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TUFTS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

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Webster Family Librrry cf Veterinary Medicine

Cummings School c" vs-erinary Medicine at

Tufts University

200 Westboro Road

North Grafton, MA 01536

THE REMINISCENCES OF
FRANK GILLARD

THE SPORTSMAN'S LIBRARY

Edited by Right Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart, M.P.

The Life of a Fox, and The Diary of a Huntsman.
By T. Smith.

A Sporting Tour. By Col. T. Thornton.

The Sportsman in Ireland. By A Cosmopolite.

Reminiscences of a Huntsman, By the Honourable
Grantlev Berkeley.

The Art of Deer-Stalking. By William Scrope.

The Chase, The Rod, and The Turf. By Nimrod.

Days and Nights of Salmon- Fishing in the Tweed.
By William Scrope.

Library Edition, uniform in size with this volume.
Handsomely Bound, 15s. a volume.
Large Paper Edition, £2 : 2s. a volume.

THE REMINISCENCES

OF

FRANK GILLARD

(HUNTSMAN)

WITH THE BELVOIR HOUNDS
i860 to i8c)6

BY

CUTHBERT BRADLEY

"whipster,"' of "land and water"

LONDON

EDWARD ARNOLD

Pobltsi^cr to tfjE Cnlita ©ffirc
37 BEDFORD STREET

1898

PREFACE

I HAVE hunted the Hne for forty seasons and more,
and now I am asked by the rising generation of
sportsmen to speak to it, and am reminded that it
is a trait of the beautiful Belvoir blood that they
can say plenty about it. Well ! the memory of a
lifetime spent as huntsman in the Dukes of
Rutland's service is a very pleasant one, and has
sped by far too quickly. It is a long way to cast
back, and was never a favourite practice of mine
when I carried the horn. Forrard, hark, forrard !
must ever be the watchword of the chase, and as
memories of those who spent their happiest
moments with hounds come quicker than the pen
will spring to the touch, Mr. Cuthbert Bradley is
kind enough to guide that for me. Besides, I am
reminded that on one occasion I broke my leg
when driving a unicorn team, proving the old adage,
" Every cobbler should stick to his last," therefore
it is better that the practised pen and pencil of
another sportsman, who has employed both during

vi HUNTING REMINISCENCES

twelve seasons' sport with the Belvoir, should lead
the gallop over these pages.

JNIy feelings prompt me to dedicate this volume
to the memory of my late master, Lord Charles
Cecil John INIanners, Sixth Duke of Rutland, as a
sMght token of unchanged regard and esteem. The
kind personal feehng and interest always shown by
the house of INIanners towards me during my long
tenure of office as huntsman to the family pack,
has been an inspiration to excel so far as in me lay.
To encouragement from the late Duke of Rutland
I owe the habit of keeping a continuous record of
the doings of hounds in the field through all my
time, to which fact this book owes its origin, and I
venture to hope that the anecdotes and sayings
recorded therein of a succession of generations of
sportsmen who have made Leicestershire famous
will be read in no unkindly spirit, but will keep
their memory green for many a year to come.
Amongst those whose remarks in print I value
greatly and have kept for reference when discussing
hounds, are those of Mr. G. S. Lowe, Captain
PenneU Elmhirst, Plantagenet, and Phantom, of
the Field newspaper, who spent many an hour on
the flags with me at Belvoir. The writings, too,
of Whipster of Land and Water ^ and Tally-ho of
the Grantham Journal, I gratefully acknowledge ;
whilst through the kind permission of Mr. Basil
Nightingale, the proprietors of Land and Water,

PREFACE

vu

and Bailys Magazine, many of the illustrations

appear here.

The memory of my hounds is very dear to me ;

their individuality has left a lasting impression on

my mind like those of human friends, which only

death can cancel. It was beautiful to have to hunt

such hounds !

F. G.

Belvoib Kennels,
1896.

.• .>j\j'^

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

Early Days

A Tribute to Fox-hunting — Frank Gillard's Fame as a Hound-Breeder
— The Belvoir and the Brocklesby — The Points of the Belvoir
Blood — Frank Gillard's Qualities — His Early Life in Devonshire,
and Arrival at Belvoir — The Sixth Duke of Rutland and Lord
Forester — Mr. Henry Chaplin, M.P., Master of the Burton —
Anecdotes — Lord Forester and old Will Goodall — Huntsman to
Mr. John Chaworth Musters, the South Notts and Quorn — Mr.
Musters' horse Valesmau — The hunters Lady Gray and Methodist —
Colonel Burnaby, M.P.— Mr. Tailby, M.F.H.— Sporting Parsons,
the Rev. H. Houson, the Rev. Desborowe, Rev. Thomas Heath-
cote — Rev. Waters — Rev. King — Rev. T. Bullen — Rev. John Cal-
craft. Rev. R. Sharpe, the Rev. W. Newcome, Rev. J. P. Younge,
Rev. Banks Wright — the Rev. G. Carter — Verses by Mr. Parke of
Stragglethorpe — Fathers of the Hunt . . . Page 1

CHAPTER H

Spobt in the Sixties

The Origin of Frank's Diary — Blowing the Duke's Horn for the first
Time — About Hunting-horns — A Pattern Horn — Colonel John
Reeve of Bulby Hall — Sir Thomas Whichcote — Mr. Chaworth
Musters and his Ancestors ; his Prowess in the Field^ — The Quorn
and Belvoir countries compared — Fatal Accident to a Quorn
Whipper-in — Mr. John Coupland succeeds Mr. Musters to the
Quorn — Mr. Gaskin of Sysonby Lodge — About the Planting and
Keeping of Fox Coverts — Advice given to Frank Gillard by Mr.
Musters and the Duke of Rutland . . . Page 15

X HUNTING REMINISCENCES

CHAPTER III

Season 1870-71

The Hunting View from Belvoir Castle — Appointment of Huntsman
to the Belvoir — Letters of Congratulation — Will Goodall, junior.
First Whip — The Institution of the Hound Van — The Kennels at
Ropsley — James Cooper, late Huntsman — The Duke of Rutland's
Visit to the Kennel — Dick Christian's Story of the Duke's Leap —
Tlie Duke as a Master — Mr. George Lane Fox's Letter to Mr.
Tom Parrington — Frank's First Entry in the Diary, Aug. 23,
1870 — Osbaldeston Furrier — The Belvoir and Cottesmore Hunts
join in the Field — The Duke takes a heavy Fall — Mr. Tom
Hutchinson picks him up — A Day of Disaster — Sir Watkin
Winn's " Royal " and John Walker in his Kennel — A good Run,
and Mr, Henry Custance asks for the Brush — H. R. H. the Prince
of Wales has a Day^ — Tlie Field out . . , Page 27

