece)
I' AGE
2. (a) VIEW OF OLD KENNKI.S f
.... 40, 41 (/') PLAN OF OLD KENNELS >
3. Portrait of SIR JOHN POWER, Second Baronet . . 46
4. Portrait of MR. GEORGE L. BRYAN 65
5. Portrait of LORD JAMES \V. BUTLER .... 66
6. Portrait of LORD ST. LAWRENCE 70
7. Portrait of MR. HENRY \V. MERKDYTH .... 76
8. Portrait of MR. HENRY \V. BRISCOK 79
9. Portrait of COLONEL FRANK CHAIM.IN .... 86
10. Portrait of C'Ai'T. HARTOi'i' 87
u. Portrait of the EARL OK UESART 88
12. Portrait of CAI-T. KNOX 90
13. Portrait of MAJOR CONNELLAN 91
14. Portrait of CAPT. LANGRISIII. 92
LATER PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR.
In issuing a second edition of this little Memoir at the instance of a few friends, I have inserted at the end the changes in Mastership which have recently come about, but beyond tlnat the Memoir remains as it wae.
I may, however, be- permitted to indulge in a few reflections as to the- origin of Hunt Clubs and other kindred matters which may prove of some interest to hunting men.
A very interesting book has recently been pub- lished, of which the Earl of March is the author. It is styled "The Record of the Old Charlton Hunt," and has been very ably compiled from some old papers recently unearthed at Goodwood, tihe Duke of Rich- mond's seat near Chichester; portraits of the second Duke and Duchess and ol certain of his horses and hounds, etc., being given as additional attractions.
Charlton is a small village lying amongst the Sussex downs, and within view of the racecourse at Goodwood. It has long relapsed into peaceful slum- ber, but during the first half of the 18th century, and perhaps in a lesser degree before that, it harboured as brilliant a collection of sporting noblemen and gentlemen as any foxhunting centre has con- tained, not, perhaps, excepting Melton. In the reigns of James II. and William I IT.. if contained two packs of hounds, the Duke of Monmout'h's and Lord Gray's, but as time went on thes? either died out or became merged in a single pack, milliard by a Mr. Roper, a Kentish Squire, who not only attracted a very distin-
4 PREFACE.
guished company, but by his success in the matter of sport incurred the jealousy and rivalry of a neighbour- ing magnate, the Duke of Somerset, wiho endeavoured in vain to supplant him. Mr. Roper died in the hunt- ing field in 1722, aged 84, and the Duke of Bolton succeeded him in the Mastership.
Some articles of agreement as to sport in the locality were entered into in 1729, and are given "in extenso" by Lord March, together with the Duke of Richmond's hunting diary, names of his horses, lists of ihis hounds, etc. ; and in 1737 the gentlemen be- longing to the Hunt formed themselves into a Hunt Club, with rules as to admission by ballot and other provisions. They held meetings from time to time, generally in London. To give some idea as to the distinguished membership of this Club, it may be mentioned that it contained 8 Dukes, 7 Eiairls and 18 other members of the peerage besides many celebrated Commoners, and the little village of Charlton musi have been hard put to accommodate so large ana brilliant a gathering. A large baoiqueting hall, called Foxhall, had been erected, and here all assembled in the evenings, whilst some built themselves small hunt- ing boxes, all of which seem to have disappeared, except that of the Duke ot Richmond .
When .the Melton and Tarporlcy Hunt Clubs were established I do not recollect, but it is probable that the Clhiarlton Club preceded both of them.
After the Duke of Bolton, who held office for several years, resigned— lured away by the attrac- tions of an actress, whom he subsequently married, it
PREFACE. 5
is stated — the direction of affairs fell into the hands of the Duke of Richmond, assisted by Lord De laWarr, who seems to have been deeply versed in kennel management. This regime lasted until the Duke's death in 1750, when the 3rd Duke moved the hounds to new kennels at Goodwood. The company gradually dispersed and it is presumed that the Club died away, though the pack remained at Goodwood until after the close of the 18th century, when they were presented, by the 4tih Duke to King George IV (then Regent), and were subsequently destroyed owing to madness.
The letters from Lord De la Warr and others, from the New Forest and elsewhere, prove that kennel management was much as it is now, that walk- ing of puppies, hound breeding, etc., were well linden-stood, and the genet al business of foxhunting well carried on. Accounts of runs, especially a famous one from East Dean Wood, extending from a quarter to eight, a.m., to a quarter to six p.m., with a kill in the open to crown it, are given very fully, and the doings of the Hunt servants strictly criticised.
As Mr. Meynell was considered the mentor of the Quorn and adjacent counties in the early nine- teenth century, so the system of Mr. Roper seems to have been the pattern of the Gharlton Hunt a ceintury earlier. Poets were not wanting at Gharlton, and we are given a long poem in blaoik verso, des- criptive of tho Charlton Hunt and its doings, written in 1737, as well as other poetic pieces. Quaint spell- ing and lack of punctuation are very ob&ervable,
6 PREFACE.
but Lord March's book well repays the trouble of reading.
If the Charlton Hunt Club could claim to be the first one established in England we in Kilkenny can claim that ours was the first to exist on this side of the Irish Se;ai, and we have the added satisfaction in the circumstance that ours still remains and flourishes, though robbed of its former convivial char- acter, whilst the Charlton glories have long departed.
But we cam carry back flar beyond the Charlton or any other pack, for the inception of British fox- hunting. Old Chaucer, writing in the 14th century, graphically describes a foxhunt, when the whole community, armed with staves, turned out, assis- ted by "Coll, our dog, ana T'albot, and Grerlond," as well as old "Mallun, with her distaff in her hond," when cow and calf and hog were put on the run by the racket, and reynard was pursued by the varied music of this very "mixed pack."
Now we have evidence that foxhunting was carried on more than 260 years atgo in Kilkenny. Lord Castlehaven in his history of the Irish Wars in the reign of Charles I., several times mentions his hunt- ing, and relates that being in Kilkenny just after the peace of 1648, went "early one morning a foxhunting as I was accustomed all the winter," and he was accompanied by the Lord Deputy. This would show that foxhunting was a winter sport here in the first half of tihie 17th century. Since that time it is prob- able that it has never been discontinued, though carried on by private packs, until near the end of the
PREFACE. 7
18th century, but as Irish hunting countries, and many English, too, were ill-defined until about that period, every proprietor of a pack could extend his operations pretty well as he pleased. The establish- ment of Hunt Clubs put a cur)b to these venatic wan- derings, and boundaries became understood, and wv spected ; but after all, these are but the perfecting of the business of foxhunting, whilst the principlet of the sport whidh our re- mote forefathers learnt in a ruder and rougher school than ours have been handed down to us of a later generation, still exist as the basis of modern hunting, and will remain as long as the pursuit of th© fox endures amongst us, and those who come after us.
Jan: 1911
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. Portrait of Sir John Power. First Baronet - (Frontispiece)
PAGE
2. fa) View of Old Kennels ")
(b) Plan of Old Kennels j
3. Portrait of Sir John Power, Second Baronet . . 46
4. Portrait of Mr. George L. Bryan .... 65
5. Portrait of Lord James W. Butler .... 66
6. Portrait of Lord St. Lawrence 70
7. Portrait of Mr. Henry W. Meredyth .... 76
8. Portrait of Mr. Henry W. Priscoe .... 79
9. Portrait of Colonel Frank Chaplin .... 86
10. Portrait of Capt. Hartopp 87
11. Portrait of the Earl of Desart 88
12. Portrait of Capt. Knox 90
13. Portrait of Major Connellan 91
14. Portrait of Capt. Langrishe 92
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
CHAPTER I.
•TtRIOR to the establishment of the Kilkenny Hunt 9f Club, several private packs of hounds hunted parts of the county. The Earl of Carrick kept a pack in the last century, and his brother, Mr. Butler Cooper, is said to have kept a pack whilst residing at Ballyduff, on the River Nore, and to have ridden down the rock of Dysert whilst following his hounds. Tradition says that Lord Carrick's huntsman spoke only Irish. The ruins of his house remained until the middle of the present century in the long wood in Ballylinch, which stretches parallel to the river at the Thomastown end of the demesne. These packs, however, hunted only the woodlands, and probably hunted hares and deer as well as foxes. There were other packs in various localities also, and the county may be said to have been hunted in a sense ; but it was not till the year 1797 that a regular pack of fox- hounds hunted the whole of Kilkenny. In that year
B
10 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
Mr. John Power brought a pack of foxhounds into the county from Tipperary, at the instance of Sir Wheeler Cuffe, of Leyrath, and, settling at Derryna- hinch, near Ballyhale, established the Kilkenny Hunt Club in conjunction with his brother Richard. The two brothers were sons of Mr. John Power, of Tullaghmaine Castle, in the County Tipperary, and co-heirs of their uncle, Baron Power, of the Court of Exchequer in Ireland. Their father had served in India, and had been aide-de-camp to Lord Clive at the battle of Plassey. Mr. Power constructed kennels at Derrynahinch, of which only a very small portion of one of the walls now remains. The house, however, still stands much as it was a hundred years ago, though Mr. Edmond Walsh, who now occupies it, has re-roofed it and made other improve- ments during the last few years. Shortly after coming to Derrynahinch, Mr. John Power married Miss Harriet Bushe, of Kilfane, sister of the then owner, Mr. Henry Amias Bushe, and daughter of Mr. Gervais Parker Bushe, whose ancestor, Colonel John Bushe, had a grant of Kilfane in 1670, after the forfeiture of the Cantwells, the original proprietors. Mr. Power's eldest son, the late Sir John Power, second baronet, and his twin brother Richard were born at Derrynahinch, in 1/98 ; but, about the beginning of the century, Mr. Power took a lease for ever of Kilfane from his brother-in-law, and went to reside there. When he established the hunt, he found the country to a great extent unenclosed, and often mentioned that, whilst living at Derrynahinch, he could follow hounds over a district called the Welsh
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. II
Mountains to the bridge of VVaterford without jump- ing a fence. It might seem rather inexplicable why Mr. Power should have been induced to settle for hunting in Kilkenny in preference to remaining in his native county of Tipperary, a fine hunting area ; but the explanation may be found in the fact that Tipperary being a very open country, without many woodland coverts, Mr. Power was attracted by the number of strongholds for foxes which exist in Kil- kenny, and perhaps by the reputation which it, even then, may have enjoyed for good scenting properties. Having settled at Kilfane, he proceeded to build kennels, the ruins of which still exist in a part of the place called Sunnyvale, not far from the house, but on the west side of the stream. A circular courtyard ran round the front of the kennels, which were well planned and well situated as regards aspect. Here the hounds remained for nearly forty years. At that time there were no gorses or made coverts, and Mr. Power had to rely on woodlands and rough natural coverts ; but he soon began to make gorses and to construct earths. No doubt, he availed himself of patches of natural gorse in wild places, and enclosed and enlarged them ; but many he planted, such as Castlcwarrcn, Bishopslough,Cloghila, Dunbell, Knock- roe, £c. Others, such as Ballyfoyle, Ballysallagh, Clara, Src., he probably merely fenced. He took Grennan Wood on lease, both as a nursery for foxes and for the sake of the sale of timber thinnings and oak bark. He did not, however, confine his opera- tions to the County Kilkenny only. At the close of the last century, and for some years subsequently,
12 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
his was the only established pack of county fox- hounds in Ireland, and he was practically free to seek his sport where he would. He went into the County Carlow as far as Tullow, and even as far as Coollattin, in Wicklow ; occasionally drew coverts in the County Wexford, as well as the Durrow woods in the Queen's County. He had makeshift kennels in various places, and his practice was to go to a certain centre, and hunt the surrounding districts for a few days, moving off to another locality whenever he wished. The practice at that time was to meet at daybreak, and Mr. Power often told the compiler's father that in those days he frequently used to shelter from the wind under the lee of a house at the place of meeting till day dawned, and he was enabled to commence operations. By drawing up to a covert or " head of earths," the line of a fox was often taken up and carried into his stronghold, where hounds fresh finding him when just returned from his nocturnal ramblings, frequently ran him long dis- tances, and at that hour with a good holding scent. Early in the present century, however, the old system began to die out, and gradually the hours of meeting became later during the regular season — nine, then ten, later on ten thirty — and continued at the latter hour for many years.
And now as to hounds. During the last century the proprietors of Irish packs bred chiefly an old Irish hound of a harrier type, rather rough in coat, inclined to be leggy, and certainly not a " sorty " hound on the flags, but with good nose and plenty of music. The type has probably disappeared,
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 13
but some few years back Mr. Edward Fitzgerald, of Clonmult, in the County Cork, had a pack of somewhat the type mentioned, and which he claimed to be of the old Irish breed. He showed good sport, and his pack was a killing one. At his death from an accident, the pack were bought by the United Hunt. Few owners, if any, obtained any foxhound blood from England ; but Mr. Power seems to have done so from the first, and to have gone to good kennels, such as the Duke of Bedford's, Colonel Thornton's, Lord Darlington's, Lord Talbot's, &c., as will appear from a list of some of his pack for 1798, as given in Appendix I. Mr. Power, who was a tall, heavy man, rode good horses, and seems to have bred pretty regularly. There were three sires which he used in the early part of the century, viz., Faunus, Gauntlet, and Augustus. He bred several times from a mare named Nancy, and from one called the Prizefighter mare. He was essentially a hound- man, and kept his own kennel book, with breeding list of each year, and names of persons who walked his puppies. He thus soon became possessed of a very good pack, which he, and his son after him, con- tinued to improve all their lives, and which in time became famous. He gives in his kennel book a receipt for cure of madness, as given in Appendix II. Mr. Power's first huntsman was named Byrne. He remained with him for many years, indeed, until he was an old man. The whip enjoyed the sobriquet of Con, but whether this was an abbreviation of his Christian name or was his surname, there is no record.
14 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
In a county where no pack of hounds had before been established, the field was naturally at first very limited as to numbers, and sometimes only half-a- dozen accompanied the Master, though, as time went on and the doings of the hounds became more widely known, the number of sportsmen gradually increased, and in time became very large. The palmiest period was probably between the years 1835 and 1850. However, in the year 1816 Mr. Power speaks of twenty horsemen as a large field. The earliest hunting members of the Club comprised Sir Nicholas Loftus, Sir Wheeler Cuffe, Mr. Bayly of Norelands, Mr. Croker of Limerick, Mr. Joseph Greene, Mr. Henry Amias Bushe, Mr. Herbert, the Messrs. Hunt, Mr. Richard Langrishe (afterwards Sir Richard Langrishe), Mr. John Bushe, the Rev. Richard Birmingham. These may be termed the " Old Guard" of the Hunt.
In establishing a county pack, Mr. Power — or Captain Power, as he was often called from having been captain of local yeomanry in the year of the Irish Rebellion — following the example of Melton, Tarporley, and other hunting centres in England, formed the Kilkenny Hunt Club, the first of its kind instituted in Ireland. The club-house, till then called Rice's Hotel, then received its cognomen, which it has retained ever since. Twice a year, in November and February, its members assembled, and the gathering generally lasted a fortnight. On these occasions Mr. Power often kept his pack in Kilkenny for a week at a time, and hunted the surrounding country. The dinners held at night
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 15
were famous for good wine and good fellowship. Sneyd's claret, largely "fortified" with Hermitage, and old port were the liquids. Mr. Power was not himself one of the three-bottle men, but he was a very pleasant companion, clever and well read, and could talk on a variety of subjects besides hunting. Indeed, at his own table, he was singularly adroit in turning the conversation into channels acceptable to his guests, and when he saw that the theme of hunting was pressing unduly on any of them, he would lead the conversation away from it. He was a charming host, and his hospitality at Kilfane was unbounded. His brother Richard, who had a house in Kildare Street, Dublin, lived with him on and off", and though a good rider and pretty regular attendant in the field, did not profess to be an enthusiastic fox- hunter. He was, however, a delightful man, highly cultivated, a collector of pictures and statuary, and an excellent actor ; and to him is due the institution of the Private Theatre of Kilkenny, which as time went on became somewhat famous.
Some of the members of Mr. Power's field deserve a few words of notice, and the premier place must be given to Sir Wheeler Cuffe, who was one of his earliest supporters, and continued for upwards of fifty years one of the main pillars of the Hunt. He was a shrewd man, with great knowledge of hunting, and a sincere love for it. On occasions when Mr. Power, from indisposition or other cause, was unable to take the field, Sir Wheeler Cuffe acted as Master. A story is related how, on one of these occasions, some member of the field, who considered that he knew
16 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
more than the Master or huntsman, rode up to old Byrne and remonstrated with him for something he had or had not done, using the words " Won't you listen to reason ?" when Byrne, very irate, replied, " No, sir ! the Master bid me listen to Sir Wheeler Cuffe." Sir Wheeler had a great knowledge of the run of a fox, and knew the county so well that he was enabled, even in old age, to see every run well. He was the first man in the Hunt to ride a clipped horse.
Mr. William Evans Morres Bayly, of Norelancls (generally called " Old Bayly "), was also one of the earliest members of the Hunt, and one of its chief supporters. Hospitable to a fault, his dinners at Norelands and his hunting stables became great in- stitutions. He was the father of two fine riders, viz., Mr. Clayton Bayly (who afterwards took the name of Savage) and his brother William, who lived at Anamult. Mr. Bayly was a welter, and rode very big horses. On one occasion he brought a new weight-carrier to the meet. The horse had an enormous head, and when he exhibited him to Mr. Power, the latter remarked that " he must be a weight-carrier to carry such a head." He had a famous horse called Giant, which he rode for many years, and which at one time was sold for ^500, and actually shipped in Waterford, when Mr. Bayly's heart smote him, and he got him home again. Mr. Bayly died about 1847, and was succeeded by his eldest son Clayton, who had married Miss Forde, but died childless in 1858, when the late Mr. Henry Meredyth, his nephew, succeeded to the family property.
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. I?
Sir Nicholas Loftus was a great character, and quite one of the old school ; very formal and polite but a good sportsman and a racing man. He was a bachelor, and lived with his brother, Captain Francis Loftus, who succeeded him at Mount Loftus, where the hunt breakfasts were regular institutions, the two brothers taking wine with each other, in the approved fashion of the day, at either end of the table, after which an adjournment was made to see the racing stud of Sir Nicholas and the kennel of setters and pointers belonging to Captain Loftus.
Mr. Henry Bushe, Mr. Power's brother-in-law, also hunted, and was very fond of horses, which he loved to train himself. His two sons, the late Colonel Bushe, of Glencairn, and the late Mr. Richard Bushe, were afterwards regular hunting men, and utterly fearless riders. Their relatives, the Bushes of Kil- murry, also took the field. The late Chief Justice Bushe, a close friend of Mr. Power all his life, was then Solicitor-General for Ireland, and came out occa- sionally ; and his son, John Bushe, was a very hard rider, and afterwards hunted much from Melton and other centres in England.
It has been stated by a gentleman who wrote an account of the various Irish Hunts, some years since, that Sir Hercules Langrishe, of Knocktopher, was a prominent hunting man. This is a complete mistake. When the Kilkenny Hunt was established, Sir Hercules was an old man, and did not reside in the county, and there is no record of his ever having hunted. Nor did his son, Sir Robert, though an intimate friend of the Power family, with whom he
1 8 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
was much associated in the Kilkenny plays. But Mr. Richard Langrishe, son of Sir Robert, whom he succeeded in the baronetcy in 1835, hunted regularly, as did his brother Robert. Mr. Richard Langrishe was a good horseman and very fond of hunting. On one occasion, when hunting in the Freshford country, hounds ran hard over the Seven Sisters Hill in a dense fog, naturally getting away from the field. Mr. Langrishe, riding hard to catch them, overtook a hound named Doxy, which he knew, and which, pro- bably from age, could not run up. Hunting out the line in the wake of the pack, she afforded him a clue, bringing him over the hill and down into the plain towards Woodsgift, where he came up with the body of the pack on emerging into sunshine. Running on for some way, hounds ran into their fox, Mr. Langrishe being alone with them when they killed. Looking back, he could see far behind him the scattered field pouring down the hillside, and, as he was wont to describe it, " driving the fog before them." Doxy may be found in a list of Mr. Power's hounds in Appendix I.
The Rev. Richard Birmingham (usually called " Dick Brimmagem ") was also a regular attendant in the field, as was Mr. Joseph Greene, afterwards sti- pendiary magistrate for Kilkenny, and father of the late Mr. Joseph Greene, of Kilkenny. He was a hard man, and rode a famous grey horse.
The Messrs. Hunt, of Jerpoint, also hunted.