CHAPTER IV

Seasons 1871-72 and 1872-73

The Hunt Stud — The Mare that taught Mr. James Hutchinson—
Jumping Gates — The Hunters Black Charley and Culverthorpe —
Old Tom Chambers — Mr. Ferrand — Sir Thomas AVhichcote's Stud
— A Visit from Mi-. Chaworth Musters — A Morning's Cubbing in
Flood with Mr. Algernon Turnor only — The Belvoir catch a
Blankney run Fox, and two Opinions about it — Colonel the Hon.
H. H. Forester — H. R. H. the Prince of Wales at Croxton Park —
H.R.H. clears a Prostrate Farmer — H.R.H. apologises — A wet
Day in Lincolnshire — A good Day and Mr. George Drummond —
Frank Beers from the Grafton — The Hound Grafton Silence

Page 43

CHAPTER V

Seasons 1873-74 and 1874-75

Sir Francis Grant, P.R.A., in the Field and at Work — Leicestershire
Sport compared with Lincolnshire Sport^ — Will Goodall, junr. —
Sir Frederick Johnstone and Mi*. " Chicken " Hai-topp — Huutei's
Tom Day and Lady Grey — Lord Wilton leads the Field — William
Blakesborough, Whip — Death of Lord George Manners — Mr.
Richard Norman and Lord Forester — The Empress of Austria
has a Morning's Cub-huuting — Her Beagles in Austria — Thirty-

CONTENTS xi

eight Days' stop for Frost — Red -Letter Days afterwards — A Fall
taken by Captain Riddell — Lord Wilton and Lord Grey de Wilton
at Timber ...... Page 57

CHAPTER VI

Season 1875-76

Belvoir Blood and Competition — ''Gillard's Compound" — Alfred Orbell
Whipper-in — Gillard's Opinion on digging out Foxes — The Rev.
" Billy " Newcome of Boothby and Mr. Banker Hardy of Gran-
tham the last home — A Run in the Fens piloted by Mr. F. Smith
— Lenton Church Spire — Cuthbert Bede's Pen — Peck, the second
Whipper-in, has an awkward Experience — Mr. Micklethwaite on
Sport and Marriage — The Gray Horse Sluggard — Retrenchment
and Subscription from the Lincolnshire side — Fox killed in a
Brewing-Tub at Sleaford — Mr. Tom Oliver — A good Day in
Leicestershire and Miss Miles in the Field and on Paper

Page 72

CHAPTER VH

Season 1876-77

John Bull's Top-boots — Catching a Lamb-stealer — Thomas, Earl of
Wilton, Social AV^hip to the Quorn — Turkish Bath for Hunters —
Mr. Little Gilmour, Prince of the Heavies — Sir George Wombwell
— The Messrs. Behrens — The Butcher in Blue — The Hound
Weathergage entered — Belvoir and Brocklesby Entries — Will
Goodall and Rallywood in 1850 — Distinguishing Points of the
Belvoir Pack — Weathergage's Pedigree — Mr. Burbidge of Thorpe
and his Fox Covert — A Kill in Staunton Churchyard — Lord
John Manners across Country — Sir Beaumont and Lady Florence
Dixie — Major VV^hyte Melville— Captain Pennell Elmhirst — Melton
Spinney — The longest Run of the Season — Lord Carrington —
The best Day of the Season — The Hoi'se Melon — Presentation of
Plate to the Sixth Duke of Rutland, and his Speech . Page 87

CHAPTER VIH

Season 1877-78

A scratch Pack v. a thoro'bred Pack — The Business of the Summer —
The blind Master from the Grove — Proof of the Pace of the Belvoir
Hounds — Lord Rossmore sui-prises Mr. Little Gilmour — Nine of

xii HUNTING REIVIINISCENCES

the Messrs. Hornsby in one run — The Rectoi* of Colsterworth's
Cottesmore Hunt Hat — Frank's Description of a good Hound Day —
The Saffron Family as Hounds — The Samuda Pink Wedding —
Another good Hound Day, Senator, Saffron and Brusher — The
Hound Wellington killed on the Railway — A good Run from Melton
Spring — Lady Florence Dixie presented with the Brush — Story
of Captain " Tom " Boyce winning a Brush and Hunt Button — A
good Run and Lady Florence Chaplin presented with a Brush — The
Ash Wednesday Run — The Hon. H. H. Molyneux's Collection of
Ash Wednesday Masks — The Horse Wing gets in the Smite — The
Hose Gorse black Fox rather wide of his Home . Page 102

CHAPTER IX

Season 1878-79

Will Wells, Whipper-in — George Gillson's Career — George Cottrell
leads for a Sovereign — A Wet Jacket — The Belvoir and Quorn
Packs clash — Two good Gallops from Leadenham — Colonel John
Reeves' Entree Dish — Parson Heathcote's Pudding — Brook-
jumping — The good Fox of Sherbrooke's Covert — A Run to the
" Forty Foot " Drain — A severe Run from Sproxton to Crown
Point — A curious Accident to Mr. Alfred Cross — Good Sport —
The Messrs. Frank and George Gordon — Three Foxes killed by
Haverholme — The Horse Peter — Mr. Fisher of Orston Page 119

CHAPTER X

Seasons 1879-80 and 1880-81

Hunt Changes — Tea with Frank Goodall, the Queen's Huntsman — A
Country equal to the Vagaries of any Weather — An awkward
Accident — Smite Hill Gorse Flames head a Fox — The big Ash
Wednesday Dajf — Mr. Alfred Brocklehurst first up — Colonel
Gosling borrows some dry Clothes — A Kill under a Woman's
Petticoats — Frank Rides a run under Chloroform — Will Wells'
Horse out all night — Twelve - Hour Cubbing Mornings —
Arthur Wilson, Whip — Parson Bullen of Eastwell — Wet and
good Sport — Interviewing the Duke in his Bed — The Taste of a
" Pug " — Blooding a fat American Gentleman— A Jackal Tooth
Scarf-pin — A fast Gallop and dead Fox next Day — Lord Queens-
bury — Lord Doneraile, his Hounds, his pet Fox, his End — A
long Run ...... Page 134

CONTENTS xiii

CHAPTER XI

Season 1881-82

Trojan kills a Fox single-handed — Heathcote Covert — Heathcote
Hunters^ Blue Stockings, Janette, and Miss Coates — Hunting in
a Hurricane at Aswarby — Sir Thomas Whichcote's Pony — Will
Tidey, the hard-riding Keeper — Mr. Ashmead Bartlett Burdett-
Coutts joins the Hunt — A quick burst in Leicestershire — Good
Days — Folkingham Big Gorse— Accident to the Rev. Thomas
Heathcote— Buying Horses without seeing them — Berserker the
Hunter Sire — Mr. "Banker" Hardy — A Run Fox killed by Grey-
hounds—The gamest Fox ever hunted — Arthur Wilson swims the
AVTiissendine — Devonshire and Leicestershire Rivers compared —
Will Wells and Arthur Wilson across Country — Will Wells'
Testimonial ...... Page 151

CHAPTER XII

Seasons 1882-83 and 1883-84

All the Elements of Danger, Steam, Teeth, and Water — The Hunter
" Belvoir Grey Bob " and his end — The fastest Dart of the Season
— Lord Grey de Wilton breaks his Leg — Runs from Costou Covert
— Tom Chambers the old second Horseman — The Horse Gameboy
— Mr. Tom Hutchinson down but not dismayed — A good Run and
Mrs. Cecil Chaplin presented with the Brush — Gillard breaks his
Leg driving the Hound Van home — Letters of Condolence — Mr.
George Lane Fox on Hound-breeding — Acting the Good Samaritan
and its Consequences — Harry Bonner the Whip — Mr. Merthyr and
Lady Guest — The great Day of the best Season on record — A good
Leicestershire Hunt — Horses go in for Swimming — Sir Thomas
Whichcote begs a Mask — A fine Field of Ash Wednesday Horse-
men ....... Page 165

CHAPTER XIII

Season 1884-85

The Hound Gambler described, and his Measurements — Canon
Kingsley's Description — The Hound Gameboy — Cub -hunting
Notes — George Carter the Fitzwilliam Huntsman, and the Puppies
by Rubican — Arthur Wilson gets stuck in the Smite — The Belvoir
and Quorn Gallop ; Rivalry and the Kill — The Brush of the
Belvoir and Quorn Fox — The Rauceby Pink Wedding — The

xiv HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Belvoir Hunt Steeplechase Course — A Leicestershire Spin^ — The
Marquis of AV'aterford — A critical Field out for the last Day's
Sport ....... Page 180

CHAPTER XIV

Seasons 1885-8G axd 1886-87

Six Masters of Hounds out Cub-hunting — Mr. Brockton of Farndon —
Tlie big Day of the Season ending at Blankney — Good Hound
^Vork — A Day with Lord Lonsdale's Hounds at Blankney — Blood-
ing Lord William Manners — Mr. Basil Cochrane — The hardest Day
of the Season with many Leicestershire Foxes — Home on Foot,
all the Horses beat — Three of the Hunt Horses — Frank Beers the
Grafton Huntsman — A Note about the Brocklesby Kennel — Several
good Days — A Run and Kill by the Forty-Foot Drain — A Wedding
Special saves the Pack from Destruction — A good March Gallop
and Kill in an Ash Tree — A Note of Music in Frank's Diary — The
Fowl-House Door opens to the Name of the Duke . Page 193

CHAPTER XV

Seasons 1887-88 and 1888-89

Gillard's Family — Frank Gillard, junior, joins the Hunt Staff — A good
Run from Sapperton Wood ; Mr. John Gubbins presented with the
Brush — Mr. Cecil Rudkin goes hard — Hunting till Dark — The
Belvoir and Cottesmore Hounds come together in the Field — The
Hound Cottesmore Prodigal — The Kennels to which Frank went
for Blood — Old Sir Thomas Whichcote's Opinion of the Day, and
his Letter — The late Duke of Clarence — Death of Mrs. ^Villson of
Rauceby — Dangers of a Swallow-Hole — Mr. Otho Paget jumps
locked Railway Gates — Death of the Master, the Sixth Duke
of Rutland — Succession of the Seventh Duke of Rutland — Stud
Hounds, the Entry and Nominal — Good Hound Day by Culver-
thorpe — Aswarby Foxes — An Accident to the Hound Van — Mr.
Jolland wins a Fen-Land Fox's Brush — Count Zhrowski — Lost
Hounds finding their Way back — Ash Wednesday drops out of the
Fixtures — Mr. Richard Fenwick presented with a Brush — A Lady
of eighty-six presented with her first Brush — Captain Pennell
Elmhirst's Tribute to Gillard's Vigour and Keenness at the end of
his nineteenth season Huntsman . . . Page 208

COxNTENTS XV

CHAPTER XVI

Seasons 1889-90 and 1890-91

The Demand for Gillard's Whippers-in — Accidents to Hounds in the
Field, on the Line, and over a Cliff — Tree-climbing Foxes — Mrs.
Edgar Lubbock presented with a Brush — Before Christmas Sport
— A Ride Home on a very dark Night — A Curious Accident
to Mr. Edgar Lubbock's Horse— The Weight of a Fox— The
Election and Fox-hunting Candidates — Gillard's Coming of Age,
Season 1890-91— Lord Edward Manners, M.P., Field-Master— The
Season's Entry— Captain " Jim " Barry presented with the Brush
— An awkward Accident to Mr. Cecil Rudkin — Recovery in Time
to win a Steeplechase — Accident to the Pack crossing a Frozen
Canal — A Day at Staunton, Mrs. Phillips presented with the
Brush — A Kill on a Railway Station Platform, Countess de Claire-
mount presented with the Brush — A fast Spin from Coston Covert
— Arthur Wilson sets a Hound's broken Leg— Fox up a Chimney
— A Fox commits felo de se — Gillard wins the Melton Town Plate
with Gunby ...... Page 226

CHAPTER XVH

Seasons 1891-92 and 1892-93

Reduced to a Four-day-a-week Pack — An exceptionally good Lot of
young Hounds by Belvoir Pirate and Ruiford Dancer — Lord
Willoughby de Brooke's opinion of Fallible — Boys and Girls
entered to Hounds — Visit of H. R. H. Princess Beatrice of Batten-
berg — Death of Sir Thomas Whichcote and Mourning for H.R.H.
the Duke of Clarence — A Burst from Coston Covert — Old Farewell
gives Frank a Fall — Lord Lonsdale saves Mr. Pidcock's Life —
Father 0'Flynn,the Grand National Steeplechase Winner — Vigilant
wins a Chase for Gillard at Melton — Funeral of Mr. J. Nicholas
Charlton — The young Hound Tapster and his End — Good Gallops
in November, one voted the best seen in three years — A Record
Stop for Frost — A Hunt in Freeby Church for a Fox — A Nine-mile
Point in the Fog from Aslackby to Weaver's Lodge — A Race from
Staunton lliorus to Normanton Covert — The best Run Gillard ever
saw — The Rain Register in a dry March — Leuton Brook — Two
Runs into Haconby Fen 1865 and 1893 . . . Page 243