A notice of these early members of the Kilkenny hunting field would be incomplete without a reference to a very remarkable man, Mr. Hewetson Nixon. He
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 19
was a younger son of Mr. John Nixon, of Brown's Barn, on the Nore, where the family were settled for a couple of centuries. As a young child his sight was very imperfect, and at twelve years old he was totally blind. He nevertheless was, during his whole life, not only able to ride about the country quite unattended, but actually rode to hounds, accompanied either by a boy or by some friend, who undertook to pilot him, and who called out the fences as he neared them during a run. He hunted for a great many years, and was considered, in the days when veteri- nary surgeons scarcely existed, as an excellent judge of a horse's soundness and shapes. People said that he could tell everything about a horse except his colour, and that he could pronounce an opinion as to a horse's sight ! The following story about him is absolutely authentic : — One day he had engaged to meet Chief Justice Bushe for a ride up Brandon mountain. They met as arranged, and were riding together, when Nixon turned to the Chief Justice with the remark, "That is a new horse which you are riding; I know that by his step." The Chief Justice replied that it was so, and that he would like Nixon to examine him when he got home. This he did, and, after carefully feeling him all over, he said, " He is a nice horse, but he will be quite blind in a year." In the time mentioned the horse was stone blind.
Mr. Nixon was fond of bathing, and during the summer used to walk down through a grove of large trees at Brown's Barn to a high rock opposite Cool- more, jump off the rock into deep water, and, after swimming about, return home the same way. He
20 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
was also in the habit of performing some curious feats, a favourite one, which the informant of the compiler often witnessed, being that of jumping his horse over a stick resting at either end on the chain back-bands of two carts " heeled up " opposite to each other, the carts, however, being then much lower than they now are. He was very fond of music, and could play several instruments ; and in summer would lie in bed half the day playing the flute or whistling. He died in a cottage called Shamrock Lodge, in the hills above Kilfane, which he had rented from the compiler's father for several years, and which still stands. He was said to have had an extraordinary perception, if it can be so called, as to the doings of hounds in covert, and an example of this talent may be found in some lines given in Appendix IX. They certainly carry no merit with them beyond the description of the incident recorded. Mr. Croker, a Limerick man, also hunted pretty constantly with Mr. Power, as did Mr. George Fos- bery, from the same county. He was a regular visitor to Kilfane for a great number of years, and was celebrated for the richness of his brogue. He was at one time Master of Hounds in Limerick.
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 21
CHAPTER II.
AFTER the Kilkenny Hunt had been established for some years, Mr. Power took to keeping a journal of his sport and of other matters in connection with it. With regard to finance he mentions little. The pack was his own, and remained the property of the family for about seventy years. The kennels were built at his own expense in his own demesne, and he was a complete autocrat in the management of the Hunt. But he took a subscription, and he mentions his subscribers and the amount they gave him in the years 1805 and 1815. It seems that a Mr. Staunton received the subscriptions for him in the former year. It must be borne in mind that the accounts given as under for the year 1815 are in English money, which had then come into use, and that the actual sums subscribed were given in Irish money.
Captain Bryan, ... ... ... £$6 17 6
Lord Bessborough, ... ... 56 17 6
Mr. Parrel, 28 8 9
Mr. Gough, 28 8 9
Lord Ormonde, ... ... ... 56 17 6
C. Bushe (the Solicitor-General), 2889
Sir W. Cuffe, 56 17 6
Richard Power, ! T 3 ! 5 °
J. Croker, 28 8 9
Bill accepted by Bayly,... ... 113 15 o
£597 3 9
22 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
It would thus appear that he received about £600 a year from a few of his friends, which, considering the enormous country he hunted, the many coverts and earths which he made, and the many other con- tingent demands on him, was not much. At the same time he notes that he had so much meal in his chest, and mentions the quarters from which it came, thus leading one to the conclusion that he received meal as a gift to a certain extent. Mr. Power also gives list of rented coverts, and of wages paid to his earth-stoppers, Dooley and Tierney. These two men were succeeded by their sons, one of whom (Tierney) is now earth-warner on the Bally- foyle side of the country. Dooley died some twenty- five years ago. Some information as to breeding of hounds, &c., is given in Appendix I.
With regard to the important subject of sport, two practices then much in vogue in Kilkenny may here be mentioned. It was the habit occasionally to dig foxes run to ground in large woodlands, and, after bagging them, to keep them for a few days, and in the event of two or three coverts being drawn blank, to turn one down in front of the pack, giving the fox a fair chance for his life. On several occasions which Mr. Power mentions, good runs were thus enjoyed, especially as the fox was often turned down in a part of the country he was presumed to know. The second practice was to take out the old pack and young hounds alternately, or, at all events, on separate days. This was not invariably done, but it was usual, especially in the earlier part of the season. It is not a practice which would commend itself to any
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 23
master nowadays, but it may have worked well then, and it may have been advisable to take only old, steady hounds into certain parts of the country, where hares were abundant or other riot likely. There were then many dcerparks all over the county, and pro- bably not a few gaps in the walls of some of them, entailing a considerable number of outlying deer. On the other hand, Mr. Power may have liked the practice from its allowing him to note carefully the merits of each of his young entry. Be the reason what it may, we may rest assured that it was a good and a sound one. Before making some extracts from his diary, it may not be deemed amiss to give a list of some of his coverts. The names are given as spelt now, in order that readers may be able to identify them. In the district round Kilfane there were Kilfane, Glcncoum, Borleagh wood and gorse, Bishopslough, Cloghila (near Dungarvan village), Dunbell, Gowran, Mount Loftus, Brandon coverts, Grennan, Dangan, Wood- stock, Rock of Inistioge, Laurel Hill, Bolger's woods, Coolhill, Ullard. Above the Dublin road were Kelly- mount, Castlewarrcn, Clara, Ballysalla, Ballyfoyle, Johnswcll, Uskerty, Clogharinka, Leyrath, Jenkins- town. Round Kilkenny, Castle Blunden, Knockroe, Kilfera, Killarcc (near Ballydaniel Hill). In Frcsh- ford country, Uppercourt, Woodsgift, Killoshulan, Kildrina, Clone, Ballyragget, Lowhill, Castlecomer. On Desart side were Desart, Pottlerath, Ballykecffc, Ballintaggert wood. Towards the Ross River were- Annaghs, Brownstown, Coolnahaw, Tor}' Mill, Clonassy, Snowhill, Bishopshall. Round Knock- topher were Kiltorcan, Ballagh (near Coolmccn ,
24 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
Castle Morres, Knockdrinya, Flood Hall, Chapclizod, Norelands, Mount Juliet, Kilmoganny, Garryricken. At Bessborough end were Bessborough, Castletown, Annfield, Owning, Garryduff, Carricktriss. Besides these coverts in the County Kilkenny, Mr. Power drew Borris, in the County Carlow, frequently, as well as the Poulmounty and Bahana woods below Borris, and also Durrow woods in Queen's County. Occasionally he went further afield as far as Cool- lattin in Wicklow, and into North Wexford. Many of these coverts still exist, and may be found in the excellent hunting map lately made by Mr. James Poe, junior, of Rose Hill.
Let us now turn to a record of Mr. Power's sport.
In the season 1813-14, Mr. Power started, as he tells us, with thirty-six couple of hounds, but as he had fifty-one couple the following season, we may presume that in the former year the number of hounds he gives were exclusive of the entry. He remarks that the weather had been bad in the month of October, and sport correspondingly bad, particularly in the Tullow country, where game was scarce.
On November 6th he was at Laurel Hill, near Inistioge, and had a nice run to Russellstown. Sir Wheeler Cuffe, Mr. Richard Langrishe, and the two Messrs. Hunt, of Jcrpoint, were his only attendants. He was there again on the 2Oth, and not finding there or in the neighbouring coverts, he turned down " a fox taken last day at Woodstock. A capital run of more than an hour, all horses well beat ; the fox ' rocked' near Ballinvarra (on the Graigue and Rower road), having run more than ten miles. The hounds
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 25
hunted in capital style, and ran abreast over the mountain. Shannon horse [presumably the horse Mr. Power rode] well beat. Huntsman beat the field upon the Clara mare."
There is no further record for that season ; but in the autumn of 1814 Mr. Power began cub-hunting with fifty-one couple of hounds, which he pro- nounces to be " a very promising pack." He says that " during the latter end of the month of Septem- ber the old pack hunted upon Brandon and Black- stairs mountains, were very steady, and killed a brace of foxes at Poulmounty woods." On October the 3rd he was at Woodstock. " Found several foxes. The hounds divided; seven couple went away with a game fox, crossed the park (then on Mount Alto), through Mr. Robbins' demesne (Firgrove), and, after an excel- lent run, the hounds were beaten near Derry (close to Kiltorcan). The ground very dry, and bad weather for hunting."
During the remainder of the month he was at Borris twice, at Woodstock, Garryduff, Garryricken, Mount Juliet, Castlcmorres, &c., taking out the old and young pack alternately. From the latter place, on October 24th, he had a fine run of two hours, after a very wet morning, finally running to ground in Castlemorres. He carries his notes for this season no further.
In the autumn of 1815, Mr. Power began his cub- hunting very early, with forty-nine and a-half couple of hounds. In July he was at Brandon again, but does not appear to have taken the field in August, returning to Brandon early in September. On the
C
26 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
1 6th he took out the young hounds for the first time, and not finding at Glencoum, owing to the earths being left open by mistake, he turned out a fox before the pack, and had " a nice and fast run from Kilfanc to near Dungarvan, and killed in capital style, without the least riot." During the remainder of the month he was in other woodlands with varying success, and on the i6th October, meeting at Annfield, he drew Kilmoganny, whence " he went away with a game fox by Castlemorres to Annfield, through Owning rocks, and were beat near Kilmacoliver, a capital run of an hour and twenty minutes over a superior country. The best run this season, and a good one for any part of the year." On the 2Oth of the same month he ran a fox to ground at Grennan, got him out, and had " an excellent run of more than an hour, and killed near Clifden bottoms." From Grennan to Clifden bottoms is a nine mile point, so the pace was more than respectable. The field appears to have been limited to the Master, Mr. Bayly, the Solicitor- General, and his son, John Bushe, and Mr. Croker. On the 25th he was at Chapel Izod on a very bad scenting day; but he killed a brace of foxes, making seven and a-half brace up to date. On the 27th he was at Desart and Pottlerath. From the former he killed, after a nice run, near Callan. On the 3<Dth he was at Clonassy ; on next day at Snow Hill ; and on the 3rd November at Bishop's Hall and Tory Hill, evidently remaining in that part of the country for three days' hunting. On the 2Oth November he chronicles a very fine run as follows : — " Drew
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 27
Kcllymount with the old hounds. The frost so hard that there was no hunting till one o'clock, and, indeed, not very fit for it at any time. Chopped a fox. Drew Castlewarren furze ; went away in good style with a fox, and ran fast to Clara, the scent evidently not good. Ran through the covert without much delay, and had most excellent hunting to Ballysalla, and from thence to near Bally foyle, closed on the fox, and ran through Castlewarren to Kellymount, where we were obliged to take off the hounds at night, after a run — or rather a hunt — of two hours and thirty minutes. The best hunting I had ever seen." On the 22nd he was in the same country, and " drew Ballyfoyle with twenty-two couple of young hounds, a very steady pack. A very hard frost and wind from the north. Found several foxes. Went away with one immediately, and had a very fast run of half-an-hour, and earthed. The hounds hunted extremely well. Found again most beautifully in Clogharinka, a new covert, the first time the covert was ever drawn, and ran to near Ballyfoyle, and earthed. Found a third fox in Johnswell, went away quite close to him, ran over Ballysalla Hill to Clara, fresh found, and had a very good run till night. The hounds were well beat, having hunted with very little intermission from half- past ten o'clock to half-past four. An excellent day's sport. The hounds ought to have got one of the foxes, which could easily have been done, as they went merely into rabbit-holes."
On November the 27th, Mr. Power, having drawn Kilmoganny and Castle Morrcs without finding, went
28 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
on to Ballagh, a covert near Ballyhale, where he found a game fox, and ran him to Castle Morrcs, and on towards Kilmoganny, into the bottoms in the direc- tion of Ballytobin, eventually losing him near a wet ditch, into which he had been seen to crawl, and where he supposes he was drowned. A few days afterwards he took his hounds to Mount Juliet, " merely to give them exercise." The result, of course, was a find, and a run by Norelands, Innisnag, and Danesfort, hounds being stopped in the dark. The circumstance of this run called to remembrance the experiences of Mr. Jorrocks from Pinch-me-near Forest, as related in " Handley Cross." This bye- day was the prelude to some very fine sport during the remainder of the year and during the following January and February.
" Wednesday, 6th December. — Drew Cloghila with young pack, twenty-two couple. Found in beautiful style, and went away quite close to our fox, and had a nice hunt to Gowran demesne, where the fox got into a sewer. Drew Clara, found a game fox, ran by Freestone Hill, crossed the Dublin road, and ran through Blanchfield demesne, by Clifden bottoms covert and Dunbell ; turned to the left, and went by Bishopslough, Kilbline, and so by Killarney to Mount Juliet, where the fox was earthed. A capital run of one hour and forty minutes. The hounds hunted extremely well, and the country was very good. Nearly twenty horsemen at starting ; several well beat. Wind north-west, and scent not the best, but a capital day's sport." The point from Clara to Mount Juliet is just eight miles.
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 2p
From Grennan, on the 8th December, many foxes were on foot. Hounds divided on the hills, the body of the pack hunting their fox — not the hunted fox in Mr. Power's opinion — to Coolnahaw, whilst two couple brought the original quarry to Castle Morres ; both are respectable points from Grennan.
On December I3th, one of the finest runs Mr. Power ever had is recorded, and must be set down entirely in his own words. " Drew Kilfera with twenty-three and a-half couple of young hounds. Found a brace of foxes, and went away with one in high style across the river by The Rocks ; to Dunbell, Clifden, Blanchfield, Clashwilliam ; skirted Cloghila covert ; went by Huntington and Bramblestown, and over the hills nearly to Glencoum, where hounds came to the first fault, after a most brilliant run of one hour and twenty minutes. The hounds appearing to have lost the fox, were held forward towards the covert of Glencoum, when they fresh found the fox " —he had probably lain down in the heather — " and ran towards Borris ; turned between Graigue and Borleagh, and ran for Brandon, over the top of the mountain, and was run to ground after a run of more than three hours. One of the best days' sport ever seen in this country. Nothing could excel the ex- cellent hunting of the hounds. When skirting the covert of Cloghila, a fresh fox went away in the direction of Castlcfield, and a second fox was viewed leaving the covert of Glencoum. Wind westerly and a capital scent." The point from Kilfera to the top of Brandon is twelve miles, but as hounds ran the run could not have been less than seventeen or
3<D MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
eighteen miles ; all the places mentioned en route will be very familiar to the present hunting field.
Grennan wood can hardly be said to be a favourite covert nowadays, and is very seldom drawn ; but in these early days, and indeed later, it would seem to have been the starting-point of many good runs, of which the following is a specimen, whilst twenty- five years later it furnished two of the finest runs the late Sir John Power ever had.
" Tuesday, 26th December. — Drew Grennan at half- past eleven ; found immediately, and went away with a fox, after running through the entire covert, to Jerpoint Abbey, and by Castlecosker to Coolnahaw. Skirted the coverts of Coolnahaw and Brownstown (one and a-half hours), and went on for Glen more. From Brownstown to Glenmore had capital slow hunting for an hour, and lost the fox after a run of two hours and a-half. Ran full eighteen miles." The point from Grennan to Glenmore is nearly twelve miles.
On January 3rd, 1816, after a run from Cloghila, Mr. Power " turned down a fox, taken the last day at Mount Juliet. He evidently knew the country, and ran direct for Clara, where he went to ground, after a very nice run."
On Friday, the I2th, he drew Kilmoganny "with sixteen couple of old hounds, a chosen few. The fox, a wild one, went out of covert as hounds went in, and ran for Windgap, where he turned and ran for the slate quarries ; turned again to the left, and ran through Annfield covert and demesne, by Castletown to Martin's earths, where he just saved his life by
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 3!
getting into the earth, the hounds being quite close to him. This was, taking everything into considera- tion, one of the best runs of this season. One hour and five minutes without a check, over a beautiful grass country. Nearly every horse was beat." As this run was about nine miles, it will be seen that it must have been fast all the way.
On January 26th, Kilfane furnished a fine run. After a ring towards Dangan, the fox went away by Closcregg Castle, over Saddleback Hill, and into Laurel Hill ; crossed the Xore at the Red House, and was killed in Woodstock.
" Feb. 5th. — Drew Ballyfoyle. Day very fine, with slight frost and fog, which went off before ten o'clock. Found three foxes. Went away with one across the glens ; ran by Gaulstown, Corbettstown, and Webs- borough towards Castlecomer. Turned towards Uskerty, and ran by the new covert of Clogharinka, and from thence in the direction of Johnswell. The fox then turned and ran for the covert of Ballyfoyle, where the earth was opened by the covert-keeper, and the fox's life saved. A nice run, over a very good grass country, of full ten miles. Then drew Johns- well ; found, and went away at a great pace. Skirt- ing Ballysalla Hill, turned to the left and ran to the covert of Clogharinka, a complete burst of six miles. Went away from the covert close to the fox ; ran by Purcell's and through Hogan's fine grass farm, where Mr. Herbert's horse lay down, and where all the horses were well beat. The fox saved his life by getting into a rabbit-hole near Ballyfoylc. Scent very good, and a most superior day's sport."
32 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
Monday, 26th February, 1816, shall furnish the final run chronicled in these memoirs taken from the founder's diary : —
" Met at Clone. Found three foxes. Killed one in covert. Another went away and gained some time whilst hounds were eating the first fox. Ran for Killoshulan, and from thence towards Woodsgift ; was headed, and ran back for Killoshulan, where the earth was opened and his life saved. A nice run of nearly an hour. Drew Upperwood (Uppercourt) ; found, and had most capital covert hunting for half- an-hour, and killed. Drew Killaree ; found one brace of foxes. They hung a very long time in covert. After half-an-hour, one fox went away and ran for Dunmore, when he crossed the river and ran for Ballyfoyle ; turned, and ran over Corbettstown Hill for Castlecorner. A run of nearly two hours over a fine grass country ; nearly fifteen miles. Every horse, except Mr. Herbert's and the huntsman's, beat, and some did not get home until next day. This was a most superior scenting day."
After some more good sport, Mr. Power finished his season on April 6th, and so ends the only journal of his sport now forthcoming. Twenty-one brace of foxes were killed during the season, including seven and a-half brace in cub-hunting.
Though the county had by this time become more enclosed than when Mr. Power began his reign, there were many portions still very open ; and it has been stated on excellent authority that between Clara and Glencoum — a line often run by foxes — there were only three fences to be negotiated en route !
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 33
In Mr. Power's account of his sport, there are two or three points to be noticed, and some conclusions to be drawn from them. Firstly, that the packs taken out were very large. Twenty-three and a-half couple of hounds seems to be a very large pack for the month of December. But, as Mr. Power was in the habit of drawing large woodlands, he may have con- sidered a strong pack indispensable. Secondly, that horses seem to have been in less good condition than those of the present day, a state of things which pro- bably arose from the practice of letting them run at grass all the summer. Thirdly, that well-bred hounds could travel as fast as they do in these days with a scent. Nine or ten miles in an hour and five minutes could not be surpassed. But it must be borne in mind that, as fences were fewer, hounds could keep closer order and run harder in some parts of the country than is now the case. Fourthly, that foxes were remarkably stout and bold, and usually left woodlands, from which it is often hard to get them away now, and that, having gone, they generally made some distant point. Fifthly, that drains were very uncommon. When foxes were run to ground, they found refuge almost invariably in earths or rabbit-holes. ' In fact, the country was undrained, and in its wet state usually carried a scent. Foxes \vere therefore pressed at first, and forced to leave covert soon when they went away for some distant earth. Hounds appear, from the foregoing accounts, to have got away on good terms with their foxes as a general rule.
34 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
CHAPTER III.
As time went on, additional coverts were made and earths constructed, and the sport improved. Mr. Power's sons were now growing up, and his eldest son, John, early took the field, and imbibed a passionate love for the chase and all connected with it, which lasted unabated to the end of his life, and was transmitted to his son and grandson. After leaving Cambridge, he came to reside at Kilfane, and soon became associated with his father in the affairs of the Hunt, and with his uncle in the Kil- kenny plays, though only in a minor degree. Mr. Power's sport now began to attract many hunting men from a distance, and became widely known.
The Kilkenny plays have just been alluded to. Instituted by Mr. Richard Power in 1802, they continued until 1819, and as the company contained some very good amateur actors, people were attracted from all parts of Ireland to Kilkenny. As was natural, Mr. Power assisted his brother, and though he only took minor parts, he gave every possible encouragement by asking actors and others to his house, and arranging his meets to suit all parties. Thus the Kilkenny Hunt Club and the Private Theatre of Kilkenny became closely allied, and one contributed to the success of the other. The younger
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 35
sons of Mr. Power also took the field, and his third son, Ambrose, afterwards Archdeacon of Lismore, though one-armed, was a hard rider.