xvi HUNTING REMINISCENCES

CHAPTER XVIII

Seasons 1893-94 and 1894-95

Dates of commencing Cub-hunting — Foreign Hay — The Hounds Old
Gambler, Skylark, the Daughter of Druid — Too many Foxes killed
in a Morning — Sir George Wliichcote — Tlie Hunt Honorary
Secretaryship — Lord Lonsdale takes the Mastership of the Quorn
— Frank Gillard's Contemporarj^, Tom Firr — The old Hunt Horse
Oscar carries Miss Robinson — Mr. Arthur Hutchinson, Mayor of
Grantham, and the Meet at the Guild Hall — The Fifteen-mile
Stubton Run, Mr. S. K. Marsland presented with the Brush at
the end of it — Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Phillips' Coverts at Staunton —
Tlie Three Shire Bush — Mrs. Bend, the Wife of the Earth-stopper,
presented with a Brush — Two good Days before the Frost — A
good Run from Heathcote's Covert with a Bobtail — Miss Gertrude
Heathcote wins the Belvoir Hunt Red Coat Race — The Heathcote
Patent Safety Habit— The Entry 1894— Mr. W. Theobald Maud
on Canvas and in the Field — Death of the Hound Nominal — The
Revival of the Folkingham Meet and a great Day's Sport — Lord
Willoughby de Eresby presented with the Brush — Pulpit Allusions
— Bad Falls — Harry Maiden hunts the Pack — The Duke of
Rutland's seventy-sixth Birthday — The long Frost — A good Run
and Kill at Newton Hall — A good Run and Kill at Lenton
Vicarage — The Melton Contingent . . . Page 261

CHAPTER XIX

Season 1895-96

Stud Hounds at Belvoir Kennel — Gillard relating the Merits of each
Hound — The Families of Gambler, Snamrock, and Pirate com-
pared— Hard Ground — The Fox-hunter's Wedding — Opening Day
— The Buckminster to Edmondthorpe Gallop — Record Time — The
Pack and Huntsman's Horse — Another Buckminster to Woodwell
Head Gallop — Continued good Sport in Leicestershire and Lincoln-
shire during January — Retirement of the Duke of Rutland — The
Meeting of the Hunt in Grantham — The Hunt Committee — Frank
Gillard's last Leicestershire Day a brilliant one — A Kill in Rank-
boro Gorse — The Horse Farewell — The number of Foxes killed
in twenty-six Seasons — The new Master, Sir Gilbert Greenall — A
Tribute to Gillard's Care of the Pack — The Testimonial to the
retiring Huntsman — Sir William E. Welby Gregory's Speech —
Frank Gillard's Farewell .... Page 278

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Frank Gillard and " Sluggard/' 1872, from a painting by

B. Nightingale, sen. .... Frontispiece

Frank Gillard, yrom a drawing by Cuthbert Bradley . . vii

Bravo, Whipster !....., xix

Portrait of Frank Gillard, from a photograph by J. Burton,

Leicester ...... Facing 1

Sport and Agriculture, from a drawing by Cuthbert Bradley . 1

The late Will Good all, sen. ,, ,, . 14

Mr, J. Chaworth Musters, M.F.H. „ „ . 15

Mr. John Coupland, M.F.H. „ „ . 26

The Belvoir Hound Van „ „ . 27

Belvoir Castle ....... 35

FoRRARD Away, from a drawing by Cuthbert Bradley . . 42

Frank Gillard „ „ „ . .43

The Sixth Duke of Rutland, by permission of Baily's Magazine

Facing 48
H.R.H. the Prince of Wales inspects the Belvoir, by Cuthbert

Bradley ....... 52

Vengeance, by Gameboy — V^anity, from a drawing by Basil

Nightingale ...... 56

Portrait of a Lady, from a drawing by .Cuthbert Bradley . 57
Map of the Belvoir Country .... Facing 64

After the Day's Work, by Cuthbert Bradley . . .71

The Fox on the Kennel „ ^j ... 72

The Brocklesby Rallywood, by pei'mission o/" Baily's Magazine

Facing 76
Hunting the Line, from a drawing by Cuthbert Bradley . 86

Swept over Everything in Chase „ ,, . 87

xviii HLTNTING REMINISCENCES

PAGE

^VEATHERGAGE, BY Warrior — RoYALTY, 1876 . . Facing 94

" A Hinting Morn, I think/' /rom a drawing by Cuthbert Bradley 101
A Cottesmore Hat ,, ,, 102

A Chat with Frank Gillard in Kennel „ ,, 107

A Sinking Fox ,, ,, 118

George Carter ,, ,, 119

Huntsman's House and Belvoir Kennels, from a photograph

Facing 122
The Fate of the Rover is sealed, y^'om a drawing by Cuthbert

Bradley ....... 126

Watchman, by Nominal — Whimsical, from a drawing by Basil

Nightingale . . ■ . . .133

A Portrait, from a drawing by Cuthbert Bradley . . 134

A Dart with the Belvoir „ ,, . . 141

Dahlia, by Shamrock — Diligent, from a drawing by Basil

Nightingale
Trojan, from a drawing by Cuthbert Bradley
The King of the Pack „

Mr. Edgar Lubbock on Deerfoot „
Birds of Passage „

150
151
153
159
164
165
173
179
180

Evidence of a Good Day „

Mr. George Lane Fox, M.F.H. „
A Lead over „

Tom Firr „

Gambler, by Weathergage — Gratitude, 1884, y^om a painting

by Basil Nightingale .... Facing 186

Lord Harrington, M.F.H. , from a drawiiig by Cuthbert Bradley 192

The Stacker's Art ,, „ „ 193

GiLLARD got his Second Horse „ ,, ,, 199

Music „ „ „ 207

Gordon, by Gambler, 1885 „ „ „ 208

Fathers of the Hunt „ ,, ,, 212

Rev. J. P. Seabrooke on Top-Bar ,, „ 217
The Seventh Duke of Rutland ,, ,,

By permission of Baily's Magazine . . Facing 224

Down the Chimney, from a drawing by Cuthbert Bradley . 226

The Parson gives the Lead „ ,, „ . , 233

Up the Chimney . „ „ „ . . 242

ILLUSTRATIONS

XIX

The Hunt Special ......

The Royal Meet at Cboxton Park, from a drawing by

Outhbert Bradley. By permission of the Daily Graphic
The Heathcote Patent Safety, by Guthbert Bradley
KiRBY Gate, 1893 ,, „

A Belvoir Red-Letter Day ,, ,,

Portrait of a Lady „ „

Bank Holiday „ „

Finis

PAGE

243

2.50
261
267
277
278
28.5
295

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CHAPTER 1
Early Days

A Tribute to Fox-hunting — Frank Gillard's Fame as a Hound-Breeder
— The Belvoir and the Brocklesby — Tlie Points of tlie Belvoir
Blood — Frank Gillard's Qualities — His Early Life in Devonshire^
and Arrival at Belvoir — The Sixth Duke of Rutland and Lord
Forester — Mr. Henry Chaplin, M. P., Master of the Burton —
Anecdotes — Lord Forester and old Will Goodall — Huntsman to
Mr. John Chaworth Musters, the South Notts and Quorn — Mr.
Musters' horse Valesman — The hunters Lady Grey and Methodist —
Colonel Burnaby, M.P.— Mr. Tailby, M.F.H.— Sporting Parsons :
the Rev. H. Houson, the Rev. Desborowe, Rev. Tliomas Heath-
cote, Rev. Waters, Rev. King, Rev. T. Bullen, Rev. John Cal-
craft, Rev. R. Sharpe, the Rev. W. Newcome, Rev. J. P. Younge,
Rev. Banks Wright, the Rev. G. Carter — Verses by Mr. Parke of
Stragglethorpe — Fathers of the Hunt.

^^MONG the pleasantest re-
j~\ collections of a pleasur-
able life, our days with
hounds stand out as
red-letter days in the
calendar of the mem-
ory. There is no
satisfaction hke a good
day's sport. George
Whyte Melville said,
" After a good day he
done a good action." Fox-

B

AqKicuLruf^E-

felt as if he had

2 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

hunting shapes our hfe's course, and the annals of
any great pack keep ever green the sayings and
doings of a long line of sporting ancestry of whom
we may be justly proud. The ardour with which
sport is pursued defies the hand of time, and
though the leaden wings will eventually cramp
even fervour, nothing can rob us of the pleasant
memories of the past. The subject of this memoir
might well echo the old Latin sentiment.

*&'

Be fair or foul, or rain or shine,

The joys I have possessed, in spite of Fate, are mine.

Not Heaven itself upon the past has power,

But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour.

For on the scroll of illustrious huntsmen the
century has seen, no naine stands out in clearer
rehef than that of Frank Gillard, whose privilege,
business, and we may unhesitatingly say, pleasure,
it was to hunt the famous Belvoir hounds for the
sixth and seventh Dukes of Rutland during a
period extending over a quarter of a century. In
these days of keen competition, when the utmost
skill and attention is bestowed upon the breeding
of foxhounds, it was no small attainment on Frank
Gillard's part that he kept the pack up to that
concert pitch of excellence, so that they are
acknowledged by all the j^remiere pack of the
day. We may appreciate the respect in which his
fame was held by all houndsmen, when we note
the fact that in one month during the summer as
many as twenty-five masters of hounds paid their
yearly pilgrimage to the ducal kennel at Belvoir.

EARLY DAYS 3

Every kennel in the kingdom looked to Belvoir
blood for improvement to its own. It is, in fact,
as hard to get away from in foxhound breeding as
that of Waxy or Birdcatcher amongst race-horses ;
and there are few kennel men who will not admit
that a dip into it has been of great service to them.
Ancient history tells us that the kennel was estab-
lished in 1686 by the first Duke of Rutland, whose
life, from the invigorating influence of the chase,
was prolonged to the patriarchal age of eighty-
three. The kennel lists and pedigrees date from
the year 1750 ; and though the annals of the famous
Brocklesby hounds are a few years later, the Belvoir
can claim to be the most fashionable pack to-
day. The exchange of courtesies, as regards sires,
between these two celebrated kennels has been
almost continual, so that their blood must be
looked upon as nearly identical. Neither is there
much difference in the style of the hound bred,
though at Belvoir twenty -three inches is the
standard of height, whilst at Brocklesby twenty-four
inches is the limit. Another peculiarity of the
Duke of Rutland's kennel is that they have been
very particular with regard to colour, adhering to
a rich black, the purest white, and bright tan, so
that the latter colour has passed into a recognised
quahty amongst foxhounds, known as " the Belvoir
tan." That there has been interbreeding, not in-
breeding, is beyond a doubt, as there are signs of
it in the fact that hounds from Belvoir improve all
other packs, but it is very rare that hounds from
other kennels improve Belvoir. The kennels that

4 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

did improve the ducal lines were those possessing
a large amount of the blood from which the
Belvoir is said to have originated, the Fitzwilliam
and the Brocklesby being two noticeable instances.
It has been a great point not to breed from kennels
with a variety of blood in them, and whenever
there was such an experimental trial, the produce
was seldom of a sufficient Belvoir type to get an
entry. No pack has risen to a state of high repute
when there has been a constant change of hunts-
men. The Belvoir have been fortunate with but
four huntsmen in a hundred years, and to this fact
they owe their position as the greatest pack of fox-
hounds in the world.

A very striking feature of the Belvoir pack is
their strong family hkeness, their high -class and
wonderful evenness, which is quite unapproached
elsewhere. The kennel stands almost alone in
having depended entirely on its own breeding for
more than seventy years. No hounds have been
purchased during that time, and the rule to breed
from only the best working hounds has proved
a sound one — goo(d qualities cultivated through
many generations being transmitted to their off-
spring. There may be diversities of opinions, or
rather of taste, concerning size and colour in fox-
hounds, but there can be but one standard as
regards beauty of outline, and the very important
formation of shoulders, backs, loins, thighs, legs,
and feet, which are so captivating and characteristic
of the beautiful Belvoir blood.

For twenty-six seasons Frank Gillard ruled the

EARLY DAYS 5

destinies of this interesting pack, retiring when the
Duke of Kutland resigned the mastership in 1896.
The form of the popular Belvoir huntsman is
famihar to two and three generations of Leicester-
shire sportsmen, and regarded as the pink and the
pattern of his calling, a gentleman of his profession,
whose authority on hound - breeding was nulli
secundus, and his abihty to judge young hounds
was sought by every kennel in the kingdom.
Frank Gillard spent such a long tenure of office
under the shadow of Belvoir Castle, that he seemed
to form a feature of its surroundings — a typical
Duke's huntsman, with the manners and bearing
befitted to so high an office. A plucky horseman,
he had a marvellous knack of always keeping with
his hounds in the field, his head ever accompanying
him over the fence, at which his heart had preceded
him. For twenty-six seasons he led a hunt remark-
able for its size and zealous riding, with nerve un-
shaken or ardour abated by many accidents and
reminders of time. No day's sport was too long
for him ; he maintained all the traditions of his
predecessors. Goosey, Goodall, Cooper, and Lord
Forester, drawing covert just so long as daylight
lasted, no matter what the distance back to kennels
might be. Strength of constitution has ever been
a characteristic of Belvoir hounds, and akin to it
their reputation for being able to put in better
work in late evening than in early morning. Ill-
bred hounds tire at four o'clock in the afternoon,
the tail is very apparent, and bad shoulders then
come to grief if asked to race over ridge and furrow.