It has been before mentioned that, when Mr. Power began to hunt the country, he was practically free to go where he would in search of sport, and extended his operations outside the Kilkenny border. After a time, however, other hunts were formed, and his wanderings became more restricted. The Carlow Hunt was formed by the late Mr. John Watson of Ballydarton in 1808, though the country hunted by him did not extend to all Carlow coverts, and of course did not embrace the Island country and other portions of the existing Carlow Hunt, so long and so ably presided over by the present Mr. Robert Watson, his son, who has earned the unique distinction of having carried the horn for fifty-two seasons, and afforded brilliant sport to two generations of his field. His grandfather used to keep a pack at Ballydarron, hunting mainly wolves, hares, and deer, the latter enlarged from deer-parks ; and a portion of the kennels he used — nearly 200 years old — still remains at Ballydarton, and is con- nected with the existing kennels, which were con- structed some seventy years ago. The Tipperary Hunt had also been formed, and the Ossory Hounds, hunting a part of the Queen's County, were given leave to draw certain coverts in that count}' which had hitherto belonged to Mr. Power. This arrange- ment led to some correspondence later on.
At this time the " new system " of riding to hounds had come thoroughly into fashion. In earlier days
36 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
of fox-hunting, men rode to hunt, and horsemanship was a secondary consideration, the performances of the pack absorbing all the interest of hunting men. As time went on a new generation sprang up, which took a lessened interest in hunting, and hunted to ride, or, at all events, made horsemanship their study. In the last century there was, of course, much open country all over the kingdom, and jumping was, therefore, to a great extent unneces- sary. The fashion of riding to points, and making free use of lanes, &c., was also in vogue. Indeed, horses were scarcely fit to go a quick run over a strong country, being grass-fed all the summer. However, in the days of the famous Mr. Meynell— that is, early in this century — the habit of riding straight to hounds was set by Mr. Childe, of Kinlet Hall, in Shropshire, a personal friend of Mr. Meynell, and became the fashion in the Quorn Hunt, from which it gradually came to be adopted in other countries, and is now, of course, universal, except in certain mountainous districts, where riding to points is imperative. Amongst the exponents of this new system in the County Kilkenny were Mr. John Power, junior, the brothers Bayly, Sir Richard Cox, Mr. Joseph Greene, Sir Wheeler Cuffe, Rev. Richard Packe, Mr. John Jones of Mullinabro, Mr. Hewetson Nixon, Mr. John Bushe, the Messrs. Baker of Kilcoran, Mr. John Watson of Ballydarton, Mr. Richard Langrishe, and several others, and their ranks became speedily augmented as the number of Mr. Power's followers increased.
In the year 1824 Mr. Richard Power died at Kil-
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 37
fane from disease of the lungs, from which he had long been an invalid. He was a great favourite with all his acquaintances, and it was said of him that he never made an enemy. His funeral, confined almost exclusively to members of his family, took place at Kilfanc Church at a very early hour (about daybreak) on a winter's morning. At his death Mr. Power received a considerable accession of fortune and a valuable collection of pictures, statuary, engravings, &c., which had been collected in Italy and elsewhere. Mr. Richard Power had built stables adjoining the road which leads to the Coppenagh Hills, and a few hundred yards above the church, and these were sub- sequently utilised as kennels by his nephew, the late Sir John Power, when he came to Kilfane after his father's death.
After a great many years' service as huntsman, old Byrne retired to a house at the cross-roads of Kilfane> where he died at a good old age. He was succeeded by an English huntsman named Robert Caunt — brother of the celebrated pugilist — who, however, went by the name of " Count " generally. He was an excellent man in every way, and very fond of hounds, in making and manning of which he was especially an adept, and, indeed, may be said to have introduced the English systems into the Kilkenny kennels. It has been related to the compiler how he would, after hunting in Kilkenny, go on to Hally- darton in the evening, and inspect the hounds in kennel with Mr. John Watson, by the light of a lantern, travelling on next morning to hunt at Cool- lattin or some such distant meet. When he came
38 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
over to Kilkenny from England (it is believed from Air. Musters), he brought a couple and a-half of hounds from Lord Yarborough's kennels, named Grappler, Gracious, and Graceful, and through them Mr. Power's pack was greatly improved. Grappler's pedigree will be found in the Hound List of 1839, as given in Appendix IV.
Towards the year 1830 the number of Mr. Power's followers had become largely increased, and now in- cluded not only many additional hunting men resi- dent in the county, but a considerable number of strangers from other districts. The Hunt Club was now approaching its zenith, and the meetings became more crowded, the dinners more largely attended, and the fun fast and furious. In the year 1826 four of its members made an expedition to Melton for a season's hunting in Leicestershire. The quartet were Mr. John Power, junior, Sir Richard Cox, of Castle- town, Clayton Bayly and William Bayly, sons of Mr. Bayly, of Norelands. All were excellent horse- men and hard riders, and well sustained the honour of their county in Leicestershire. The late Sir John Power once mentioned to the compiler that, when he was at Melton in this year, cocktail horses and snaffle bridles were the fashion.
Robert Caunt was an excellent huntsman, and a good man in kennel. A list of the pack for 1839 is given in Appendix IV., by which it will appear that Mr. Power had a very well-bred and valuable kennel. Mick Butler became first whip under Caunt, and Jim Dwyer second whip, and under their regime sport proved first-rate. In 1835 Mr. John Power married
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 39
Miss Wade, daughter of Mr. William Wade, of Clone- braney, in the County Meath, and shortly afterwards his father resigned the mastership of the pack into his hands.
Mr. Power had always been a strong Whig, espous- ing the cause of Catholic Emancipation, and was an influential man in his county, and therefore much thought of by the party to which he belonged. The names of Whig and Tory have become obsolete, and the principles which they advocated somewhat merged in modern ideas ; but the line of demarcation was then very strong, and Mr. Power had no love for the Tories of his day, their rigid notions of Conservatism being little to his liking. It is related that on one occasion, after a good run, his hounds were running up Tory Hill, at the southern end of the county, and horses were pretty well beat. Mr. Power jumped off and proceeded to lead his horse up, exclaiming as he did so, " I ivis/i every Tory was rolled out flat >" His political opinions, together with his prominent posi- tion in the county, led to an offer of a baronetcy by Lord Normanby, the Whig Lord Lieutenant of the day, shortly after he had paid a visit to Kilfanc in the year 1836. At first Mr. Power was disposed to refuse the honour. However, his friends advised otherwise, and he eventually accepted the offer, and was created a baronet in July, 1836. Henceforth we must know him as Sir John Power. After marriage his son continued to live at Kilfane for a year or two, and then went to reside at Sion, near Kilkenny, to which place he moved the hounds, after keeping them for a year or so at Blackwcll Lodge, near Bennett's-
40 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
bridge. The old kennels of Kilfane were finally abandoned, and have gradually fallen to decay during the last sixty years. Enough, however, remains to enable the compiler to give a photograph and plan of them, which may give some idea as to their con- struction. A circular courtyard, bounded by a wall nearly five feet in height, and with pillars about every seven and a-half feet, rising to an additional height of about four feet, the spaces between filled with iron railings, ran round the front of the kennels, whilst at the back was another small yard communi- cating with the smaller kennel. Other buildings adjoined, and there appears to have been a feeder's or wrhip's room at the back. There were originally twenty pillars round the large yard, of which four- teen now remain. Large trees overshadow the ruin, and some have grown up within it since its abandon- ment.
It will be evident that, as additional coverts were made, and the stock of foxes thereby increased, it became impossible to hunt the whole of Kilkenny properly and country outside as well. Sir John Power had given up drawing coverts in the County Wicklow and County Wexford, and had practically made over the coverts in the neighbourhood of Burrow to the Ossory Hunt. In the year 1839, some dispute or misunderstanding arose as to the stopping of the Durrow earths, and Sir Wheeler Cuffe was deputed to confer with Mr. Drought, Master of the Ossory Hounds, on the subject. This matter was settled amicably, and the arrangement arrived at was that " the earths of Durrow woods
Q
(f) (D
O
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 4!
and coverts be stopped at the beginning of October, and opened at the end of March," &c. The corre- spondence in relation to the matter will be found in Appendix III., and the formal language of the day may be noted.
Robert Caunt died about the year 1840, from aneurism of the heart, brought on, it is said, by a bad fall, and Mr. John Power took the horn himself, with Mick Butler as kennel huntsman and first whip, and for many seasons showed brilliant sport. In 1843 Mr- Power came to an arrangement with Henry Marquis of Watcrford — who had given up the Tip- perary County, and begun to hunt the County Waterford — by which it was agreed that Lord Water- ford should draw certain coverts in the County Kil- kenny a specified number of times in the year. Correspondence and details will be found in Appendix VII. In the same year a meeting of representatives of the Kilkenny and Ossory Hunts was held. On the Kilkenny side were present the Earl of Desart, Mr. Clayton Savage, Mr. Augustine Butler, Mr. James K. Aylward. On the side of the Ossory Hunt were Mr. Michael Drought, the Master, and Mr. Henry Walker. The result of the conference was that it was arranged that Ballyouskill, Phcroda, and Lowhill were to be drawn by the Ossory Hounds occasionally. The matter is noted in Appendix VI.
Mr. Briscoe of Tinvane had succeeded his father in the proprietorship of a pack of hounds in the year 1834, and had been in the habit of drawing the wild hills above Castlctovvn and Bessborough. Mr. Ponsonby, afterwards the Earl of Bessborough, was
D
42 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
anxious that his operations should be extended, and a correspondence (Appendix V.) took place in 1842-43, by which it appears that Mr. Power agreed that Mr. Briscoe should have the privilege of draw- ing the Bessborough coverts (except Carricktriss, which was specially reserved) once a week up to the 1st March, when the Kilkenny Hounds were to draw them. The arrangements indicated lasted, with some modifications, for many years — until 1859, when the death of Lord Waterford rendered it necessary to make fresh arrangements, which will be noted further on.
At this distance of time it is difficult to ascertain with any accuracy the details of sport in Mr. John Power's early mastership ; but one or two runs may be mentioned. On one occasion — in 1843 — a very bold fox was found at Pottlerath, and afforded a grand run, which ended beyond New Birmingham, in the County Tipperary. Mr. John Wade was riding a grey horse belonging to old Sir John Power, and saw it best, or shared the honours with Mr. George Gough of Birdhill.
Two runs from Grennan wood are worth record- ing. In the season 1843-44, Mr. Power found a fox in Grennan, ran him past Coolnahaw, and on towards Tory Hill, bore left-handed, and, passing by Glcnmorc, brought his fox down to the Ross River at Carrickcloney. Here he viewed him swimming across the wide tidal river. Procuring a boat, and getting all the hounds he could on board, he was rowed across as fast as possible, landed up to his knees in the mud, pursued his fox on foot into the
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 43
County Wexford, and killed him a few fields from the bank. He then re-crossed the river with the fox's pate. Mr. Power was alone when he arrived at the bank of the river ; but some of his field got up before he returned to the Kilkenny side, Mr. John Wade being one of them. Whilst hounds were drawing Carrickcloney, about a year and a-half since, the Compiler was mentioning this run to one of the field, and remarked that they must then be standing somewhere near the crossing-place. The occupier of the land, who was standing close by, was referred to, and said he well remembered seeing Mr. Power crossing below the exact spot at which the field was posted, and was able to point out the place on the Wexford side where the fox was killed. The point was twelve and a-half miles, but as hounds ran was probably seventeen or eighteen. Mr. Power dined that night at Norelands, and received the congratulations of the assembled company.
On another occasion he was drawing Dangan wood on the opposite side of the River Nore. Finding a fox, and running him a long time in covert, he disturbed all the foxes in Grennan, and no less than nine foxes went away from that covert, there having been several strong litters in the place that season. Mr. Power, having run his fox to ground in Dangan, started to come round to Grennan through Thomastown. All the foxes had gone away from Grennan. It happened, however, that a man was out coursing at Ballylowra, a place two miles off, in the direction of Knocktopher, and disturbed an outlying fox, which, escaping the greyhounds,
44 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
ran towards Grennan, broke through the foot-people at the top of the covert, and got into the wood just as Mr. Power arrived on the scene. Finding him at once, Mr. Power ran him back towards Ballylowra, past Ballyhale, and finally lost him below Castle- town, having covered an immense extent of country. He was probably a fox travelling in the spring, and was, in any case, a very stout one.
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 45
CHAPTER IV.
ABOUT this time Sir John Power's health began to fail, and it was apparent to him, as well as to his friends, that he was breaking up. He, however, con- tinued to attend the meets in a carriage almost up to the last, when he often spoke to his immediate friends of his approaching end, remarking that his life had been a very happy one, and one that he would have been content to spend over again. He died at Kil- fane in February, 1844, and was buried at the old churchyard there, having followed his hounds for forty-seven seasons. His widow survived him nearly ten years, continuing to live at Kilfane with her son. She was a clever woman and good hostess, and had largely contributed to the reputation of his hospi- tality and the comfort and happiness of his life. He had six sons and two daughters, viz., John and Richard (twins), the latter, an officer in the army, predeceasing his father ; Gcrvasc, Lieut-Colonel, loth Regiment, died in India in 1843; Ambrose, late Archdeacon of Lismore ; Henry, Colonel in the Madras Army ; George ; Mary, married Mr. William Burton, of Burton Hall, and died in 1839; Frances, married, 1840, Mr. John Power of Gurtccn, father of Count dc la Poer, and died in 1893. The death of his eldest daughter had an effect on Sir John which he never recovered.
46 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
With the death of Sir John a striking personality was removed from the Kilkenny hunting field and Kilkenny society ; but his son John proved a worthy successor, and the Kilkenny Hunt continued to prosper under his popular and genial sway. Whether in the kennel or in the field, he was unsurpassed. He was an excellent horseman, very observant of the doings of hounds, and very quick when required, but equally patient on a bad scenting day. A very fine horseman, with excellent hands, he could ride a refractory horse better than most men ; and there are many who may recollect how, even in old age, he used to ride a horse called " The Peeler," a big, awkward-tempered customer, as none other could ride him. He had a ringing and most musical voice, and hounds flew to either his voice or his horn. Few there are who recollect his mastership, but those who do (none, alas ! amongst the present Kilkenny field) recall with enthusiasm the fine sport he showed. He was a great houndsman, and loved to spend his days amongst hounds, where, seated in the kennel-yard, cigar in mouth, he would remain for hours criticising or admiring each hound. He was an excellent judge of hounds, and had a strong predilection for a deep hound, and always said that such hounds came home " with their sterns up." Nobody understood breeding hounds better, or did so more successfully, and none were more qualified to speak on kennel management. During the spring and summer he took infinite trouble to protect vixens and cubs, and would visit the various coverts of the Hunt, and satisfy himself that cubs were safe and well taken care of by the
SIR JOHN POWER. SECOND BARONET.
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 47
keepers. However, on one occasion one of his covert-keepers endeavoured to do a little sly traffic on his own account with some cubs. At that time Henry Lord Waterford was hunting the Tipperary country, which was short of foxes in some localities, and he had imported foxes from mountainous dis- tricts, which he had turned down where required. He had built at Curraghmore a Turkish bath for his stud of chasers, as a means — then advocated — for getting them into training without the necessity of galloping in clothing, &c.
Whilst residing at Curraghmore, in the late spring or early summer, he was visited by a man with a brace of cubs, which he offered for sale. Lord Water- ford cross-examined the man, and succeeded in ascer- taining that he came from the County Kilkenny, and the locality from which the cubs had been taken. In
fact, the man (W , the keeper of a well-known
covert of the Hunt) let the cat out of the bag instead of the cubs. Having learnt as much as he wanted, and being determined to punish the culprit, Lord Waterford engaged him in conversation, the cubs meanwhile having been deposited in some safe place, and walked with him round the stables and offices, finally leading him into the Turkish bath. Direct- ing him to remain where he was till he returned, he left the building, and, when outside, quickly fastened the door. He then gave orders that the Turkish bath should be fully heated, and when this had been done, he returned. In the meantime the unfortunate
W , waiting inside, became hotter and hotter,
and tried to get out, but, being barred in, he soon
48 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
began to howl, exclaiming that he found his way to the infernal regions, and to shout that he was being roasted alive, begging Lord Waterford, who had come to the door to inquire how he was, to release him ; and it was not until Lord Waterford had pointed out forcibly to him the heinousness of his offence, and adjured him to make his confession to Sir John Power, that the door was opened, and he emerged in a state easily imagined, and fled home with all possible speed, needless to say without the cubs, which Lord Waterford returned to their proper country. Sir John constructed a great many earths of a very elaborate pattern, and the majority exist still, though some of the coverts in which they were made have been cut down. Some were what he called "decoy earths," made to induce foxes to run certain lines, and as such were successful.
It has been mentioned that Mick Butler succeeded Caunt as kennel huntsman, and as such he served Sir John, second baronet, whilst hounds were at Sion, proving an excellent man at his work. In the year 1844, a hunting correspondent of the Sportsman's Magazine, under the noni dc phnne of " Brusher," describes how he crossed the Channel to see some Irish kennels. Arriving in Kilkenny by coach, he found his way out to Sion. Sir John, who had lately succeeded his father as second baronet, was at Kilfanc, and Mick Butler was away a-court- ing ! Moreover, the hounds had been dressed the previous day, and he could not, therefore, see the pack to advantage ; but he describes it as " by far the best pack of hounds he had ever seen," notwith-
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 49
standing the train oil and sulphur ! He then went on to Curraghmore, and afterwards to Castle Martyr, to see Lord Shannon's hounds, and while he was there Sir John Power turned up with a hound which he had brought dowrn all the way from Kilkenny.
Having said so much with regard to Sir John, it seems fitting to give some description of his field. Mr. Bayly and Sir Wheeler Cuffe still came out, and some of the older members of the field already men- tioned. Sir Richard Cox of Castlctown hunted during the earlier part of Sir John's mastership, and was a very fine rider, with a beautiful seat ; and his brother Henry also hunted. William and Robert Stannard were fine riders, the former a very finished horseman (who for a bet, on one occasion, rode several miles across country with a half-crown under each foot), and his brother Robert a regular thruster, albeit a tall, heavy man. He hunted and rode very hard up to a late period of life, and died a few years back at a great age. Clayton Savage and his brother, William Bayly, were both hard men. The former hunted all his life in Kilkenny, in fact for upwards of forty years, and was a great friend of the second Sir John. Then there were John and Harry Baker of Kilcoran. The latter was a great character. At Kilcoran was a celebrated fox, called the " black- fox," from his being very dark. He afforded many runs, though none very straight ; but he invariably beat hounds, and seemed to possess a charmed life. Mr. Harry Baker used, after dinner, to wax very- eloquent about the black fox, and swear there were none like him. Eventually it was agreed that, on
50 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
the next occasion of drawing Kilcoran, foot-people should be placed so as to head the fox off certain points. He was duly found and driven off his usual line, going right into the heart of Tipperary, as far as a coal-pit near Coalbrook, Mr. Langley's place, where hounds could make nothing of him. However, he never returned to Kilcoran, and it was conjectured that he fell into the coal-pit. Mr. Harry Baker rode a cob named " Puck," with which he was wont to make matches. The late Earl of Desart was not only a fearless rider, but a most beautiful and finished horseman ; as one who often saw him in the hunting field has said, " It was a treat to see him ride across country." He was a good sportsman as well, and thoroughly appreciated hound work.
Captain Thomas Ponsonby was another good sportsman, who, on leaving the Carabiniers, settled in Kilkenny, and hunted regularly all his life, and thought nothing of riding a hack twelve or fourteen miles to covert when quite an old man. He was never a very hard rider ; but knowing the country thoroughly, and always galloping hard, he was enabled to make use of gaps, gates, and lanes, and saw every run. He was a most kindly, genial man, beloved by all who knew him ; a good shot, and expert fisherman.
Mr. James Kearney Aylward of Shankill hunted for a great many years, and, being an excellent man of business, with a clear head, was a most useful member of the Hunt Club Committee. He had' been an excellent cricketer, and was one of the" original Kilkenny Eleven, all of whom have passed
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 51
away. His place in the field \vas in the slips, called " nips " at Eton in his schooldays ; and as he was always placed " short nips " at school, he got the appellation " Nips," which stuck to him all his life, at all events amongst his intimate friends. As a genial host and good raconteur, he was unsurpassed.
Mr. Horace Rochfort of Clogrennan, in the County Carlow, was a medium-weight, and a very good all- round man, riding hard and playing cricket well ; whilst quite late in life he took to polo, and played for his county.
Colonel Tighe of Woodstock supported the Kil- kenny Hounds all his life. He was not a very regular fox-hunter, but rode well, and had a very good seat and hands. Like many other Kilkenny hunting men, he kept the saddle till well past seventy years old, and at the age of seventy-six rode a good run from Woodstock into Brownstown.