6 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

The sound of Gillard's musical voice was most
inspiriting, and his horn was warranted to charm
the very foxes from their earths. Such was cheery
Frank as we knew him, a dapper man with a keen
eye and iron gray hair, brisk as a bee in all his
movements, accomplishing a gigantic day's work
because his heart and soul were in it. An hour or
two spent in the kennels with him talking over
hound lore, in which, like his predecessors at Belvoir,
he was so learned, made old time fairly gallop for
his hsteners.

Devonshire was Gillard's native county, where
he was born in the year 1838, and until eighteen
years of age had only occasional days with hounds.
His father was kennel huntsman to a pack near
Exeter, and from him he inherited the love of the
chase, his first appointment being to a pack of
harriers which had been presented by Squire Buck
to Captain Willet. The kennels were at IVIonk-
leigh. North Devon ; the pack were beautiful
dwarf foxhounds, which hunted hare three days a
week, turning their attention to otter in the
summer. Unlike hare hunters in general, Gillard
declined to "cast back," and in 1859 cast aside the
green coat in favour of the scarlet, on taking the
position of second whipper-in to the Hon. Mark
Rolles' hounds, the Stevenstone. One season was
spent pursuing the Devonshire foxes, and then
came the chance to wear the red velvet collar and
ride second whip to the Belvoir. " The spring of
1860 saw me whipping-in to the Duke of Rutland's
hounds," said Frank, taking up the story, " I date

EARLY DAYS 7

everything I can back to that year. My late
master, the sixth Duke of Rutland, had succeeded
Lord Forester in 1859, and for three seasons I was
second whipper-in, and then promoted to fii'st,
filling that position for another four to the Belvoir.
The late Duke and Lord Forester were two of the
keenest sportsmen I ever met, and even when
hounds had run well and killed two or three foxes
handsomely, they would draw again as long as day-
light lasted. Often they were the only two left of
the big Leicestershire fields, for they never turned
their horses' heads homewards until dusk. We
himted frequently six days a week, — five with our
own, and one with the Quorn, Cottesmore, or
Burton. At that time Mr. Henry Chaphn, JNI.P.,
was master of the Burton, and one of the best
amateur huntsmen of his day. He used to say he
hunted eight days a week, for he would sometimes
have two packs out in one day. Will GoodaU,
junior, was at that time third whip to Mr. Chaplin,
and when I became huntsman to the Belvoir in
1870 he came to me as first whipper-in."

The late Duke when Marquis of Granby was
fond of riding four-year-olds, and on one occasion
found himself at Brant Broughton at the end of the
day, very wide of home. After the last gallop
Colonel Forester and the Marquis of Granby were
asked by Parson Houson to go to his house at
Brant Broughton to refresh. It was late in the
evening, and Colonel Forester, as was his wont,
dechned to stop anywhere with his horse after a
day's hunting, but the Marquis of Granby accepted

8 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

the proffered hospitality of so good a sportsman as
the parson. By the time he started again for
Beh oir it was quite dark, and when the private
gate to the di'ive at Stubton was reached it was
locked, but he managed to rouse up the lodge-
keeper, who warned the Marquis not to attempt to
ford the river at that time of night. However he
did, although there was a good stream on. In
those days the country was not inclosed, and by
Sedgebrook the bridle-road was lost in the darkness,
and the night was spent with a tired horse wandering
about until three o'clock in the morning, when a
light in a cottage window came as a welcome
beacon. Belvoir was reached at five o'clock, and
the Marquis kept his appointment as usual with
hounds that morning. On another occasion the
noble master of the Belvoir had the ill luck to lame
his horse when out with the Cottesmore by Gunby
Warren, and he walked by the side of him all the way
back to Belvoir. These two fine sportsmen never
knew when they had enough fox-hunting, and a
story is told of Lord Forester during his mastership
and Will Goodall. "Where shall we go now,
Goodall ? " asked Lord Forester. " To the kennels,
my Lord, I think the hounds have had enough,"
rephed Will, after a hard day's work. " Have you
been out with the Quorn ? " asked the master. " No,
my Lord," replied Will. " Well, I noticed those
hounds were fresh at the end of the day ; if these
are tired you had better in future breed from them."
In 1867 promotion came to Gillard when Mr.
John Chaworth Musters asked him to be kennel

EARLY DAYS 9

huntsman to the South Notts, and the farmers of
the Belvoir Vale presented the young whipper-in
with a silver hunting-horn on his leaving them.
" The memory of my three seasons under Mr.
John Chaworth Musters is a very pleasant one, for
he was the finest of sportsmen and the truest of
friends," said Frank of his old master. "Though
Mr. Musters rode seventeen stone, no man went
better ; and I was the means of supplying him with
his best horse, Valesman, a big brown blood hunter
which I bought from Mr. Bland, who lived in the
Yale of Belvoir. At first Mr. IMusters did not Hke
the horse, and said to me, * You think so much of
him, let's see you ride him ! ' I did so, and we
started a seven mile point from Colville Wood, and
killed on the Nottingham and Mansfield road.
Valesman carried me splendidly, and I said to Mr.
Musters, ' I hope you will never want to ride him
again, for I do not want a better to carry me ! '
However, he got to like the horse in time, and
when we migrated to the Quorn country no one
could catch Mr. Musters on Valesman up and
down the hills. From that time he changed his
style of horse, and always advocated blood. At
the dispersal sale of the Quorn Hunt horses, Vales-
man was bought by Mr. Henry Chaphn, who
became very fond of him, and though he often sent
him up for auction with the rest of his stud, he
always bought him in, and was said to have spent
hundreds in doing so. Two of my best mounts at
this time were greys. Lady Grey and Methodist ;
the mare came from Mr. Corbett Holland, and was

10 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

such a clipper over a country that Sir Frederick
Johnstone said no money would stop him buying
her. However, she unfortunately met with an
accident in the stable and had to be destroyed.
The horse JNIethodist was bought from old Mr.
AVilders of Croxton, who was of that persuasion.
He was made by his son Stephen, who was a Ught
weight and a most determined horseman. In a
good run of fifty minutes from Widmerpool to
Piper Hole Gorse the horse carried me splendidly,
and jumped the river Smite, old Mr. Sherbrooke
calling out, ' There is no one in the same field with
the Methodist ' ; and he was a brilliant horse, being
subsequently sold for three hundred guineas.

" In Leicestershire I had a good friend in the
late Colonel Burnaby, JNI.P., who hved at Baggrave
HaU. He used to ask me to his house to talk
about hunting, and would show me 'his blood-
stained clothes and great treasure won in battle.'
That was about the time that the evergreen Mr.
Tailby hunted a pack of hounds in high Leicester-
shire ; and he took some awful falls, breaking
nearly every bone in his body. He had a way of
catching hold of the back of his saddle when jump-
ing a fence, and this was, I think, often the cause
why his falls were attended with such serious results,
because he could not get clear of his horse."

A sign of the times in the sixties was the
number of sporting parsons who could claim
honours in any country, and kept good studs of
hunters. The price of wheat was up in those days
and tithes were correspondingly high ; but bad

EARLY DAYS 11

times and great Church reforms have banished the
hunting parson, for where a dozen sporting divines
were in evidence forty years ago there is but one
left to pilot the way to-day. The finest horseman
of a party who rode with the Belvoir and Quorn
was the Rev. H. Houson of Brant Broughton, who
was difficult to beat over a country. Parson Des-
borowe of Welborne, too, was a wonderfully hard
man to shake off, and the llev. Thomas Heathcote
of Lenton was another fine sportsman who kept a
good stud of hunters and planted a fox covert.
The Rev. Waters of Dunsby was a frequent com-
batant across country, and when he moved over
the borders into Nottinghamshire he still continued
to hunt up to the time of his death, at a ripe old
age. Others who will be remembered are Parson
King of Ashby, Parson T. Bullen of Eastwell, and
the Rev. John Calcraft of Haceby, who enjoyed
much sport with one horse and went prodigious
long distances to meet hounds. The Rev. R.
Sharpe of Colsterworth was another fine horseman,
and very eloquent in the pulpit. An all-round
sportsman was the Rev. " Billy " Newcome, rector
of Boothby for fifty years, and up to eighty years
of age he rode, fished, and shot with the best of
them. A contemporary of Mr. Newcome's was
the Rev. J. Parker Y^ounge of Wilsford, who bred
some good horses and followed the hounds regularly
up to his seventy - sixth year. He was also a
capital shot and fly fisherman, remembered by the
rising generation cramming along across country
with his coat flying open in the most boisterous

12 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

weather. Parson Banks Wright, too, would go
like wildfire for twenty minutes, no matter how big
the country might be ; but in the pulpit he would
stay for thirty odd minutes when the text was to
his Hking. The Rev. George Carter of Folkingham
was another who has passed away from us, enjoying
the sport thoroughly with four of his family.

The prowess of the Rev. H. Houson has been
immortahsed in verse by Mr. Parke of Straggle-
thorpe HaU, who in his time followed the Belvoir
and Burton packs, besides contributing to sporting
hterature under the nom de plume of Nemo. The
following verses were written by him after the
death of the Rev. H. Houson, who was famiUarly
known as " the Doctor," and noted for the cleanh-
ness of himself and horse. These verses were
afterwards reprinted at the wish of his old friend,
Colonel John Reeve of Leadenham House, and
were largely distributed amongst hunting men : —

Amid all the scenes and joys of the chase,

In vain shall we look for one well-known face ;

One slight compact form, on a tall rat-tailed mare —

How comes it, my friends, that the Doctor's not here ?

Alas ! our good parson's long season is o'er.

He has come to a check, we shall see him no more.

Brant Broughton's sad bells have rung forth their lament.

For as thorough a sportsman as e'er followed scent.

Those thin hands, now cold, which tho' wrinkled with age,

Might have given a wrinkle to many a sage ;

So light, they the tenderest mouth ne'er distressed.

Yet so firm, that the hardest their power confessed ;

In vain did high breeding rebel 'gainst their sway.

It might chafe, it might struggle, it yet must obey.

EARLY DAYS 13

Weaver's Lodge, Lenton Pastures, or famed Ropsley Rice
Shall no more echo gaily his clear ringing voice ;
Ne'er again his gay talk, as he trots by our side,
Shall dispel the fatigue of a long homeward ride.

Ah ! how oft, so returning, our friend have we seen.

From his hat to his boots all unsullied and clean

As if — when the snow, or the winter's cold rains,

With mire had bestrewn all the fields and the lanes —

Prom his person attendants, concealed from the view,

Interposing, averted the mud as it flew !

Be that as it may, did we only look round

On the rest of the " Field " and the horses, we found

We could trace on their breeches, and boots, and array.

Upon what kind of soil they had ridden that day ;

Whether Stubton's stiff loam, or bleak Stapleford's peat.

Or the heath's stony plain, had been spurned 'neath their feet.

One had thought that our friend had discovered that well.

Long sought for by sages — and of marvels they tell.

That removed all the weakness of age, and, forsooth,

Renew'd in the frame the full vigour of youth.

No such well had he sought, or much less had he found,

But he owed his old age and his stamina sound

To the genuine love for that sport which alone

In old England's fair land in perfection is known.

Long, long may it flourish ; may foxes increase.

But earthed, may the Rector of Broughton find peace.

Of the fathers of the hunt still with us Sir
W. E. Welby- Gregory takes precedence, Major
Paynter being another staunch supporter, and Mr.
John Earle Welby as fine a horseman as ever rode
to hounds. The rising generation are indebted to
Mr. Welby for giving them a book of poems, Lays
of the Belvoir Hunt. Another knight of the pen
and the pigskin is Mr. William Finder of Barrowby,

14

HUNTING REMINISCENCES

who commenced hunting in the thirties, and to-
day is known as " Phantom " of the Field, the
oldest hunting correspondent. Then we have Mr.
John Nickolls of Sieaford, blooded in 1836 by
Goosey on Caythorpe Heath, and he still hkes
a quick thoroughbred horse, sitting him as gaily
as he did in his prime forty years ago. Amongst
the sturdy yeomen born and bred on Lincolnshire
soil, known throughout England wherever agri-
culture and sport are discussed, we have Mr. R.
Bemrose and Mr. T. Casswell, both " rum ones to
follow, bad ones to beat." And we might name a
score more Nestors of the hunt, who give colour to
the saying of the North American Indians, that
" days spent in the chase do not count in the length
ofhfe."

CHAPTER II

Sport in the Sixties

The Origin of Frank's Diary — Blowing- the Duke's Horn for the first
time — About Hunting-horns — A Pattern Horn — Colonel John
Reeve of Bulby Hall — Sir Thomas Whichcote — Mr. Chaworth
Musters and his Ancestors ; his Prowess in the Field — The Quorn
and Bel voir countries compared — Fatal Accident to a Quorn
Whipper-in — Mr. John Coupland succeeds Mr.
Musters to the Quorn — Mr. Gaskin of Sysonby
Lodge — About the Planting and Keeping of Fox
Coverts — Advice given to Frank Gillard by Mr.
Musters and the Duke of Rutland.