Mr. Thomas Conolly of Castletown was a Kildare man, but often hunted in Kilkenny, and was a bruising rider.
Lord James Butler was a welter, riding nearly eighteen stone ; but was a very hard man, and bad to beat. He will be noticed later on in this Memoir. On the other hand, there were three well-known light-iueigJits, none of whom could have weighed more than ten stone, all of whom rode to hounds till very late in life, and lived to extreme old age, ng during the last ten years. They were
rf John Wade, brother-in-law of Mr. John Power, *IVlf. Hanford Flood of Farmly, and Mr. John Jones of Mullinabro.
52 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
Mr. John Wade hunted with the Kilkenny Hounds for the best part of fifty years, and probably saw more good runs than any man of his time. He rode hard and well, was a thorough sportsman, a good judge of hounds and horses, and had a great knowledge of hunting, and a keen love for it.
Mr. Flood rode fearlessly, and kept the field till past the "allotted span." He had a famous horse called Carlow, which had belonged to Mr. Blackwood Hamilton, a relative of Lord Dufferin, and acquired him in the following manner : — Mr. Blackwood Hamilton had been hunting in Kilkenny, and, a frost setting in, left his horse at the Club-house and went away. The frost lasted some time, and when it broke up horses had, of course, more or less lost their condition. It chanced that the first day hounds were enabled to hunt the meet was in the Freshford country, and, as is often the case on the break up of frost, scent was good, and they ran hard over the hills round Persse's gorsc, and horses were well pumped, Mr. Blackwood Hamilton's horse dropping lifeless under him. He got back to Kil- kenny as well as he could with saddle and bridle, and at the Club dinner that night was naturally a subject for condolence. Mr. Flood was also dining, and during dinner exclaimed, "I will give you ,£15 for Carlow's body." Mr. Hamilton told him there was only his skin ; but Mr. Flood persisting in his offer, he closed with him, and the bargain was made. Next morning hounds met somewhere in the same country ; but early in the morning Mr. Flood sent to the Freshford hills, which he caused to be thoroughly
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 53
searched for Carlow's body, without success. On hearing the report at the meet, he said nothing, and had his day's hunting. Riding home in the evening, he heard a horse galloping behind him, and, looking round, saw Carlow coming down the road, had him captured, and got him into Kilkenny. Knowing that the horse was not fit, he had guessed, when he heard the story of his death, that he was only pumped out, and would come to in the night air. This had actually happened, and Carlow had wandered grazing through the country until he heard a horse on the road near him, and followed him. Mr. Flood rode him for years afterwards, and said he was one of the best horses he had ever owned.
Mr. Jones of Mullinabro hunted for more than fifty years in Kilkenny, bred a great many good horses, and made them himself. He was a very shrewd man, a clever agriculturist, a fine judge of cattle, and a useful country gentleman. In old age he was to be seen in the field with his three sons, usually riding a four-year-old himself, and always a well-bred one. He lived till long past eighty, and was fresh and active up to the last. Lord Duncannon (afterwards Earl of Bessborough) came out occasion- ally, as also did Mr. John Walsh of Fanningstown, at the southern end. Late in life the latter kept a pack of harriers, and hunted the country between Bessborough and Castle Morrcs. Mr. John Congrevc of Mount Congrevc also came out at that end, as did Mr. Briscoc of Tinvane.
Mr. John Power of Gurtecn, usually called
54 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
" Johnny Gurteen," to distinguish him from his brother-in-law, Mr. John Power of Kilfane, was probably the hardest rider of the field. In fact, he was a reckless rider, and utterly fearless. He used to keep twenty horses at the Club-house, Kilkenny, during the season, and hunted six days a week. There were numerous stories as to his riding, but one, related to the Compiler by an eye-witness about a year since, will serve as a specimen. Hounds were running hard one day across a demesne in the Kil- kenny country — the exact locality forgotten — when they reached a masonwork wall bounding the place, got over, and of course went on. The field was apparently pounded ; but Mr. Power of Gurteen, coming up in the front rank, espied a place in the wall where stones had been loosened, and which, with a bold horse, would have been just jumpable, had it not been that a strong bough of a tree, grow- ing by the wall, stretched straight over the place, and made it apparent that any rider attempting to jump must be swept out of the saddle. Without one moment's hesitation, however, Mr. Power went slap for the place, and, as his horse rose at it, threw him- self clean back till his hat almost touched the horse's tail, in that position got safely over, and swinging himself up again on landing, never lost one yard of his place with hounds, the remainder of the field having to seek some other means of exit. On another occasion he was nearly killed in jumping over a high wall into a farmyard at the bottom of Ballykecffe wood. Major I/od and his son, the late Mr. L. N. Izod, attended fairly often. The former kept
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 55
a pack of harriers for many years. Mr. Frankland came from Cork, and was the author of the greater number of the stanzas in the verses describing the Kilkenny Hunt in 1845, which will be found in Appendix IX., and which are worth the reader's perusal.
Sir Theophilus St. George of Woodsgift was also a regular hunting man. The present Sir Robert Paul occasionally came up from Waterford to the Club-house. Sir John Blunden also hunted for a great many years, and towards the close of his life often joined the meet in a carriage. His son, the present Sir William Blunden, used, later on, to ride a black kicking mare very well. Mr. William Pitt Blunden of Bonnetstown, brother of Sir John, hunted for many years, and was a very good man in a quick thing of twenty minutes, not caring much for any other kind of run or for the doings of hounds. His brother-in-law, the present Captain Knox of Caher- leske, also hunted, as did Mr. Rcade of Birchfield, Mr. Edmond Smithwick of Kilcreene, and Mr. Robert Walsh of Tullow. Lord Shannon came up from Cork for portions of the season. Mr. Congrevc Fleming hunted for a long term of years, mainly at the lower end of the county, and was a fine rider. The present Mr. Robert Watson of Ballydarton occasionally came out on the Gowran side of the county. There were also Mr. Thomas Power of Kilkenny and Dr. O'Reilly, both good men.
But, besides these, were many from a distance, and the late Captain Thomas Ponsonby, who kept a hunting diary, mentioned in the hearing of the Com-
56 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
piler that, in or about the year 1845, there were stabled in Kilkenny and the surrounding district as many as 200 horses belonging to visitors. As many as 150 red coats have been counted at one covert side.
In the latter portion of Sir John's mastership there were Mr. Bryan of Jenkinstown, Mr. Warren (a very hard rider), Mr. Lambert of Dysertmore, Mr. Flood of Paulstown, Mr. Lalor of Cregg (a light-weight and quick man with hounds, always well mounted), Mr. James Foe, happily still amongst us, and taking as keen an interest in the chase as ever ; Mr. William Madden Glascott of Alderton, in County Wexford, who, indeed, may be said to have occasionally hunted with Sir John Power during the whole of his master- ship, and who was a very hard man with hounds, a coursing man, and a good sportsman in every way. He died within the last few years, aged eighty-eight. Besides these were the officers of the /th Hussars, quartered in Kilkenny during the last fe\v years Sir John kept the hounds. Amongst them was the present Duke of Beaufort — then Lord Worcester ; the present Lord Howth — -then Lord St. Lawrence ; and other good sportsmen. There are many others, no doubt, who should appear in the list of Sir John Power's field ; but we must now turn to the fair sex, and here the task is an easy one, for, broadly speak- ing, ladies did not then grace the field, though, no doubt, some may have been riding spectators from the road. However, there were two who made them- selves conspicuous by their good riding, viz., Lady Dcsart, who happily still survives, and who was a
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 57
most finished horsewoman over a country; and Miss Fetherstonhaugh, a lady who hailed from West- meath, and had the enviable reputation of being able to keep a foremost place in every good run. There are some who still recollect how she and Mr. Horace Rochfort alone saw the finish of a very fine run from Bishopslough, when the fox, running into a church- yard, was killed on a tombstone ! She married Colonel Arthur, who commanded the 3rd Dragoon Guards. A gorse covert, now cut down, was called after her " Fetherston's gorse," and was situated on the hill on which the spectators stood in the " point- to-point " race in 1896.
Many good runs had their starting-point from Fetherston's gorse. On one occasion the present Mr. James Poe of Rose Hill was posted by Sir John Power at a certain point to view the fox away. In- stead of viewing a fox, however, he saw a hound named Fancy, which had been walked by his uncle, Captain Poe (a Peninsular and Waterloo veteran, who lived at Rossmore, and was a great ally of both the Sir Johns), and which he knew, feathering away on a line. He holloaed, and Sir John came up, and asked if he had viewed the fox. He was answered, and was very indignant with Mr. Poe, who, however, asked leave to ride after Fancy. Sir John gave him permission, and expressed the hope that he might break his neck ! Away he went, but he had not gone far when he heard Sir John's horn going in his wake, and he presently came up with the pack, hit the line, overtook Fancy, and had a rare gallop into Kilfane to ground. Needless to say that, at the conclusion,
E
58 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
not only was Mr. Poe forgiven, but he and F^ancy came in for a large amount of kudos.
Mr. Poe was riding a chestnut mare belonging to Mr. Marum. The point is between eight and nine miles, and the country very good.
On an earlier occasion a fox found in the same country ran through Leyrath and straight down by Windgap (near the present railway station, Kilkenny) to a drain under Lacken. This being stopped, he crossed the River Nore, and ran down by the old canal to the Black Quarry, where he was headed. Recrossed the river, and was eventually killed at Hebron. On both occasions the Master, the first Sir John Power, crossed with the hounds, and was alone with them when they killed, the field galloping round by John's Bridge on a fruitless errand.
Many of the present field will have a lively recol- lection of the fine run from Carricktriss to the walls of Woodstock during last season ; and it will be interesting to them to read the record of a similar run more than fifty years ago, ending in a kill, as well as two other great runs in the same country during Sir John Power's mastership, as supplied by one who was out : —
" Met at Mullenbcg cross-roads. Found at Car- ricktriss. Fox went away within fifty yards of the whole field. Sir John got his hounds out very quickly. Ran very fast across the heath past the village of Boolaghglass, on by Catstown ; left Hugginstown on the left, and ran close up to Carrickshock, where there was a slight check. Then bent rather to the right and ran by Kiltorcan covert, but did not go
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 59
into it ; passed on over Jerpoint Hill into Grennan wood, where hounds were stopped, and where we viewed the fox swimming across the River Nore into Dangan."
" Met at Mullenbeg cross-roads. Ran hard by Boolaghglass village, where fox was headed, and turning sharp to the right, went down past Lisma- teige ; left Moonroe bog on the right, passed by Greywood, on past Castlegannon, and straight on to Coolnahaw ; leaving the covert to the right, dropped into the valley ; crossed the Arrigle river, and up by Firgrove into Mount Alto, where we killed our fox."
The point in both of these runs is upwards of ten miles.
" Met at Castlemorres. Found at Wynne's gorse, and ran down by Curraghmore and Tullahought village, on nearly to the slate quarries ; turned to the right, ran past Davis's gorse (without entering it) ; on over the hill by Butler's wood and the back of Killamery village ; by Garryricken, and on by Coolagh cross-roads, where the fox was viewed just in front of the pack ; ran him from scent to view, and rolled him over in the open within three fields of Ballytobin."
This run was somewhat in the shape of the letter V reversed, the acute angle being at Killamery, and distance traversed about twelve miles.
6O MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
CHAPTER V.
OF the early rules of the Kilkenny Hunt Club there is now no record ; but as time went on they were, no doubt, revised. In November, 1843, it became necessary to pass certain resolutions as under, the committee present being the Marquis of Ormonde, the Earl of Desart, John Power (afterwards second baronet), James K. Aylward, Clayton Savage, William Bayly, Austin Butler, Joseph Greene.
Resolved, — That any gentleman being proposed for the Club, must have his name, together with that of his proposer and seconder, placed in the Club Room one clear week before the ballot takes place, which will be held every Friday at ten o'clock during each meeting. Ten members must be present at the ballot, and one black ball excludes.
Resolved, — That no member do introduce any person into the Club Room during the meeting under any pretence. This rule having of late been infringed upon, the Committee think it right to remind members that this is one of the old rules of the Club, and ought to be strictly adhered to.
Resolved, — That all yearly subscriptions to the Club and entrance fees received by the secretary be lodged upon receipt in the Provincial Bank, Kilkenny, to the credit of the Committee, and that the secretary do keep the letters and vouchers of the Committee.
Agreed, — That an account be opened in the Provincial Bank, Kil- kenny, to the credit of the Committee of the Kilkenny Hunting Club, and that no money can be drawn without the signature of one of the Committee.
Whatever the earlier rules may have been, there was apparently nothing in the constitution of the Club
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 6l
which formed a bar to any escapade which a member felt inclined to indulge in. For instance, Henry Lord Waterford performed the feat of riding his horse up the brass-bound staircase into the Club Room (now the commercial room of the Club House Hotel), jumping him over the dining-table, and returning the way he came. Practical jokes of all kinds were perpetrated continually ; but in the latter years of the Club meetings they died out altogether, and the festivities were limited to an occasional dinner. The picture of the first Sir John Power used to hang in the Club Room, but was afterwards moved to Kilfane. Mr. John Walsh kept the Club House for a great number of years, and was a well- known character. The rules as to the admission of " strangers" were very rigid, and on one occasion the brother of one of the most prominent members of the Club was refused permission to breakfast in the Club Room. The Club subscription was ten guineas, but was afterwards reduced to ,£5. The "Club button" carried considerable authority with it, and the mastership still more. Even one of Her Majesty's judges on one occasion recognised the importance of the office in the following manner : — Sir John Power (second baronet) was serving on the County Grand Jury, the business of which extended rather longer than usual, and encroached on a hunting day. As the hour for meeting approached, Sir John, with a great-coat covering his pink, appeared in the Grand Jury gallery, and, addressing his lordship, represented that he had " important business," and requested to be excused from further attendance. The judge
62 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
smilingly replied that, as he was aware that Sir John Power's "important business" would be the means of affording pleasure to many persons, he would accede to his request, the business being nearly com- pleted.
Shortly after the death of his father, Sir John Power returned to Kilfane, and having fitted up kennels at the stables built by his uncle, Richard Power, adjoining the road above the church, moved the hounds from the Sion kennels.
As his diaries of sport have, with one excep- tion, been lost, it is difficult to give account of any of his runs. A few, however, are here recorded. It may be mentioned that, towards the close of his mastership, Sir John, wishing not to be too much tied to home by having to hunt the pack himself at all times, had tried Mick Butler as huntsman. The arrangement not proving satisfactory, Mick Butler left, and went to Curraghmore about 1847. Subse- quently he went to Ballydarton, to Mr. Watson, where he remained some years. He died there from the effects of a fall, and while lying in bed he, shortly before his death, had his cap and whip hung where he could see them on the wall. He was very fond of hounds, a neat, smart man, and, it is needless to say, that from the training he had had, knew his business well. Stephen Goodall was promoted from second whip to fill his place in the Kilfane kennels, and remained with Sir John till he resigned the master- ship in 1850, when he went to Kildarc, where he afterwards made a great reputation as huntsman. James Wilson was whip under him at Kilfane, and James Dwyer also.
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 63
Sir John records in his diary a good run on De- cember 28th, 1846 : — " Met at Desart. Found in the decoy. Took a ring in the wood ; went away through the pleasure ground for Farmly, skirted it, turned to the left, passing Ballybur Castle, on near to Tenny Park, where hounds checked (about thirty minutes); on through Grange wood to near Bally- keeffe, turned to the left through Desart, and lost at the decoy. From near Grange a hunting run. Alto- gether two hours twenty minutes. A very nice run indeed. Tom Conolly, Goodall, and Wilson the only men that rode it."
On the 2 1st November he met at Killeen (Lower), the meet having been changed from Dr. Dillon's gate, Ballyquin, to suit Prince George of Cambridge, who came out. " No find at Killeen. From Kiltor- can had a fine hunting run, but, unfortunately, the fox went right over the bogs to near Firgrove, and then retraced his steps to near Kyleagh, where he was lost. The Prince must have a deep impression of Kilkenny hunting."
Meeting at Thomastown, on January 2nd, 1847, he had another good run from Kiltorcan, " leaving Killeen to the left and to ground in the direction of Carricktriss. Ran over a beautiful country ; pace first-rate at times." About the same time he had another very fast run from Castlewarren, ending at Clara, in which Lord James Butler, on Barbarian, and the late Mr. Edmond Smithwick of Kilcrcenc, cut out the work, though both welters.
In the northern end of the county Sir John had also some fine runs. The Rock, which was made by
64 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
the Rev. W. Gregory, then rector of Johnstown about 1820, was one of his favourite coverts, and he used to meet at Foyle Bridge to draw it. On one of these occasions he learnt at the meet that a good number of gentlemen from across the border were waiting for him at the Rock. He immediately went off to Beech Hill, a famous covert in the direction of Ballyragget, where he found, and had a fine run up to the Rock covert, where the peccant sportsmen were still posted. Mr. Savage collected their half- crowns, and then Sir John exclaimed, " Gentlemen, we are now going home. You will please in future come to the meet." The lesson was severe, but, no doubt, necessary. Amongst the farmers Sir John was immensely popular, and practically they would do anything for him. Several hunted and went well, amongst whom were some of the Hogan family from Gaulstown, and other good sportsmen.
The number of ladies hunting had now increased. The Misses Langrishe of Knocktopher came out ; Miss Smithwick from Kilcreene a little later. During the last two years of Sir John's mastership, Lady Worcester (the present Duchess of Beaufort) was hunting, and was a very fine horsewoman. Miss Rosabel Langrishe (now Mrs. Williams, and still riding) could hold her own in the best of company, and Miss Smithwick saw many fine runs.
In the year 1850 Sir John Power resigned the mastership, which had been held by himself and his father for fifty-three years ; but the pack remained his property for many years afterwards. Mr. George Bryan of Jenkinstown thereupon took the hounds,
MR. GEORGE LEOPOLD BRYAN.
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 65
keeping thirty-one couple at Jcnkinstown, and having Denny Callaghan as his huntsman. After one season Thomas Mathews became huntsman, and remained with the pack for some years. Mr. Bryan was a fine horseman, and rode very well-bred horses. He was quite a picture on a horse, being an unusually handsome and striking-looking man. He showed some good sport; but in 1852 he resigned, and the Hunt was continued by a Committee, of which Sir John Power was a prominent member. The hounds were moved to St. James's Green, in Kil- kenny, Matthews remaining on as huntsman, and contracting with the Committee for all kennel expenses, feeding hounds, &c. The contract, as showing the cost of providing the various articles, will be found in Appendix XI. It would seem that Mr. Bryan hunted five days a fortnight, and the same arrangement would appear to have been continued under the Committee. The kennels at St. James's Green, let to the Committee by Mr. Thomas Bradley, who fitted them up, though somewhat cramped and confined, and surrounded by houses, were remarkably healthy, and hounds did very well in them during the dozen seasons they remained there. In 1854 Matthews left, and Lord James Butler took the hounds in 1855, engaging a man named Purslow as huntsman. Lord James, as stated before, was a welter, but a very hard rider.
In 1851 a steeplechase, somewhat in the nature of a point-to-point race, came off at the Whitefields of Coppcnagh, on the hills behind Kilfane, between members of the Hunt, when Lord James sailed in
66 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
first on his horse Freebooter, Mr. Bryan being second on Blueskin, and Mr. Kellett third on May- boy. A light-weight race followed, and it is remark- able that the timing in the welter race won by Lord James was very nearly as good as that of the light- weight. There was a big wall near the finish. Lord James made a popular Master, and turned out his men well. He hunted three days a week, and an account of some of his runs, as chronicled in his diary, follows. He rode and kept good horses, such as Giantess, Snowdrop, Grimalkin, Primrose, Fusilier, Brian Boru, Moll, Lord Gough, Tam-o'-Shanter, Princess, &c.
"1855, 26th November, Meet, Gowran. — Found two foxes in Gowran, which were both run to ground. Found at Bishopslough, fox headed, ran back, and was killed in covert. Went away with another very fast to Castlegarden bog, through it, and on to Kilfane, passed through the head of the wood — some hounds getting on another fox — and towards the chapel of Mong, turning towards Dangan, ran through Brown's Barn to the wood on the left bank of the river at Kilmacshane bridge, where they eat him. Very fine pace all through, the hounds nearly by themselves."
The point is about six and a-half miles.
" December 3rd, Club-house. — Large meet. Found at Sutcliffe's gorsc, ran fast to Castle Blunden, then, as usual, towards the town, afterwards slowly to Birchfield, and lost him running, I think, for Kilfera. Found at Knockroe, ran as if for Sutcliffe's, then towards Barnaglissawny, afterwards, turning again,
LORD JAMES WANDESFORDE BUTLER.
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 67
ran to Brown's wood, and took off the hounds at dark. The turns threw out most of the field. The dinner at the Club of supporters afterwards went off well. Some thirty dined. A good deal of speaking."
" December 24th, Club-house. — Knockroe blank. Found at Oldtown, and ran straight and very fast to BallykeefTe, about the wood a bit, broke near the quarry, turned back, and was eaten. Found at Sutcliffe's gorse, and broke quickly. Ran very fast, as if for Castle Blunden, went again to the right, then again to the left — the old line — but was headed in the middle of a field. Ran very fast over Ballyhendriken bottoms to Bonnetstovvn, over a very stiff country, there lost a shoe, and pulled up, the hounds having got at least two fields away from me. They ran into Bonnetstown, turned to the left, ran under Knockroe, and were taken off at Stannard's farm at Ballydowel, near Ballinamara. The whip went through with ' Tarn ' well ; Marum and Mr. Sullivan also. Purslow got up at last, but was thrown out at the turn at Ballyhendriken. No check."
At the end of the season Lord James Butler re- signed, and never hunted very much afterwards. He was a singularly gifted man, with highly intellectual tastes and much general information, and as a con- versationalist shone much in society. He was a remarkably fine, handsome man. He was succeeded in 1856 by Lord St. Lawrence, the present Lord Howth, who still keeps the saddle, and hunts at Pau. During the five years he was in Kilkenny he showed capital sport. A light-weight, a good rider,
68 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
always well mounted, and devoted to hunting — being, indeed, bred to it — he was bound to succeed, and during his regime the Kilkennies prospered.
After the resignation of Sir John Power, Club meetings had become fewer, and the field consider- ably lessened. Matters, in fact, had got into low water to some extent ; but on Lord St. Lawrence's advent there was a decided revival, Lord Howth and Lord Clanricarde, both capital men across country, coming down to hunt, together with some other visitors. Mr. Robert Watson also came down from Carlow from time to time, with his pack, to keep the ball rolling. Lord St. Lawrence had as his first huntsman George Jones, and afterwards Pat Cody; and as first whip he had Jem Monahan, who after- wards became a trainer at the Curragh, and rode many good races. During his mastership, Lord St. Lawrence occupied a house at the corner of James's Green, near the railway station, Kilkenny ; but much of his time was spent at Kilfane and elsewhere in the county.
Some good sport marked Lord St. Lawrence's first season, of which the two following days are speci- mens : —
"Jan. I2th, 1857. — Met at Kilmanagh. Found at Killeen, and ran hard in the direction of Kilcooly. Turning down to the Munster River, which forms the boundary between the counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary, hounds ran fast down its bank to Shipton, through Pottlerath, but turning there, made a wide ring by Oldtown, and back to Killccn. Here it was conjectured that a change of foxes might have taken
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 69
place. Going away again, hounds brought their fox down to Shipton, and then ran at a slapping pace nearly up to Ballintaggert wood, but did not enter it. Making a wide sweep to the right, they ran into the County Tipperary, passed by the village of Farren- rory, and then straight into Kilcooly, right through the demesne, and on over the bottoms towards Woodsgift ; but again bearing right-handed, this stout fox succeeded in reaching the earth in the Punchbowl covert. The huntsman got a fall ; but Lord St. Lawrence and Mr. Bryan, with a few Tipperary gentlemen, saw the whole run. All the other horses were beaten, and Lord St. Lawrence's horse so done up that he had to leave him at a farmhouse." The time this run occupied is not recorded, but it was fast as a whole, and the extent of country covered could scarcely have been less than fifteen miles. It is needless to tell any of the present Kilkenny field — who have of late years enjoyed such a succession of fine runs in the Kilmanagh country — that the line was, for the most part, over the finest portion of the Kilkenny country.
On the 26th of the same month, meeting at the Barracks, Kilkenny, where the i6th Lancers were then quartered, a fox was found at Kilmogar, and ran down over a fine grass line nearly to Lcyrath. Wheeling back, however, he ran up to Clara and over the Brown Mountain on to Frencystown, and by Baurnafea into Castlewarren covert, straight through it, and down to the Dublin road, where, hard frost having set in, hounds had to be stopped.
The following season was also marked by many
7O MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
good runs, amongst which the following may be chronicled : —
February loth, 1858.— Met at Shankill. After drawing several coverts without much result, a game fox was found at Kilmogar, and went away up wind through Clara, and over the bottoms of Flagmount, through the covert, and passing the wood of Castle- warren on the right ran along the valley through Baurnafea, and on towards Uskerty ; but turning into the wind again, hounds ran at a great pace nearly to Old Leighlin, where he made a short turn, and reached Mr. Aylward's gorse covert over Shankill. Time up to this point was an hour and ten minutes, and distance traversed about ten miles. Here hounds divided, seven couple going on towards Castlewarren with the hunted fox, and were not found when night set in. Remainder of the pack were stopped off other foxes. Mr. Bryan and the late Sir Richard Power (then a boy) cut out the work, but most horses were beaten, even Mr. Marum's succumbing.
Two days later (i2th February), meeting at Bally- ragget, and finding at Pheroda, Lord St. Lawrence had a capital gallop towards Castlecomer, then turn- ing to Fennon, wheeled back past Pheroda, and on to the Rock covert ; crossed the Ballinakill road, and thence to Decrpark to ground. From Conahy he had a second very fast spin of twenty-five minutes past Fennon and into Castlecomer to ground.
In the following November he had a sporting run from Uskerty into Ballyfoyle to ground ; a blazing thirty-five minutes, which Mr. Robert Stannard, Mr. Marum, Mr. Thomas Power, and the two Messrs.
VISCOUNT ST LAWRENCE
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. /I
Smithwick saw best. During the season Lord Clan- ricarde, Lord Howth, Lord Droghcda, Lord Dun- kellin, and Lord Listowel came down to hunt, as did some others.
In January, 1859, meeting at Ballykceffe, after a sharp scurry of thirty minutes to ground at Pottlerath, a bold fox was found at Oldtown, and running past Mount Gale, Ballinamara, Wellbrook, and Leugh, finally reached Barnaglissawny, after a good run over a fine line of grass. Killeen furnished a racing gallop of twenty-seven minutes to ground at Kil- dreena on February 2nd ; and on the 2ist there was a fine run from the Rock by Belmont towards Durrow, through Aharney, over Binonea hill, and a kill in the open within a few fields of Bally ring covert.
72 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
CHAPTER VI.
IN the year 1859 Lord Waterford was killed in the hunting field while running a fox from one of the coverts in the hills above Bessborough ; and on the 1 5th June of that year, a committee of the Hunt Club, consisting of Mr. Flood of Farmly, Mr. John Walsh of Fanningstown, Sir John Power, and Mr. Edward Lewis Warren, recommended that that por- tion of the Kilkenny country hunted by Lord Water- ford, and the portion known as Briscoe's country, together with Carricktriss, Tory Hill, and Knock- brack, be given up to Lord Bessborough, as chairman of the Curraghmore Hunt Committee, on his guaran- teeing to the Kilkenny Hunt the sum of .£50 per annum, which, however, Mr. Warren considered should be £?$. This recommendation was adopted by a general meeting of subscribers to the Kilkenny Hunt on the 2/th of the same month, with the stipulation that the arrangement should only last for one year, and that, if Kilkenny desired to resume the country, they could do so on giving notice, &c. Correspondence on the subject will be found in Appendix VIII.
It may be mentioned that Lord \Vaterford had been lent additional coverts in the Kilkenny country on account of Lord St. Lawrence hunting only five
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 73
clays a fortnight, and used to meet at Hugginstown, Castle Morres, Newmarket, &c., drawing Kiltorcan, Sir John's gorse, and Lower Killeen, as well as Wynne's gorse, Carricktriss, &c. Wynne's gorse received its name from the fact that an officer named Wynne, of the 68th Light Infantry, quartered in Kil- kenny, and who hunted much with the Kilkennies and took a great interest in the sport, selected the spot for the covert. He was killed at Inkermann. Locally the covert has always been called " Black bog," the name of the townland on which it is planted. Both Sir John Power and Lord Waterford had many good runs from it.
About this time there were hunting in Kilkenny many of Sir John Power's old friends, and, in addi- tion, the following gentlemen :— Mr. Warren of Lodge Park, who went well on a little brown horse ; Mr. Staunton of Seskin, Mr. C. Gregory, Mr. Thomas Power, Mr. James Tidmarsh, the Messrs. Smithwick, Mr. Hort, Mr. Alexander Hamilton, Mr. Hamilton Law, Mr. Brent Neville, Colonel Mollan, Mr. Grove Annesley, Mr. Cahill, Mr. William (now Sir William) Blunden, Major Wemyss, the present Colonel Izod, Mr. George Bryan of Jenkinstown, Mr. M'Creery, Mr. George Webb, Mr. W. Cormick, Mr. Ralph Bun- bury, Mr. R. Wright, Mr. H. M. de Montmorency, Mr. John de Montmorency and his sons, Captain Langrishe (now Sir James Langrishe), Mr. C. B. Ponsonby, roth Hussars ; Sir Henry Marsh, Major St. George, Mr. Maher, Mr. Seigne, Mr. H. Burt- chacll, Mr. Bookey of Doninga, Mr. Kavanagh of Borris, Mr. Bolger of Ballinabarney, Mr. Arthur
F
74 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
St. George, Mr. Anthony Packe, Mr. Hutchinson, the present Lord Desart, when at home ; Mr. Augus- tus Kennedy, Major the Hon. L. Agar Ellis (now Lord Clifden), and others.
Besides these were several good men from the Queen's County and from Tipperary. Belonging to the former county none was better than Mr. Charles White, though only one-armed ; and of the Tip- perary men few could beat Mr. George Gough of Birdhill, a light-weight, and at one time Master of the Tipperary Hounds. He died quite recently, and had hunted regularly till within a few years of his death. Many of these friends from across the borders had been in the habit of attending Kilkenny meets in the time of Sir John Power's mastership. Of the old field none were going better than Mr. John Wade, who, indeed, rode well for more than twenty years longer, Mr. Marum, Mr. Robert Stan- nard, Mr. Rochfort, Mr. Flood, Mr. Thomas Power ; but some of the best of the old men, such as Mr. Clayton Savage, Mr. William Bayly, Sir Richard Cox, Mr. Power of Gurteen, and others, had passed away, and the green fields of Kilkenny knew them no more. Of these, Mr. Savage was the last to go. He had been a close friend of Sir John, and usually collected the half-crowns in the field, a duty which was afterwards taken up by Mr. John Wade, who performed that and many other important functions in connection with the Hunt up to a late period of life, and took the keenest interest in its welfare up to the last.
Captain Thomas Ponsonby was still a familiar
MEMOIR OK THE KILKENNY HUNT. 75
figure in the field, and remained so for many years afterwards; and Mr. Congreve Fleming kept the field during the whole of the succeeding mastership, and during a portion of Mr. Briscoe's time. So did Mr. Flood, Mr. Robert Stannard, Mr. Rochfort, Mr. Marum, Mr. Thomas Lalor, and Mr. Aylward. In addition to the above may be mentioned the follow- ing, who also hunted with the Kilkenny Hounds about this time, or during the two succeeding reigns : — Major Bunbury (a very hard man, who rode well- bred horses), Mr. James Poe, Mr. Mosse, the Messrs. Murphy of Mount Loftus, Mr. John Power, Mr. Doyle, the Earl of Carrick (who usually bred his own horses, and rode them well), Mr. Richard Bushe, Mr. Bookey, Mr. Hamilton Law, Mr. Cormick, Mr. Samuel Bruce (afterwards Master of the Duhallows), Mr. Cramer Roberts, Dr. Bradley, Mr. Cooper, Mr. J. Connellan, Mr. Adams, Mr. Pallin, Mr. James Sullivan, Mr. Hart, Mr. J. Xowlan, Mr. Joseph Thacker, Mr. Richard (afterwards Sir Richard) Power, the Messrs. Jones of Mullinabro, Messrs. St. George, and others. Lord Bessborough rarely missed a meet at his end of the country, and, though he was never a hard rider, loved a hunt as well as any man, and saw much of the doings of a day. Colonel Tighc joined in on his side, as did Mr. Alexander Hamilton, who hunted the Woodstock Harriers for about ten years in the neighbourhood of Inistiogc, where hares were then abundant, and where most days were marked by a gallop over the slopes of Brandon or the walls of Kilcross.
76 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
CHAPTER VII.
IN 1 86 1 Mr. Henry William Meredyth took the hounds. He was son of the late Sir Henry Meredyth, who had married the only daughter of Mr. Bayly of Norelands, and father of the present Sir Henry, who succeeded his grandfather in the baronetcy. Mr. Meredyth engaged William Boxall as huntsman. He was a very good man in kennel, and remained with the Kilkennies for several years. Mr. Meredyth was a good sportsman, and " built to ride," being tall and beautifully made, and no man could have looked better on a horse. He was a good shot, fisherman, and cricketer, and a cheery, genial man. He rode very trained horses, generally above his weight. After four seasons Mr. Meredyth took the horn himself, Boxall whipping in to him ; but the latter then left, and afterwards hunted the Dartmoor pack for years. He retired on full annuity from Hunt Servants' Benefit Society some years since. Walter Bell replaced him for one season, and then Mr. Meredyth engaged Richard Scarth, who belonged to a family of Yorkshire yeomen. He was a fine rider and a keen man, and remained with Mr. Meredyth to the close of his mastership, having John Tidd as whip, subsequently going to Kildare under Sir Edward Kenned}-, and eventually emigrating to Canada.
Met. HENRY WILLIAM MEREOYTH.
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 77
Mr. Meredyth's reign lasted nine years, and much good sport, especially in his earlier seasons, was enjoyed. About 1866 he moved the hounds from James's Green to Xorelands. In 1867 Sir John Power sold the pack to a Committee of the Hunt Club for ^300, with a proviso that should they be given up at any future time, his son and successor should have the refusal of them at that price. The ownership of the pack thus passed from Sir John Power's family after uninterrupted possession for more than seventy years. Mr. Meredyth hunted three days a week, and had an occasional " bye." He followed the custom of hunting a May fox, and there are some who may recollect how that meeting at Rosbercon, on the 3rd of May, about the year 1865, he found a fox at Lucy's Rock, and ran him to the top of Tory Hill.
Amongst Mr. Meredyth's good runs in that country may be mentioned a run from Woodstock into Lucy's Rock, an eight mile point over a nice country ; and the usual run from Brownstown wood, a covert belonging to Sir John Power, was into Lucy's Rock or Annaghs, both about five miles from Brownstown. At that time there were no intervening coverts, Weatherstown having been made by the late Lord Waterford, and Mullinahone an unfenced piece of gorse.
The following good runs took place during Mr. Meredyth's mastership. In February, 1866, meeting at Five-Mile Stone, a fox was found at Castlewarren, and went away over the stream and nearly to Old Leighlin, but turned through Shankill and down to
78 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
Paulstown, wheeled round, and ran up to Flagmount,. passed by the covert, and went on across the bottoms to Clara, through that covert, and out at the bottom, and was run into three fields from the covert. Time, one hour fifty minutes. In February,. 1867, a blazing gallop from Chapel Izod, leaving Knockdrinya to the right, by Stonecarty, Oldtown, on towards Jerpoint. Turned into Mount Juliet, ran through it and Norelands, and eventually marked to ground in Norelands. At the close of 1867, Mr. Meredyth had a very fast run from Mount Juliet by Ennisnag, turned back, and ran past Norelands and Mount Juliet to Goatsbridge, close up to Thomas- town ; but turned past Frank's plantation, and went on to Ballyconway, bore to the left, and ran down to Coolmore to ground. Mr. Meredyth had also some fine runs in the Mount Loftus country, and much sport in the country round Kilmoganny. In the Freshford country, Ballyring and the Punchbowl were his best coverts.
Unfortunately, the close of Mr. Mcredyth's master- ship was marked by some very unpleasant incidents, which at one time threatened to break up the Hunt, and which arc now best forgotten ; but the good services of the late Lord Portsmouth and the present Lord Cork, who kindly consented to act as mediators, restored the good feeling which is a necessary quality amongst all hunting communities. It is enough to say that when Mr. Meredyth retired he did so with honour, and with the thanks of the Hunt for his efforts to promote sport. His portrait was presented to him, and a photograph of it is attached. He was
MR. HENRY WHITBY BRISCOE.
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 79
very popular in the field, and turned out his men and hounds well. He died in 1878.
After his retirement in the spring of 1870 there was a considerable difficulty in providing a Master, partly owing to the differences which had arisen. This difficulty, however, was happily overcome by the offer of Mr. Henry Briscoe of Tinvane (at the instance of Mr. Poe) to take the Hounds, and it is probable that, under the circumstances, no better selection could have been found. Mr. Briscoe, who, it will be remembered, had a pack of his own, and hunted the Bessborough country, had taken the Curraghmore Hounds on the death in the hunting field of Henry Lord Waterford in 1859, and had kept them till 1870, when the late Lord Waterford took them up again. It will be apparent that Mr. Briscoe, from his long experience, possessed many qualifications for the mastership of any pack, but in the present case he was especially fitted for the post. He knew the country and the people in it ; he was very popular with all classes ; and he brought a ripe experience to bear in the matter of hounds, horses, and hunting, having carried the horn so many years. Few men have understood better the breeding of horses ; pro- bably none the breeding of hounds. With regard to the former, he, perhaps, imported more good sires than most men of his day. Red Heart, Glenmasson (sire of Emigrant), Legatee (sire of Pale Star), all made their mark, and proved a great benefit to a wide district ; but still better than any of these was Great Heart, sire of Ace of Hearts and other good horses. Mr. Briscoe had himself been a good man
8O MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
between the flags when young. He won several races with a mare by Economist, and on Wedge won his last steeplechase at Whitefields, beating Lord Waterford, Mr. Power of Gurteen, and Lord Desart, all three first-rate men across a country. In the matter of hounds he had greatly improved the Cur- raghmore pack, which he had hunted himself ; and when he took over the Kilkennies, proceeded to im- port sires and breed largely. At first he had to procure drafts, but after two seasons he relied on his own entry to supply vacancies, and in the year 1875 he put forward fourteen couple, of which he says, in a letter to the Hunt Committee, " he was rather proud." By the wish of the Hunt Committee he engaged John Tidd as huntsman, and got William Nevard as whip. The hounds were moved to Blunden Villa, near Kilkenny, where they remained for about fifteen years, and hunt stables were fitted up in the town. Sir James Langrishe, who had acted as Hunt Secretary for about nine years, and had done much good service in that capacity, resigned in 18/1, and was succeeded by Mr. Seigne ; whilst John Hcarns was appointed earth-warner for the greater part of the county in place of Doolcy, incapacitated by ill- health, and has remained in that position ever since.
Needless to say, Mr. Briscoe showed good sport, and his second season must ever stand out as a red- letter epoch. John Heffcrnan, who had been hunts- man in Tipperary at one time, succeeded Nevard as whip, and later on William Ouinn came from Cur- raghmore, where he had been second whip under John Duke.
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 8 1
During Mr. Briscoe's mastership there was a fine run of sport. Amongst many good days it is no easy task to select the best ; but there are two sportsmen now living who will recall with pleasure a great run from Kiltorcan, inasmuch as they alone saw it, nobody else being near hounds, viz., Mr. <• *<- Hamilton -Stubber of Moyne, in the Queen's County, **"*'* and Mr. William Forbes of Garryhunden, in the County Carlow. By a lucky chance at the railway near Knockwilliam, they jumped into the old road near an arch, and, when they had passed under the line, found themselves alone with hounds (the re- mainder of the field being "hungup" lower down), and had the run to themselves. Hounds ran quite straight and without check past Hugginstown and Boolyglass village, over the Kilmacoliver hills, and into the vale below, killing their fox — a small, dark one — in an orchard between Castletown and Bess- borough. The time was a little over an hour, and the pace so good that none of the field overtook them. The point is between nine and ten miles, and those who know the line will recognise what a fine country was traversed.
The following were amongst Mr. Briscoe's many good things: —
1871, 1 3th January. — Found at Knock roc, ran very hard by Stannard's plantation into Upper- court, right through it, and out at the far end nearly to Kilrush, but wheeled round to the right, passed near Freshford, and up the hills again. Ran nearly up to Knockroe, but bore left-handed, and left off at Brownswood at dark. During this run Mr.
82 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
Edmond Smithwick was so unfortunate as to stake and kill his horse, which gave rise to the lines written by Major Whyte Melville, who was out, and which will be found in the Appendix.
The 25th January may be marked as a red-letter day. Meeting at Coolagh cross-roads, where Lord Waterford and a large contingent from the Curragh- more Hunt put in an appearance, Mr. Briscoe drew Garryricken, found at once, and, after a turn in covert, went away with a big game fox up to Butler's wood,, bore right-handed, and went on to Killamery, then ran past Kilvemnon, and nearly up to Mullinahone, wheeled round towards Callan, and back to Garry- ricken. Without dwelling a moment, this stout fox pursued his way straight through the demesne, and passing by Coolagh, nearly reached Bally tobin, but kept left-handed, and travelled on nearly to Harley Park, from whence he worked his way back by Kil- coran to Garryricken, where he saved his brush by squeezing into a rabbit hole, after a fine hunt, albeit a twisting one, of four hours over a very heavy country. It is superfluous to say that horses were well beat, and many did not get through the run.
Towards the close of 1871, Mr. Briscoe had a fine run from Grcnnan, a double ring, which ended at Coolnahaw at nightfall ; fast all through ; one hour and twenty minutes.
On the 1 5th January, 1873, meeting at Freshford, a fox was found at Barrington's gorsc, ran hard to the Punchbowl, straight through it, and away into the bottoms nearly to Woodsgift. Leaving this to the right hand, ran through Tallyho, and bang into
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 85
Kilcooly, where the fox passing the open earth was killed just beyond it. This was a cracking fifty minutes, and none saw it better than Mr. Robert Stannard, though then not far short of seventy years old.
On February r/th, meeting at Dunmore, Mr. Briscoe brought off a fine ring from Ballyfoyle by Gaulstown, nearly to Uskerty, over the Brown mountain, and so back by Wildfields and Park. In the same year he had two fine runs from Kiltorcan,. closely following each other, and from Ballyspellan,. drawn at twenty minutes to four on the 5th Decem- ber, he scored a blazing forty-three minutes by Frankfort, Persse's gorse, the Seven Sisters, Mary- mount, right into Urlingford village in the dark.
On the 2 1st December the same covert furnished another fine run to ground at Marymount, and the Punchbowl a capital run through Barrington's gorse,. past Trenchardstown and Tullaroan, and to ground on Mr. Dillon's farm.
During Mr. Briscoe's mastership it happened more than once that deficiencies existed in the matter of finances, and that difficulties were encountered in making up the sum required for the Master. On one occasion — in 1874 — Lord Ormonde, who was a great supporter of the Hunt, gave an additional £70 for the purpose mentioned, and in 1875 he cleared off a debt of ^500. This was followed by large donations on other occasions ; and it is certainly not too much to say that he saved the Hunt, if not from extinction, at all events from dropping to a two days a week affair, and that, had he not come forward
84 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
when he did, the Hunt would have been placed in a very awkward position from not being able to meet its engagements.
On the loth May, 1871, a proposal was received from Lord Waterford, through Mr. Horace Rochfort of Clogrennan, at a Hunt meeting, to take over the Rosbercon country (often erroneously called the " Ross " country), which Mr. Briscoe declined to hunt. This tract of country embraces all the area from Tory Hill to the village of Rosbercon, and from that up to Woodstock. Lord Waterford proposed to take the country for ten years, and to make new coverts, &c. The arrangement proposed was carried out, and remained in force till the Curraghmore Hunt came to an end. This country has for the last few years been hunted by the Kilkenny Hounds again, having reverted to the Kilkenny Hunt when Lord Waterford gave up the country. In the early autumn of 1873 Sir Jonn Tower died in London, aged seventy-five. He had hunted regularly up to the last two years of his life, and a very few years before his death hunted six days a week with the Duke of Beaufort, whilst staying at Badminton during part of the season, riding just as forward as he had ever done. Whilst staying in Dorsetshire during the spring of 1872, he went too earl)- to a meet, caught a chill whilst waiting, and was sei/ed with a stroke, from which, indeed, he rallied, but was never the same man afterwards, and was never able to hunt again. His death left a gap in the Kilkenny hunting field and in Kilkenny society which it is scarcely possible to estimate. All over Ireland, and,
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 85
indeed, to a great extent in England, his authority on all matters pertaining to hunting was unques- tioned ; whilst as a country gentleman, his kindly, hospitable nature, and his hearty, genial manner, made him beloved wherever he went, and especially in his own home, where he loved to sec all round him happy. He was in all matters as "straight" as in his riding, the truest of friends and best of neighbours, and his death was regretted by all classes. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son (his eldest boy, John, having died from the effects of a kick from a horse at Boulogne whilst quite young), the late Sir Richard Power, who inherited much of his character, and was himself a beautiful horseman, always riding good horses and sound ones. Sir John had five sons and one daughter, viz., (i) John, who predeceased him ; (2) Richard, third baronet, died in 1892 ; (3) Adam Clayton; (4) George; (5) William ; (6) Augusta, now Lady Wade. The latter rode well, and often accompanied her father when hounds met within reach. Mr. Richard Power, who married Miss Elliott of Goldingtonbury, Bedford- shire, in 1869, lived for some years in Kildare after his marriage, and, together with Mrs. Power, hunted much there, and afterwards in Kilkenny. He died, much regretted, in 1892, and was succeeded by his eldest son, the present Sir John Power.
•86 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
CHAPTER VIII.
IN 1876 Mr. Briscoe resigned the mastership, and received on retirement a testimonial from the Hunt, in the shape of a well-filled purse, and a resolution of thanks for the fine sport he had afforded, as well as for the state in which he left the pack, which, as the resolution proposed by Sir James Langrishe ex- presses it, was in a state of " unsurpassed efficiency." He was succeeded by Colonel Frank Chaplin, who had commanded the 4th Dragoon Guards. He did not profess to be a houndsman, but he knew where to get good hounds, and kept up the pack by fresh blood. He also bought good horses, and mounted his men well. Jack Tidd remained on as huntsman, with W. Ouinn as whip. Colonel Chaplin retained the mastership for four years. During his first season he had very fair sport. Two runs from Bishopslough deserve mention, and, curious to say, occurred within two days of each other.
Meeting on I5th January, 1877, at Flagmount, after a run of forty-five minutes from Flagmount to ground at Gowran, Bishopslough furnished a good fox, which ran nearly to Gowran, then turned left- handed, and went on by Blanchfield, and to Clifden bottoms. One hour and fifteen minutes.
On January I7th the meet was at Lcyrath Gate. Clifden (not unnaturally) was blank, but Bishops-
COLONEL FRANK CHAPLIN.
CAPTAIN
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 87
lough held a fox — not unlikely the same fox as afforded the run two days previously — which went away the same line nearly to Gowran, which he left on his right, and went straight on to Flagmount, which he reached in forty-nine minutes, just in front of the pack. Here a change of foxes occurred, and hounds ran to Castlewarren and back, but getting on to the original fox, killed him.
On November I3th, 1878, Colonel Chaplin had a good run from Clara, over Freestone Hill, across the Dublin road, and on past Clashwilliam. Ran close to Bishopslough, turned right-handed, came through Blanchfield and Clifden bottoms, and marked to ground in Leyrath. The following January he had a very fine run from Butler's wood by Windgap, close to Wynne's gorse, passed Owning covert, and by Kilmacoliver into Castletown, where hounds were stopped in the dark.
In 1880 Colonel Chaplin resigned, and was re- placed by Captain Hartopp, a very fine rider, though a \vclter. There were some fine runs in his first season, though part of the country was short of foxes. He retained John Tidd as huntsman, and had Stephen Smith and Ben Capell (late huntsman to the Blankney, and now huntsman to the Belvoir) as first and second whips. Smith left at the end of Captain Hartopp's first season, and Dan Carroll came as second whip.
About the best run during Captain Ilartopp's mastership was from Gowran. Going away on the western side of the demesne, a very stout fox took a good line nearly up to Bishopslough, but bore right-
88 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
handed, crossed the railway some way on the Kil- kenny side of Gowran station, passed Flagmount and Castlewarren coverts on his right, ran through Clara, and away nearly to Uskerty wood ; but, turning left- handed at the road above it, passed by Muckalee Chapel and so on to Ballyfoyle covert, where he found safety in the earth. Though this run was not straight, it covered a great extent of country, and is remarkable for the number of coverts which were passed, but not entered, by this very bold fox.
On the resignation of Captain Hartopp in 1882, the hounds fell under the management of a com- mittee, consisting of the Earl of Desart, Mr. Daniel Smithwick, Mr. James Sullivan, Mr. C. B. Ponsonby, and Major Bunbury ; but at the close of the year Lord Desart took the sole mastership, and kept the hounds until the spring of 1884, showing good sport under most trying circumstances, and using every endeavour to keep up the pack, which, from relying on drafts rather than on home-bred entries, had to a certain extent deteriorated, and working with a very attenuated subscription.
The agitation with which Ireland was then con- vulsed naturally affected most hunting districts, and Kilkenny was no exception, though it suffered much less than many other Hunts. Gradually, as matters settled, troubles died out, and disappeared altogether nearly ten years since. But it is not too much to say that Lord Desart came in for the most difficult period.
It is not intended to attempt to chronicle the sport during his mastership, but the following run
THE EARL OF DESART
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 89
may be mentioned as amongst his best : — Finding at the Punchbowl, hounds ran hard over Knocknamuck Hill, passed Tullaroan on the right, and went as if for Oldtown, but bearing left-handed, swept along the bottoms under Knockroe, by Ballinamara, Stannard's plantations, past Wellbrook, Leugh, and into Barnaglissawney. All who know the country will recognise what a fine line of grass was traversed in this run, which was fast the whole way.
In 1884 Captain Butson, from the County Galway, became Master on Lord Desart's resignation. About this time the pack was rather short, and the necessity arose for procuring hounds, as getting puppies walked was no easy matter. A chance of a strong draft, or rather of a pack, from Tipperary occurring, Lord Desart purchased it, and generously sold it to the Hunt for half the sum he had paid for it, and thus relieved the Hunt of a rather serious trouble. Captain Butson, on John Tidd leaving, took the horn himself his second season, with George Brown as kennel huntsman, and with Tom Glasson and Tom Whelan as whips.
During Captain Butson's mastership the Hunt funds had become much in debt, and it is but proper that a tribute of thanks should be recorded for a very munificent act on the part of the late Lord Clifden, who was then hunting in the country, and who not only gave a very large subscription to the Hunt, but paid off a debt of ,£550 which had accrued, and, in addition, gave a further donation of £100 to the funds.
In 1886 Captain Butson resigned, and Brown went to the Blackmoor Vale as huntsman. The subscrip-
G
9O MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
tions had now greatly fallen off, and it seemed in- evitable that the affairs of the Hunt must be wound up, and the pack dispersed, in order to meet outstand- ing liabilities. In fact a portion of the pack was actually sold, and went to England, and the remainder was in process of being disposed of to Mr. Burke, Master of the Tipperary Hounds, when Mr. Edmond Smithwick of Kilcreene, to his honour be it spoken, came forward just in time, and bought back twenty couple of hounds, to which Mr. Burke very sportingly waived his right, remarking that " if he could help it, Kilkenny should never be without a hound." Thus was the Hunt saved from dissolution.
The difficulty of mastership was solved by Captain Chaloner Knox agreeing, at the request of some members of the Hunt, to hunt the hounds two days a week for the ensuing season, confining himself to coverts on the western side of the River Nore. Mr. Robert Watson very sportingly undertook to hunt the other side of the country in order to keep it open, and showed good sport for the season. Amongst other runs, he had a rare gallop in the teeth of a gale of wind and rain from Castlewarren to Ballysalla to ground, and a very fine hunting run from Gowran, with a kill in the open.
At the beginning of the season, Captain Knox procured George Mulhall as kennel huntsman from the Queen's County, where he had long filled a similar post under Colonel Garden and Mr. Hamil- ton Stubbcr, and, by permission of Lord Desart, moved the hounds from Blunden Villa to Desart Court, where he fitted up temporary kennels. Capt.
CAPT. R. CHALONER KNOX.
MAJOR J. H. CONNELLAN.
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. QI
Knox had some good sport, a brilliant gallop from Ballyring being about his best.
At the close of the season he resigned, and was succeeded in 1887 by Major Connellan, who moved the hounds, which he purchased from Mr. Smithwick, to kennels at Ennisnag. Here he kept them for three seasons, hunting them himself with George Mulhall as kennel huntsman.
In the spring of 1890 he was succeeded by Captain Langrishe, who has retained the mastership ever since with much success. For one season Mr. Charles Nugent Humble brought a pack to Portlaw, and hunted the Rosbercon country, as well as some coverts near the southern end of the county ; but for the past two seasons Captain Langrishe has resumed every portion of Kilkenny, hunting four and five days a week. In 1891 Mulhall was succeeded by P. F. Dalton, who came from Pembrokeshire, having, however, hunted the Duhal- lows some years back, and having served with the Kildares and Louths at one time. William Stacey served as second whip to Mr. Langrishe for several seasons, and last year was replaced by William Wheatley. The pack is now the property of the Master, and has been moved from Knnisnag to his own residence, where they will be under more direct supervision.
Mr. Seigne resigned the secretaryship of the Hunt in 1880, after holding it for nearly ten years, and was succeeded by Captain R. C. Knox. Later on Captain Stannard held the post, and the succeeding Secretaries have been Major Connellan, Mr. George
92 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
Butler of Maiden Hall, Mr. Tighe, and Captain the Hon. E. B. Stopford, who now performs the duties of the office, which are onerous enough.
It may be mentioned that some twelve years ago, when the dispersal of the pack was nearly coming about, it appeared that the old Hunt Club must also cease to exist, and, indeed, without a pack and a Master, its raison d'etre was hardly apparent. How- ever that catastrophe was happily averted, the Club subscriptions were continued, and a few years since the Club rules were framed afresh, and matters gene- rally placed on a proper footing as regards entrance, &c. Though the system of meeting for dinners, &c.> which obtained a hundred years ago and in the first half of the century could now no longer be carried out, it is hoped that some other form of social enjoyment may shortly be inaugurated in connection with the Club, which seems likely to prosper in the future.
Though the increased facility for moving about, and the number of Hunts now in existence, make it improbable that Kilkenny will ever again have the opportunity of welcoming any great number of strangers, we have had for some seasons a certain number of visitors from neighbouring Hunts, who come down for a day or two a week, and add not a little to our enjoyment, and it is hoped to their own. There have, too, generally been a few sportsmen from other countries who make Kilkenny their head- quarters during the winter. Amongst the former may be mentioned Mr. and Mrs. Grogan, Mr. Stewart Duckett, Captain Forbes, Mr. and Mrs.
CAPT. H. R. L.ANGRI3HE.
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
93
Kavanagh, Mr. Pike, Captain and Mrs. Horc, Major Alexander, and Mr. Thorpe, from the Carlovv country. Amongst the latter have been Mr. Andrew Garden, Mr. and Mrs Odell from King's County, Mr. Bryant, and others. Amongst regiments quartered in Kilkenny there are generally a large proportion of officers who join the field, and give the Hunt every support.
94 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
CONCLUSION.
IT will be evident from the foregoing Memoir that on more than one occasion the Kilkenny Hunt, and with it the old Club, was perilously near extinction, and probably has had more hairbreadth escapes than most packs. The events which occurred at the close of Mr. Meredyth's mastership very nearly led to a break-up of the Hunt. Later on, in 1880 and suc- ceeding years, matters were in a very critical state in Kilkenny, as elsewhere in Ireland ; and in 1886 it seemed inevitable that a final dissolution of the Hunt \vould occur. But, on all these occasions, the sport- ing instincts which are bred in all Irishmen asserted themselves, and a way was found out of the dilem- mas which threatened the Hunt, and hounds are now out oftener than ever.
With regard to sport, it is invidious to draw com- parisons, but it may at least be said, that foxes are capable of making as long points as they ever were, and hounds as capable of hunting them. A scries of fine runs from Rossmore gorse, a covert thoroughly well preserved, culminating in a great run to Upper- court, and a fine hunt last season from Carricktriss to Inistiogc, sufficiently warrant both assertions. It is true that coverts arc nearer to each other than was the case in early days. Some of them, such as
MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 95
Pheroda, Fennon, Clifden bottoms, and the Rock, as well as many of the older coverts, have disappeared ; but, speaking broadly, the majority of the old coverts exist still, whilst many additional ones have been made during the last fifty years. The number of coverts in the country is now about eighty-four, though some are seldom drawn. The proximity of coverts to each other naturally tends somewhat to make foxes run short, and perhaps they may do so more often than was once the case ; but, with a good scent, they will travel as far as ever in all probability, and coverts such as the two Killecns (situated at opposite extremities of the country), Knockroe, Rossmore, Knockbrack, Bishopslough, Windgap, and Carricktriss, may be counted on to furnish as stout and straight-running foxes as most coverts in any hunt.
As regards the keeping of the country, the early practice of leaving everything to the Master was re- placed about thirty years ago by the system of division into districts, certain gentlemen paying all charges as to coverts, damage, &c., in given areas ; and the latter arrangement, wisely carried out, is probably the better one, and fairer to the Master as well as to the farmers and covert-keepers. At all events, it has worked fairly well so far as foxes arc concerned, the country being fully stocked in most parts.
As to the country, though in some districts there is a considerable amount under tillage, the greater part of Kilkenny is under grass, which carries a par- ticularly holding scent, and hounds can travel fast over it ; and it is this latter characteristic which has
96 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT.
won for the country the high reputation which it has always enjoyed. Wire, the curse of so many English counties, may be said to be conspicuous by its ab- sence, except in one or two places, and, indeed, its erection would be a superfluous expense, the stout banks and walls which prevail being sufficient fences against cattle, and infinitely preferable to weak hedges fortified by wire.
But better than all these happy circumstances, a cordial good feeling exists between the Hunt and the farmers, several of whom join in the sport, many of whom walk puppies and preserve foxes, and all of whom enjoy seeing a fox handsomely found and well hunted.
As regards members of the field and their per- formances, it may, perhaps, be said that as there were larger fields fifty years ago there were more hard riders, but that the proportion is as great now as then. It is, however, probable that horsemanship has declined, as well as knowledge of hunting and love for hound-work. But, at least, it may be claimed that the same good feeling animates the Kilkenny field, and that, in the words given in the stirring lines of the Appendix, " No jealousy here mars the joy of a run," and that " good fellowship reigns with the young and the old." That this characteristic, so long attribu- table to the Kilkenny Hunt, may ever continue is the fervent and final aspiration of the Compiler of this little Memoir.
ADDENDUM, 1911.
Since this Memoir was published Mr Langrishe has resigned, and Mr. Isaao Bell is now in his third season as Master, having his resjuence and kennels at Birch- field. He has resumed the Castlecomer and some other country. The Eastern and part of the Southern country is now called the "East Kilkenny" country, and is hunted by Lord Southampton, being taken on lease by a Committee, whilst Mr. Bell, by arrange- ment, gives him the drawing of practically aJl the Coverts in the- neighbourhood of Gowran and Kilfane, where Lord Southampton has been residing for the past three years.
APPENDIX I.
97
APPENDIX I.
LIST OF MR. JOHN POWER'S HOUNDS, I798.
NAME.
Myrmidon Mindful
Sempstress
Roman
Rebel
Rowzer
Rupert
Relish
Boxer
) Col. Thornton's Milton, >- by Merlin, out of ) Muzzy.
Lord Darlington's Vul- can, by Rattler, out of his Version.
r Mr. Willoughby's Rover.
Lord Darlington's Bowler, by his Bow- man, out of Lord Mexborough's Ruby.
Mr. Willoughby's Skilful, by Volant, out of Sing- well. Volant was bred by Mr. Osbaldeston, and got by Lord Fitzwil Ham's Chandler, out of Mr. Os- bakleslon's Vista ; Sing- well, by Mr. Osbaldes- ton's Saxon, out of Prin- cess.
One of Lord Darlington's.
Mr. Wharton's Racket.
N.B. — These five always good hounds, and Relish bred well with every dog.
Mr. Wharton's Rosamond.
|
Dexter Willing |
Mr. Wrightson's Hero, by his Valiant, out of his Harmony. Lord Darlington's Wyndham. |
Mr. Wrightson's Daphne, by Mr. Pelham's Dash- wood, out of Mr. Fol- jambe's Blameless. His Fury. |
98
APPENDIX I.
|
NAME. |
SIRK. |
DAM. |
|
Strider |
Mr. Pelham's Neptune. |
His Gay Lass. |
|
German* Gayman |
Lord Talbot's Grappler. Mr. Wharton's Gauger. |
His Proserpine. His Daisy. |
|
Gallant |
Duke of Bedford's |
His Handmaid. |
|
Gallant. |
||
|
Challenger ... |
Duke of Bedford's Challenger. |
His Transport. |
|
Plunder ... 1 >uke of Bedford's Pillager. |
Cowslip. |
|
|
Grasper Turpin Random |
Duke of Bedford's Tyrant. Duke of Bedford's Turpin. Duke of Bedford's Ragout. |
His Vixen. His Rosamond. His Darling. |
|
Tawdry Hannibal |
^ |
|
|
Clinker |
||
|
Leader |
||
|
Brusher Gipsy Hector |
V Breeding not given. |
|
|
Countess |
||
|
Curious |
||
|
Tantrum |
j |
|
|
Loyal Lawless |
) |
|
|
Dreadful ... - Breeding not given. Ringlet ... i Manager ... / |
NOTE. — The first two hounds mentioned, Myrmidon and Mindful, bred in Col. Thornton's kennel apparently, may have strained back to the family of the celebrated Merkin — the fastest hound of her day — noticed in Appendix VIII., and carried the best blood in England, Colonel Thornton's and Mr. Osbaldeston's packs having been by far the best bred and stoutest in the kingdom.
A famous InnUmi; hound.
APPENDIX I.
1804.
LIST OF OLD PACK.
|
Boaster Binder |
Danger Fireball |
Lightning Masker |
Rambler Ranter |
|
Bluecap Bravo Bluster |
Fairmaid Famous Guardian |
Monster Merkin Music |
Reveller Royster Rattler |
|
Chaser |
Gulliver |
Mermaid |
Swaddler |
|
Comely Duster Drummer |
Ilavock Harper Harpy |
Madman Kavisher* Rival |
Traitor Worthy Wonder |
1804.
|
LIST OF |
YOUNG PACK. |
||
|
Bender |
Gallant |
Galloper |
Murder |
|
Bellman |
General |
Gadfly |
Tragedy |
|
Coiner |
Jumper |
Gambol |
Fair Lass |
|
Drowsy |
Melody |
Fleecer |
Mindful |
|
Daphne |
Melton |
Hasty |
Blueman |
|
Fowler |
Random |
Hazard |
Countess |
|
Gameboy |
Syren |
Hero |
Tyrant |
|
Goldsmith |
Timon |
Darling |
Terrible |
|
Granby |
A famous --ire hound.
100 APPENDIX I.
LIST OF YOUNG PACK, SEPTEMBER, 1805.
|
NAMES. |
SIRES. |
DAMS. |
|
Dashaway Dairymaid Dareful Dainty Diligent Doxy |
1 Drummer |
Melody. |
|
Dwindle Dreadful |
- Reveller |
Doxy. |
|
Gulliver Hackler Harbinger Hector |
> Ravisher |
Old Harpy. |
|
Meteor Minister |
t Traitor |
Mermaid. |
|
Pillager Pilgrim Prudence |
S- Ravisher |
Handsome. |
|
Painful |
' |
|
|
King wood Royster Bashful lioxer |
- From Major Loftus. \ |
|
|
Farmer |
From Mr. Ponsonby. |
|
|
Bonny Lass |
From Duke of Rutland. |
NOTE. — In 1804 Mr. Power seemed to have used Ravisher as a sire eleven times, and numerous litters by him were put out to walk. Of these, Mr. Richard Langrishe (father of Sir James Langrishe) got 6 couple; Mr. Cooke of Kiltinan, 2j couple; 3 couple went to Mr. Jacobs of Mobarnane, in Tipperary ; and others to farmers in the county. Ravisher was used ten times in 1806, and Mr. Langrishe received 5J couple of his progeny; Mr. Cooke of Limerick, 2^ couple; whilst 10 couple were put out with others. He was used for some years. In the year 1806 Mr. Power put out to walk 36 couple of puppies, and it is curious to note the names of farmers who walked
APPENDIX I.
101
puppies, and whose descendants are still in the same farms, such as Aylward of Knockmoylan, Cassin of Ballygerdra, Nicholas Hayden of Dungarvan, Ryan of Kilbline, Forrestal of Listerlin, Sprulian of Mong, Murphy of Closcreg, Murphy of Gowran, Walshe of Bawnskeha, Keeffe of Columbkill, &c. Amongst members of the Hunt who walked puppies were Mr. Mathews of Bonnetstown, Mr. Langrishe, Mr. Bayly of Norelands, Mr. Croker, Mr. II. A. Bushe (living at Ballyduff), and others. In the same year — 1806 — Mr. Power used four sire hounds from Mr. Eyre's pack in Galway, viz., Freeman, Royster, Thunder, and Granby, and of these he used the first-named pretty often in two ensuing years. Possibly he retained these hounds in his kennel. In 1 808 he used Lord Lismore's Charon, a good deal ; in 1809, Lord Craven's Hamlet ; and in 1810, Sir Fenton Aylmer's Trojan ; the favourite sire from his own kennel in the latter year being Blazer. In 1814 he used Lord Fitzwilliam's Plaintiff, Lord Lismore's Pagan, his Render, and his Admiral. In 1815, Lord Lismore's Admiral, his Manager, and his Coroner, Mr. Barton's (The Grove Hounds) Tarewood, and Lord Fitzwilliam's Plaintiff again, in addition to selected sires from his own benches. In addition to those gentlemen already mentioned who walked puppies, \ve find the names of Sir Wheeler Cuffe, Mr. Gough, Mr. Cosby, Mr. Poe (Harley Park), Mr. Waring (Pottlerath), Mr. Davis (Summerhill), &c.
In April, 1816, Mr. Power drafted nine couple of hounds, and kept thirty-seven couple, as under —
HITCHES.
Dauntless
Trifle
Frenzy
Windsor
Handsome
I )esperate
Daphne
Handmaid
Harpy
Bloody
Wuebell
I larmony
Dingy
Tipsy
Tempest
Honesty
Charmer
Miller
|
DOGS. |
BITCHES. |
DOGS. |
|
Dash wood |
Careless |
Ranter |
|
Turpin Alfred Valiant Hercules Chaser |
Dainty Gaudy Melody Hasty Tantrum |
Reveller Bellman Mungo Brasher Fleecer |
|
Crasher |
Hit well |
Trimmer |
|
Tarewood Commodore Conqueror Cannibal Vulcan Terrible |
Restless Ccelia Darling Venom Doxy Caustic |
Bragger Damper Tarquin Major Coiner Ravisher |
|
Barber Blucher |
Comedy Frisky |
Viceroy Platoff |
|
Vaunter |
Priestess |
Gainer |
|
Danger Fowler |
Dash a way Verlin |
Pagan |
|
Rattler |
Diligent |
102 APPENDIX III.
APPENDIX II.
1805. ( i ) Receipt for the Cure of a Mad Dog.
Take the leaves of Rue, picked from the stalks and pounded, six ounces Venice treacle, and the .... of .... of each four ounces. Boil all these over a slow fire in two quarts of old ale till one pint be consumed, then put it in a bottle, close corked, and give of it nine spoonfuls to a man or woman, warm, seven mornings fast- ing, and six to a dog. This the author believes will not (by God's blessing) fail if it be given nine days after the bite of the dog. Apply some of the ingredients to the part bitten.
(2) Receipt for preventing Madness in Dogs.
Two Drachms of Turlet's Mineral. Two Drachms of Musk. Two Drachms of Amber.
To be given every second night till each dog has had three doses.
APPENDIX III.
CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO DURROW COVERTS, NOVEMBER, 1839.
To the Committee of the Kilkenny Club. GENTLEMEN,
Agreeable to your wishes, I waited on Mr. Drought, the Master of the Ossory Foxhounds, and I am delighted to inform you of the result of my visit.
APPENDIX III. IC3
I presented your resolutions to Mr. Drought, which he read. He expressed the strongest feeling of regret to find that any doubt existed as to the line of conduct he had intended to adopt respecting the coverts and earths at Durrow woods. He assured me that his sole ambition was and is to promote good sport, and exert himself with the adjoining masters of foxhounds to effect it. He begged I might communicate these his sentiments to the Com- mittee of the Kilkenny Club, adding how much he was mortified to hear that the members of that Club, of which he was a component part, could imagine that he ever contemplated turning to his own advantage a favour con- ferred on him at the time Sir John Power transferred to him the coverts in question. I requested Mr. Drought might write a few lines on the subject, expressing his sentiments. He immediately went to his study, and in a few minutes returned and handed me a letter, of which the following is a copy : —
"May 6th, 1839. " MY DEAR SIR WHEELER,
" I am very sorry to find there should be any misunder- standing between the Committee of the Kilkenny Hunt and myself respecting the coverts, or rather the earths, in Durrow woods, and by their resolutions I find they have deputed you to confer with me on the subject. I shall most willingly submit to any decision you may come to, which I am sure will be consistent with our mutual good sport. I have had no other object. Assuring you there is no person to whom I would so cheerfully submit a proposi- tion of the kind, or, indeed, any other,
" Believe me, my dear Sir Wheeler,
" Very truly and sincerely yours,
" M. H. DROUGHT.
104 APPENDIX III.
" I enclose Sir John Power's letter, written to me when I first commenced hunting the country." (This letter not given.)
On my return home I waited on Mr. Power, the Master of the Kilkenny Foxhounds ; informed him of the result of my visit and my views on the point in question, which fully met his approbation. I then paid Sir John Power a visit, quite certain that his advice and assistance must be of the greatest consequence, also feeling how much the members of the Club and the inhabitants of the County Kilkenny are indebted to him for the happy days enjoyed since he came into the country, from his unrivalled hospitality, and his unremitting exertions to establish fox- hunting. I was very much gratified by Mr. Bayly's visit, and the gracious and flattering manner he conveyed to me the full approbation of those of the Committee who were made acquainted with my visit to Mr. Drought, and my proposed arrangements.
I cannot conclude without expressing my feeling to Mr. Drought for the manner he received, as well as the flatter- ing authority with which he armed me to settle the task committed to my care.
I have the honour to be, gentlemen,
Your obedient servant,
J. WHEELER CUFFE.
Sir \\~heclcr Cuffe's Views respecting the Earths at Durroii.'
Woods and Coverts.
The earths of Durrow woods and coverts to be stopped at the beginning of October, and that the masters of both establishments use their best efforts to effect the object. The earths to be opened in the end of March, in order to protect the vixens and cubs brought to them from any adjoining earths or coverts.
APPENDIX IV. IO5
APPENDIX IV.
LIST OF HOUNDS FOR 1839.
Huntsman .... Robert Gaunt.
First Whip .... Mick Butler.
Second Whip . . . Tim D\vyer.
Head Earth- Stopper . . Matt Wall.
STUD HOUNDS.
JUSTICE. — By the Duke of Rutland's Pilot, out of Mr. Musters' Judy — Pilot by the Duke of Rutland's Castor, out of his Primrose — Castor by Lord Yarborough's Marplot, out of the Duke's Charming, by his Woodman, by Lord Monson's Careu- — Judy by the Duke of Beaufort's Justice, out of Mr. Musters' Famous.
GRAPPLER. — By Lord Yarborough's Grappler, out of Mr. Osbaldeston's Jewel — Jewel by Mr. Osbaldeston's Walter, out of his Gay Lass — Gay Lass by the Duke of Rutland's Monster, out of Mr. Osbaldeston's Gadfly — Lord Yarborough's Grappler by his Reveller, out of Lord Hare- wood's Graceful — Graceful by Lord Fitzwilliam's Darter, out of Lord Harewood's Gay Lass.
STATESMAN. — By Sir Tatton Sykes' Splendor, out of Mr. Hill's Crafty — Splendor by Mr. Hill's Alfred, out of Lord Middleton's Darling — Crafty by Mr. Osbaldeston's Chorister, out of Darling — Darling out of Lord Kintore's Victor, <8:c.
MARINER. — By Mr. Savill's Rattler, <S:c.
LEXICON. — By Mr. Lambton's Leveller, out of his Sally, &c.
II
IO6 APPENDIX IV.
TRAJAN. — By Lord Yarborough's Lazarus, out of his Trifle.
TOMBOY. — By Justice, out of Mr. Power's Timely — Timely by Sir E. Button's Alfred, out of Mr. Power's Tempest — Tempest by Mr. Barton's Telegraph — Telegraph by Colonel Thornton's Manager — Manager own brother to his famous bitch Merkin.*
FREEMAN. — By Osbaldeston's Furrier, out of his Rosy.
BACHELOR. — By Osbaldeston's Chorister, out of Blemish from the Warwickshire kennel. (By Sir Wheeler Cuffe) Mr. Meynell's BENEDICT — by his Nelson, out of his Bravery — Nelson by Bertram, out of Nelly, &c.
FOREMAN. — By Lord Yarborough's Freeman, out of the Duke of Beaufort's Dalliance — Lord Harewood's DRIVER — by Warlike, out of Damsel — Warlike by the Duke of Rutland's Woodman, out of Bonny Lass — Bonny Lass by Benedict, out of Needful — Benedict by Sir Bellingham Graham's Charon, out of Blithesome — Damsel by Driver, out of Diligent — Driver by Lord Middleton's Denmark, out of Lord Lonsdale's Tidings — Diligent by Lord Fitz- william's Darter, out of Daphne.
ANALYSIS OF WORKING PACK, 1839.
Six Years. — 5^ couple, by sires from Mr. Foljambe, Mr. Osbaldeston's Freeman, Mr. Ashton Smith, and by Grappler.
* Merkin, a beautiful black and white hound, of which the Compiler has a print, was celebrated for her extraordinary pace and stoutness. Colonel Thornton offered to match her against any hound of her year to run five miles over Newmarket Heath (giving 220 yards) for 10,000 guineas. In a trial she had run four miles in seven minutes and half a second ! She was sold in 1795 f°r f°ur hogsheads of claret, the seller to have two of her puppies.
APPENDIX IV. 107
Five Years. — 4 couple, by sires from Lord Yarborough, Sir G. Sitwell, the Warwickshire, Mr. Hill, and by Grappler.
Four Years. — Si couple, by sires from Mr. A. Smith, Mr. Lambton, Lord Yarborough's Trajan, by Grappler, Tomboy, and Justice.
Three Years. — 13^ couple — sires Grappler,Tomboy, Pillager, Justice, Mr. Osbaldeston's Racer, &c.
Two Years. — 4^ couple, by Duke of Beaufort's Foreman, Justice, Mr. Horlock's Pontiff, Wildboy, and Tomboy.
One Year. — n^ couple, by Mr. Meynell's Benedict, the Badsworth Lancer, Duke of Beaufort's Conquest, his Regent, his Dashaway, Lord Yarborough's Watch- man, by Regent, Wildboy, and Woodman.
Total working hounds, 47^ couple.
NOTE. — Of the above, Grappler was sire of six and a-half couple, and Graceful (his sister) dam of seven and a-half couple. Gracious, imported by Gaunt with Grappler and Graceful, does not appear in this list, and may not have bred in Mr. Power's kennel. In the Hound List for 1843, Graceful is credited with four and a-half couple of descendants ; while Galloper, her son, is used as one of the Stud Hounds for the year, and Woodman, by Grappler, is also used, the blood being thus continued.
IOS APPENDIX V.
APPENDIX V.
CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO MR. BRISCOE'S HUNT.
(i) Letter from the Hon, John Ponsonby, afterwards Lord Bessborough, to Mr, John Power, blaster, Kilkenny Foxhounds.
BESSBOROUGH, October Q///, 1842. MY DEAR POWER,
I am told your return to the Kilkenny Races is doubtful, so I write instead of taking the chance of seeing you there. I wanted to see you to talk to you about the hunting. We are going to make different arrangements about our little pack, and are anxious that Mr. Briscoe's followers be able to have some more fox-hunting than they have. The foxes in the coverts on our estate are very abundant, and I should imagine that it would do them no harm to be scouted about ; and as you are not often in this country, I am going to propose to you to give Mr. Briscoe one draw a week from these coverts, excepting, of course, when you are down, when you know me well enough to be one who would do nothing to injure your sport. If this is not ask- ing too much, we shall all here feel very much obliged to you. An early answer will oblige me, as our stay here is rather limited. When you come to hunt this country, which I think you do early in the season, I hope you send us word and come and stay here.
Yours truly,
JOHX PONSONHY.
APPENDIX V. 1O9
(2) Reply to the foregoing Letter.
SION, KILKENNV, October, 1842 MY DEAR BRISCOE,
I now write you the opinions and wishes of some of my hunting men and my own relative to your hunting some of the coverts belonging to the old-established Club and to the County Kilkenny Foxhounds ; and hope that the arrangement will meet the approbation of Mr. Ponsonby and the other members of the Bessborough family, as also yourself and other friends in your neighbourhood, and I am happy to find that the kind support which my father and I have invariably received has so increased the stock of foxes all over the Kilkenny country as to enable us to contribute to your sport without injuring our own. We agree to your hunting and stopping the country containing the following coverts, viz. : — Glenbower, Grove of Bess- borough, Holden's Hill, Gortrush (?) woods, once a week until the first day of March, when this arrangement is to cease after this hunting season, and a new one be entered into the following year and agreed to as circumstances admit. In order to allow the Kilkenny Foxhounds a fair chance of finding in spring, we require from the first of February, should your hounds, in hunting any part of the country, run through and disturb on other days any of the coverts before mentioned, that you are to consider having done so as one of your weekly draws ; also that no fox is to be dug out from any place. You may observe that we have reserved Carricktriss covert exclusively for ourselves, to endeavour to secure a certain find for our men who may come a long distance from the Kilkenny side.
Yours, &:c.,
JOHN POWER.
IIO APPENDIX V.
I trust this arrangement will be considered fair and liberal, and may I beg you will write to me an answer to- this letter agreeing to our proposals, as it will be necessary to have both letters inserted in the Club Book ?
(3) Acknowledgment from Mr. Ponsonby.
BESSBOROUGH, October 24, 1842. MY DEAR POWER,
I gave Briscoe your letter, and he will write an answer as you wish. In the meantime let me thank you very much for the kind manner in which you have met my wishes, and I must also beg to say to the members of your Committee how much I and all the gentlemen of this country feel the very liberal spirit which they have shown in the permission which they have given, and which is all that can be desired. We shall be ready for you at Glen- bower on Wednesday, and very happy to see you after- wards ; and my father begs me to say how happy he will be to see Mrs. Power if it should suit her to accompany you. There are three or four foxes in the Park here, and \ve shall be very glad to have them hunted either day.
Yours truly,
JOHN PONSONBY.
(4) Acknowledgment from Mr. Briscoe.
TINVANE HOUSE, 27/// September, 1843. MY DEAR POWER,
I feel, together with the gentlemen who hunt with me, extremely obliged for your very great accommodation to us in allowing my hounds to draw your coverts. I shall strictly adhere to your letter of last October, and hope that,
APPENDIX VI. Ill
when we shall have the pleasure of seeing you in this part of the country, you will find plenty of game. I assure you that all the people round here are doubly anxious to pre- serve the game for you. Carricktriss is all right now, and six foxes in it.
Yours, &c.,
HENRY W. BRISCOE.
APPENDIX VI.
1843.
At a meeting of the gentlemen of the Kilkenny and Ossory Hunts (held on the 131)1 December, 1843), the following arrangements were come to, and agreed upon by the parties present : —
The bounds of the hunting countries being perfectly understood, that no new coverts, earths, or sewers be made in the neutral part without the consent of both Hunts; that the earths at Ballyouskill be done away with ; that the Ossory Hounds draw the coverts four times, from the first of November each year until the tenth of February ; and that the Kilkenny Hounds draw it four times the rest of the season ; and that the earth at Pheroda be stopped at six o'clock each morning. When the Ossory Hounds hunt Lowhill, that Lowhill be stopped and the sewers about in the same manner for the Kilkenny Hounds in the morning of their hunting Pheroda or Ballyouskill ; that the earth at Ballyconra, and also those of Tinnaslatty, be stopped at six o'clock in the morning for the Ossory Hounds when they draw Durrow woods, the same being done at Durrow
112 APPENDIX VII.
and at Knock .... for the Kilkenny Hounds when they draw the Rock and Beech Hill country ; and that but one earth be kept open during the hunting season at Burrow and the wood in the immediate neighbourhood. Each Hunt to pay the earth-stopper five shillings at the coverts named should the fox not get to ground, and nothing if he does ; also ten shillings for a fine in Ballyouskill.
APPENDIX VII.
CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO HENRY LORD WATERFORD'S HOUNDS.
(i) Letter from Mr. John Power, Master of Kilkenny Hounds.
December 2gth, 1843. DEAR LORD WATER FORD,
The Committee of the Kilkenny Club, in conjunction with myself, have much pleasure in having it in their power to assist in promoting your Lordship's sport, and can give a certain number of draws in the coverts and country hunted by and belonging to the Kilkenny Foxhounds. It has been agreed that you can hunt Tory Hill once before the ist November, twice from the 2oth November to Christmas, thrice from the ist February to the end of that month, making in all five draws in each year. Your Lord- ship can also have three draws in the Clonassy woods and Mr. Green's plantations, Coolnahaw and Brownstown, on any of the days that Tory Hill is hunted that may suit your convenience. The times are specified to avoid your
APPENDIX VII. 113
Lordship's and the Kilkenny Hounds meeting at the same period in the same country. All the earths, &c., to be stopped, as also Knockbrack in the morning ; and should your hounds run their fox into Knockbrack, they can, of course, continue to hunt him. This arrangement to cease at any time the Committee of the Kilkenny Club may deem it necessary.
Yours, &c. ,
JOHN POWER.
(2) Reply from Lord Watcrford.
CURRAGHMORE, January $rd, 1844. MY DEAR POWER,
I am much obliged to you and the Committee of the Kilkenny Club for giving me the draws mentioned in your letter of the 291)1 December. I wish you would let me know the Christian name and residence of Mr. Pope, to whom I am to write about Tory Hill and Clonassy. I am much obliged to you for the trouble you have taken in sending the names of the covert-keepers, &c. I drew Tory Hill last Friday, so of course have no business there until February. On Friday, whilst eating a fox at Tory, half the pack got away with another, which they ran through Clonassy to ground near Knockbrack. After my half had devoured at Tory, I set off in search of the rest, and fell in with Briscoe's hounds, which I mistook for mine. They had a run from Ballinaboola, and were in great glee. We drew out the hounds, and Reynard escaped.
Yours truly,
WATER FORD.
114 APPENDIX VIII.
APPENDIX VIII.
RESOLUTIONS RELATING TO THE CURRAGHMORE COUNTRY.
CLUB-HOUSE, KILKENNY,
June is//;, 1859.
At a meeting of the Committee of the Kilkenny Hunt Club, the following resolution was unanimously agreed to :—
It is the unanimous opinion of the Committee appointed to report on the question of giving up that portion of the Kilkenny country hunted by the late Lord Waterford, that that part of this county known as Briscoe's country, along with the coverts of Tory Hill, Knock brack, and Carricktriss, should be given up to Lord Bessborough on his guaranteeing the Kilkenny Hunt ^"50 per annum, provided he so long continues chairman of the Committee of the Curraghmore Hunt. The Committee have come to this conclusion both from a desire to further the wishes of the members of the Curraghmore Hunt and from having ascertained that the Kilkenny Hunt would be financially in a better position, and that the general sport would be increased by the arrangement.
W. Fl.oon, Chairman. JOHN WALSH. JOHN POWER. E. WARKKX.
/ agree with /he above resolution, with the exception that the sum guaranteed should be ^75 instead of
£s°-
E. WARREN.
APPENDIX IX. 115
At a meeting of subscribers to the Kilkenny Hunt, held at the Club-house on June 27th, 1859, Sir John Power in the chair, it was resolved —
That the coverts of Tory Hill, Carricklriss, and Knockbrack, together with the portion of the country called Briscoe's country, shall be given up to Lord Bessborough for the Curraghmore Hunt* for one year from the 151)1 May last, and for the year following, unless a notice be given in writing, on or before the I5th November, to Lord Eessborough that Kilkenny will resume the country at the expiration of the year 1860, and the same arrangement to continue for a year with regard to a notice to November, such notice to be given by a Com- mittee of the Kilkenny Hunt for the time being, Lord Bessborough guaranteeing a sum of ,£50 per annum. The boundary marked by a red line on ordnance map in the possession of Sir John Power, &c.
APPENDIX IX.
(i) The Kilkenny Hunt fifty years ago (abonf 1820), written about 1870.
What a meet ! I remember one glorious spring morn — Our hearts beat with joy at the sound of the horn ! The breakfast at Rice's1 was sumptuous, but short, For all were most eager to join in the sport. Harry Lorrequer's hero" we think of witli pride, And his sister, a Willett, they rode side by side,
* Henry Lord Waterford, having been killed while hunting in the spring of 1859, was succeeded by his brother, who, being a clergyman, handed over the pack to a Committee, and the Hunt was then first called the Curraghmore Hunt, Mr. Briscoe becoming Master.
1 Now the Club House Hotel. Rice first had the Wheatsheaf, in Walkin Street, Kilkenny, and afterwards took the present Club 1 louse.
- Major O'Flaherty.
Il6 APPENDIX IX.
Disdaining restriction3 and feminine fear,
She so loved the hunting and always was near.
Next Massy from Glenville — how noble his mien —
He enjoyed a good fortune, was mate for a queen ;
And Fosbery4— " Red George" — with brogue as rich quite,
Keen folk, these were welcomed with cheers of delight.
Then Magennis rode hard when the work it got warm,
Though, like young Ambrose Power, lie was minus an arm ;
The young Guv'nor^ rode Watty; Sir Wheeler — staunch
rock —
Rode a tight horse, a son of the famed Hollyhock. Big Bayly, on Giant, made two giants there, Yet his eyes and his head they were felt everywhere ; Young Cooke,(: on his grey, from Kiltinan, did well ; These, with Fowler7 and Watson, s all met at Dunbell. Time was up, " into covert," and clear through they go ; *' Not at home," said Sir John ; 'twas thought it was so. We were leaving in groups, but blind Nixon said " No !" Blind men's poems and travels we cannot deny, But a blind forward horseman was rare to the eye. " There's a hound still in covert,'' said Nixon ; " lie's
here !"
What the blind want in sight they make up in the ear. Old Byrne put them in. " Hark to Warwick !" he cried, For Warwick, old hound, was his boast and his pride.
3 Ladies did not hunt at this time, and this seems to have been the first to appear in the field.
4 At one time Master of the Limerick Hounds, and a great ally of Sir John Power, first baronet.
5 Mr. John Power (afterwards second baronet).
* Mr. Cooke of Kiltinan, father of the present Mr. Cooke.
7 Probably Mr. Luke Fowler, afterwards Rector of Freshford.
* Mr. John Watson of Ballydarton.
APPENDIX IX. I 17
Next moment " away," Warwick still at his brush,
For 'twas Warwick was heard as the hound in the bush.
How soon we reached Clifden ! the railway alone
Would convince in these days that the thing e'er was done.
From Clifden to Bishopslough, thence to Kilfane,
But, well stopped out there, he next made for Grenane,
Though he neared Thomastown, he changed his old route,
Ran towards Coppenagh hills to baffle pursuit ;
But, pressed hard by the ever true pack, this good fox
Wheeled short round to Dangan and earthed 'neath the
rocks.
The field was select, but, with skill and with speed, Sir John9 was the first with the hounds in their need. The picture so gorgeous, from Dangan's full height, Had wrapped me in wonder, amaze, and delight. Then the gallant Sir John cried out, t:Yonder:s Brown's
barn ;" And so finis I put at the end of my yarn.
(2) The Kilkenny Hunt in 1845, written by R. Frankland, Es</.
Kilkenny ! Kilkenny's the land of the chase,
Where men, hounds, and horses all go the best pace ;
The season is o'er, but we must not forget
The good sport we have had, the good fellows we've met.
How oft have we stood by the wild bit of gorse, Expectation alive in each man and each horse — They've found, they're hard at him, he cannot delay ! Johnny1 doubles his horn, tJicv re titcav, they're awav ! !
'•' Mr. Power had not then been created a baronet, but the writer had probably forgotten this fact when he wrote the lines.
1 Sir John Power, second baronet, the Master, hunted the hounds himself.
IlS APPENDIX IX.
Then ride, brothers, ride, do the best that you can ; To live with the pack, sir, you must be a man ; For like lightning they come to their Master so dear, Well known the glad notes of his soul-stirring cheer.
See Desart in front, for the fear of a purl
Or the pace of the hounds never stopped the good earl ;
He goes all at ease like a bird in its flight,
But you won't find it easy to keep him in sight.
There's Rochfort2 all eager to shine in the burst,
He won't be far off, if he is not the first ;
No matter what horse, he's well held and well crammed,
No refusing will do, " Give your lep and be d d."
Old Austin3 with them, too, you'll certainly find — He's not behindhand, though his hand is behind ; And Clayton4 and Stannard,5 who well knew the trick Both to blaze through a burst and come up by a nick.
[But who's that bold horseman, so tall and so stout ? He rides eighteen stone, but he can't be thrown out ; Feather weights to the front rank relinquish your claims Whene'er in the field you encounter Lord James."]
Here's St. George7 and Ponsonby,s both from the North, And two better fellows there never came forth ; The Uppervvood coverts oft gave us a run, And Woodsgift ne'er failed us for foxes or fun.
• Mr. Horace Kochfort of Clogrenane, County Carlow.
3 Mr. Augustine or Austin Butler, from County Clare.
4 Mr. Clayton Savage of Norelands.
5 Mr. Robert Stannard, the last survivor of those mentioned in these lines, died a few years since ; or perhaps his brother William.
6 Lord James Butler.
7 Sir Theophilus St. George of Woodsgift.
' Captain Thomas Ponsonby lived at Uppercourt at that time.
APPENDIX IX. 119
[Of all the hard riders that ever were seen, I never met any like Johnny Gurteen ;'•' Just look, and acknowledge 'tis hopeless to beat So perfect a hand and so firm-set a seat.]
See Congreve10 and Briscoe" from Waterford side, Both ardent for sport, and both good ones to ride ; In each both the rider and sportsman are seen, The steadiest in hunting, in racing most keen.
There's Shannon,1" on Irishman, and, never fear, Wherever the hounds you'll discover the peer ; I'd bet a large sum, be the run slow or fast, He ne'er leaves the pack and's well up at the last.
[See another Corkadian13 close by his side, On his striding bay Diamond so easily ride ; And Kilkenny will e'er her best welcome afford To so gallant a Squire and sporting a Lord.]
See the brave little Flood" streaming gallantly on, And the Hindostan hero, the bold Captain John's; And Mick,1" all alive his assistance to yield, Mick so careful in kennel, so keen in the field.
9 Mr. John Power of Gurteen (father of the present Count de la Poer). So called to distinguish him from his brother-in-law, Sir John Power.
10 Either Mr. Congreve Fleming or Mr. John Congreve of Mount Congreve.
1 Mr. Henry Briscoe of Tinvane, afterwards Master of the Curragh- more and Kilkenny Hunts. '* The Earl of Shannon.
13 Mr. R. Frankland of County Cork, the writer of these verses.
14 Mr. Hartford Flood of Family.
15 Captain John Hamilton, a visitor.
1(1 Mick Butler, Kennel Huntsman to Sir John Power.
I2O APPENDIX IX.
But they come to a check, and ne'er out of his place, The Caffre17 pulls up, but there's gloom in his face ; " Give them time, now," he cries, "and be steady, I pray ; " Information, oh ! Johnny, so leads you astray."
They've hit him again, he goes right up the hill, Now, now is the time to show judgment and skill ; Each horse and each rider will shortly be known, The bad will be stopped and the best will be blown.
Of the many bold horsemen that started, but few Could live with the pack as they raced him in view ; But who went the best and who stopped in distress, I could tell if I chose, but I leave you to guess.
For no jealousy here mars the joy of a run, No jostling when going, no boasting when done ; Good sportsmen they're all, whether cautious or bold, And good-fellowship reigns with the young and the old.
NOTE. — The stanzas in brackets were written by another.
(3) Lines written by Major Whyte Melville on the death of a favourite horse, " Siim," belonging to Mr. Edmond Smithwick of Kilcrcene, and inscribed on one of the horse's hoofs, which was mounted in silver and presented to him by Mr. George Bryan and Major IVhyte Melville in 1871.
In the corner of the stable there's a lone and empty stall, There's a snaffle and a breastplate hanging idle on the wall; There's a hoof on the chimney that was foremost in the van, And ira/.ing on it — mute and sad — a sorrow-stricken man.
17 Mr. John Wade, brother-in-law of Sir John Power, had served in South Africa with his regiment, the 72nd Highlanders, and had thus acquired the cognomen of " the Caffre."
APPENDIX \. 121
His heart is aching with a void that never shall be filled, For the fav'rite that he loved so well, the fav'rite he killed ; Through the bounds of fair Kilkenny, though he search it
hill and plain, Ned Smithwick cannot hope to find so good a horse again.
Bank, wall, or ditch, no matter which, he landed safe and
clear, And "change" or "kick," would do the trick, and jump
it, never fear ; The fence could not be strong enough, nor long enough the
day, No hounds could run too smart a pace for "Sam," the
gallant grey.
To E. SMITHWICK, " From Whyte Melville and George Bryan."
APPENDIX X.
LIST OF HOUNDS FOR 1850, 1860, 1872, 1892. Kilkenny Foxhounds, 1850.
Master .... Mr. George Bryan.
Huntsman .... Denny Gallaghan.
First Whip . . . Frank Walker.
Second \Vhi(> . . . Richard Roach.
ANALYSIS.
Eight years, — \ couple. Sire. — Lord Lonsdale's Foreman. Seven years. — 1£ couple. Sires. — Lord Yarborough's
Flasher, from Lord H. Bentinck.
Six years. — \ couple. Sire. — Duke of Rutland's Fencer.
I
122 APPENDIX X.
Five years. — \ couple. Sire. — Lord Yarborough's Wel- lington.
Four years. — 5 couple. Sires. — Duke of Rutland's Comus, Lord Fitzwilliam's Shiner, Kilkenny Vanguard, Lord Shannon's Marplot.
Three years. — 7 couple. Kilkenny Blazer, Mr. Foljambe's Blazer, Duke of Rutland's Comus, Lord Fitzwilliam's Finder, Sir John Cope's Pagan, Kilkenny Vaulter.
Two years. — 5 couple. Sires. — Duke of Beaufort's Free- man, Harlequin, Lord Fitzwilliam's Finder, Kilkenny Reveller, Duke of Beaufort's Foiler.
One year. — u couple. Sires. — York Wilder, Sir R. Sut- ton's Freeman, Mr. Foljambe's Render, Splendor.
Total hounds, 3 r couple.
Kilkenny Foxhounds, 1860.
Master .... Lord St. Lawrence. Huntsman .... George Jones. Whippcr .... James Monaghan.
ANALYSIS.
Seven years. — i couple. Sires. — 'Lord Yarborough's Rally- wood, Mr. Foljambe's Forester.
Six years. — 4 couple. Sires. — Kilkenny dasher, Mr. Baker's Comus, Mr. Foljambe's Manager, Pytchley Flasher.
Five years. — 2 couple. Sires. — Clasher, Belvoir Guider, Kilkenny Foreman, Kilkenny Fleecer.
Four years. — 6 couple. Sires. — Mr. Foljambe's Sorcerer, Mr. Drake's Conqueror, Lucifer, Kildare Ranter, Lord H. Bentinck's Contest.
Three years. — -4 couple. Sires. — Duke of Beaufort's Baronet, Lord Yarborough's Pleader, Duke of Rut- land's Blucher.
APPENDIX X. 123
Two years. — 5 couple. Belvoir Grappler, Belvoir Ferry- man, Lord H. Bentinck's Lucifer, Mr. Foljambe's Reginald, Sorcerer.
One year. — n£ couple. Sires. — Lord H. Bentinck's Lucifer, Belvoir Lucifer, Belvoir Ferryman, Belvoir Grappler, Lord Yarborough's Gainer, Baronet, Nettler, Mr. Drake's Despot, Tipperary Hero, Mr. Foljambe's Reginald, Sportsman.
Total hounds, 33^ couple.
Kilkenny Foxhounds, 1872.
Master .... Henry W. Briscoe.
Huntsman .... John Tidd. First \Vhip .... John Heffernan.
ANALYSIS.
Eight years. — i couple. Sires. — Mr. Foljambe's Primrose, Ruler.
Seven years. — 2 couple. Sires. — Lord Yarborough's Charon, Lord Doneraile's Factor, Kilkenny Valiant, Lord Leconfield's Dexter.
Six years. — 3^ couple. Sires. — Lord Poltimore's Armiger, Kilkenny Valiant, Duke of Beaufort's Sulphur, Duke of Rutland's Stormer, Warwickshire Bluecap, Lord Yarborough's Painter.
Five years. — 4 couple. Sires. — Heythrop Fugleman, Kil- kenny Ganymede, Mr. Watson's Pirate, Heythrop Anchorite, Lord H. Bentinck's Regulus.
Four years. — 4 couple. Sires. — The Grove Comus, Hey- throp Tyrant, The Grove Layman, Lord Portsmouth's Marquis, The Galway Splendour, Mr. Lane Fox's Rutland, Cotswold Gallant.
124 APPENDIX X.
Three years. — 12 couple. Sires. — Lord Yarborough's Noble, Lord Poltimore's Pilgrim, Curraghrnore Mountebank? Grove Nimrod, Belvoir Stranger, Burton Lexicon, Burton Vanguard, Burton Burton, Lord Yarborough's Dragon, Lord Yarborough's Valiant, Carlow Pirate, &c.
Two years. — 9^ couple. Sires. — Belvoir Rubicon, Polti- raore Sailor, Grafton Senator, Grafton Sycophant, Lane Fox's Rutland, Curraghmore Tarquin, Curragh- more Justice, Duke of Beaufort's Caliban, Lord Yarborough's Royal, Heythrop Pleader, Kilkenny Finder. &c.
One year. — 1 1 couple. Sires. — Curraghmore Bondsman, Curraghmore Starlight, Curraghmore Nettler, Carlow Tomboy, Grove Basilisk, Lane Fox's Rutland, Polti- more Lifter, Poltimore Voyager, Lord Yarborough's Noble, York and Ainsty Archer.
Total hounds, 47 couple.
Kilkenny Foxhounds ^ 1892. Master .... Capt. Langrishe. Huntsman .... The Master. First \Vhip . . .P. F. Dalton (K.H.). Second Whip . . . Wm. Stacey.
ANALYSIS.
Seven years. — i hound. Sire. — Carlow Roman.
Six years. — z\ couple. Sires. — Lord Willoughby de Broke's Pleader, Bramham Moor Grappler, Oakley Rhymer, Lord Leconfield's Dorimont.
Five years. — 5^ couple. Sires. — Belvoir Gambler, Blank- ney Chaser, Oakley Foreman, Rufford Galliard, Duke of Beaufort's Commodore, Cheshire Statesman, Du- hallow Darter, Kilkenny Nestor.
AI'1'ENDIX X. 125
Four years. — 5^ couple. Sires. — Brocklesby Sapient, Car- low Marmaduke, Carlow Blazer.
Three years. — 8 couple. Sires. — Belvoir Playmate, Belvoir Treasurer, Dtihallow Chaser, Fitzwilliam Remus, Bur- ton Rally wood, Carlow Bouncer, Carlow Wellington, Kilkenny Selim, Kilkenny Liberal, Kilkenny Nimrod, &c.
Two years. — n couple. Sires. — Belvoir Gambler, Belvoir Dryden, Belvoir Shamrock, Belvoir Graphic, Belvoir Pirate, Belvoir Nominal, Burton Rallywood, Worcester Tapster, Lord W. de Broke's Harper, Mr. M'Kenzie's Roman, Kilkenny Manager, Kilkenny Blondin.
One year. — 15^ couple. Sires. — Belvoir Duplicate, Bel- voir Discount, Belvoir Gambler, Brocklesby Baffler, Brocklesby Norman, Worcester Albion, Worcester Newsman, Worcester Trader, Worcester Watchman, Burton Rallywood, Mr. M'Kenzie's Wildair, &c.
Total hounds, 49 couple.
The foregoing lists of the Kilkenny pack have been given in an abbreviated form in order to show that, espe- cially in the twenty years succeeding Sir John Power's mastership, the breeding of the Kilkenny hounds was kept up by fresh blood from the best English kennels. In recent years, as will be seen by the concluding list, much good has been done in the way of improvement, and in the last ten years the pack has gradually been built up again.
126 APPENDIX XI.
APPENDIX XI.
Copy of an Agreement between the Committee of the Kilkenny Hunt Club and Thomas Mathews, Huntsman, 1853.
To supply the following articles at the following prices : —
A feeder, for ... ... ... ..v-£iS 5 o
Candles for stable and kennel ... ... 540
Soup for kennel ... ... ... 200
Medicine and dressing for hounds ... ... TO o o
Mops, chamois, buckets, and forks ... ... 410 o
Currycombs, chamois, buckets, &c., for stable 410 o Whipcord, whips, breeches, boots, spurs, caps,
coats, and waistcoats ... ... ... 1715 o
£62 4 o
Wages for huntsman and whips ... ... 120 o o
Fuel of kennel and stable ... ... 35 o o
Three tons of coal to be allowed Mathews for
his own use 212 6
Total, ^,219 1 6 6
C. W. Gmns £ SON, Printers, 18 Wicklow Direct. Dublin/
ERRATUM.
Page 81, line 6, instead of Mr. Hamilton Slubber, read Major Ralph P.unbury, of Noremount, Kilkenny.
126 APPENDIX XI.
APPENDIX XI.
Copy of an Agreement between the Committee of the Kilkenny Hunt Club and Thomas Mathews, Huntsman, 1853.
To supply the following articles at the following prices : —
A feeder, for ... ... ... ...^18 5 o
Candles for stable and kennel ... ... 540
Soup for kennel ... ... ... 200
Medicine and dressing for hounds ... ... TO o o
Mops, chamois, buckets, and forks ... ... 410 o
Currycombs, chamois, buckets, &c.. for staKi^
... ^ o o
i nree tons of coal to be allowed Mathews for his own use 212 6
Total, ^,219 1 6 6
C. W. (Jiiii'.s £ SON, Printers, 18 Wicklow Street. Dublin.'
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