ULLA dies sine linea"
— " there is no day
without a hne" — is strictly
apphcable to hunting, and
might with reason be
adopted as a family motto
by the house of Gillard.
The age when letter-
writing was a cultivated
art is a thing of the past,
but Frank Gillard began
his career when hunting
correspondents and news-
MK.j.cHAwoKTHM.sTEKs,M.F.H. P^pei' Tcportcrs were

16 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

hardly known, so that it became a duty as well as a
pleasure for hhn to handle the pen every evening
after hunting, to inform his master the Duke of
Rutland. To this fact the diaries owe their origin ;
literally all through his career it was with him " no
day without a line," and the twenty-six volumes
form a unique and unbroken record of hounds and
those who played a prominent part in the world of
sport. Memory is but a treacherous jade, but with
facts and figures set down at the moment it is
possible to conjure up the scenes of the past, and
pass them before the mind in stately sequence,
recalling the sayings and doings of two and three
generations of sportsmen. Our own part has been
the result of half- hours snatched with pen and
pencil in the mid-current of stirring events, during
ten seasons' sport with the Belvoir hounds and
Frank Gillard. In this way Ave have been able
to follow the hne in memory by familiar scenes,
country, and fences, fiUing in the background to
his story.

To carry the horn for the Belvoir has always
been considered the topmost rung in the ladder of
fame by all the professional talent, and we trust it
will be so to the end of the chapter. Therefore
it was a befitting start for Frank to commence his
narrative with an allusion to his hunting-horn.

" The first time I handled the horn for the Sixth
Duke of Rutland's hounds I was a second whipper-
in, in the year 1860. It was seven o'clock, and so
dark in that big covert, Kirby Wood, that the Duke
struck a fight to see the time. The only other horse-

SPORT IN THE SIXTIES 17

man left was Mr. George Drummond, who had
lost one of his coat-tails coming through a fence.
Hounds were screaming along, for the wood was fuU
of foxes, and James Cooper, the huntsman, was lost
in the thicket, so the Duke turned to me and said,
'You second whip must do the best you can to
stop hounds, take my horn, for I must be off home.'
After blowing his Grace's horn and hallooing I got
the bulk of the pack round me, though it was too
dark to count them, and we started back for kennels
twenty miles distant. That was the first time I
had the honour to blow the Duke of Rutland's
hunting-horn, and when his death occurred in
March 1888, after thirty years' mastership, the
present Duke of Rutland, Lord John Manners,
came down to the kennels with that hunting-horn
in his pocket, and said, ' My brother wished me to
bring you this horn, Frank, and I am sure no one
will value it more than you ! ' " Tears came into
Gillard's eyes as he narrated the story, which it was
plain to see was most heartfelt. "No man could
have wished for a kinder master than the noble
Duke, who was always so considerate and interested
in the doings of his hounds."

" What notes you could get out of your horn,
Frank, you gave it quite a language of its own ; if
you had not chosen fox-hunting as a profession you
ought to have been a musician ! " we said, deter-
mined to lead our subject back to the line, and if
possible get him on a gossiping scent. "Well,
you see, I had a musical pack to play up to, for the
Belvoir always had plenty to say about it when

18 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

they spoke to a fox," replied Gillard, brightening
lip. " I was fortunate, too, in getting suited
with a horn, which is half the battle," he added
modestly. " I must tell you the story of how I
came by my hunting-horn, for I used it the whole
time I was huntsman, and it went many times to
London as a pattern to be copied for other masters
and huntsmen. It was made of copper, which
always gives a better note than silver, and it came
into my possession when I whipped -in to the
Belvoir. I was hunting up lost hounds one evening
at Aswarby, and had occasion to call on an old fox-
keeper and odd man about the place employed by
Sir Thomas Whichcote. At one time in his hfe
he had hunted hounds in the north of England, and
he could give the best ringing view halloo that I
have ever heard. When hounds were drawing the
Aswarby coverts the old fellow was sure to be
there making the welkin ring with his screams, to
the great delight of Sir Thomas. When I went to
see him he showed me his hunting-horn, and I
thought at once that it had a good note, and got
him to let me try it. It was a longish copper horn,
easy to blow and full of music. ' You have got no
further use for it,' I said, ' you may as well give it
to me, I may be huntsman some day if I am lucky ! '
But the old man would not hear of it, and it ended
by my giving considerably more for the old horn
than I could have bought a new one. Directly
Cooper the huntsman tried it, he wanted to buy it
from me, but I never would be persuaded to part
with it, and when I went to the South Notts as

SPORT IN THE SIXTIES 19

huntsman to Mr. Chaworth Musters, he was so
pleased that he had it copied for his own use, and
when I left his service presented me with the same
pattern in silver."

Just as the old war-horse instinctively cocks his
ears at the sound of the bugle, so had Frank
Gillard roused the memories of the past as he
clutched his old hunting-horn, for scenes and faces
crowding before him. " Hey ! they were fine old
sportsmen in those days, and seemed to enjoy their
sport more than they do now ! Though possibly
memories of fox-hunting resemble port, in that
they improve by keeping. Ways of living and
thought have altered as time goes on, but they
were good old days, nevertheless ! What sport we
did have ; to be sure it was all fox-hunting then, no
one ever thought about preserving game ! When
I was whipper-in to the Belvoir it was my duty to
go the round of the coverts in the spring-time to
look up the number of htters and get to know
the earths, for fox -keepers were few and far
between. The large tract of woodland from
Aslackby to Grimsthorpe swarmed with foxes, and
I used to hack over to these woods, spending two
or three days hunting through them. I remember
after one of these visits I rode on to Bulby Hall,
to report to Colonel John Reeve, who hved there,
and he asked me in to have ' a refresher,' as I had
more than twenty miles to ride back to Belvoir
kennels. He loved playing a practical joke, and
when I said, ' I must be starting homewards,' he
replied, ' Oh, you cannot possibly go to Belvoir to-

20 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

night, your horse has been suppered up and the
stablemen have gone home with the key. Come
and shoot some rats with me ! ' However, I was
more than content to look on whilst he handled the
gun, and keeping my eyes open, I saw a chopper
lying in the wood-shed and picked it up. ' What
are you going to do with that ? ' he asked. ' Unlock
the stable-door,' I rephed. It had the desired effect,
I got my horse without any further trouble ; but he
dearly loved a joke, and would turn rats down in a
room when the ladies were about, wearing those big
hoop crinolines. Another fine old Lincolnshire
sportsman was Sir Thomas Whichcote of Aswarby
Park. It may safely be said that for half a
century he was the most prominent figure with the
Belvoir hounds, and in their palmy days too ! He
rode one of the finest studs of hunters ever seen
in the country, and in his younger days was an
undefeated horseman. Always a hard, zealous
rider, the Melton division delighted to journey
to such fixtures as Weaver's Lodge to take Sir
Thomas on over his own country, and it was no
unusual sight to see two and three four-in-hands
come to the meet full of riding talent. Half Sir
Thomas's stud were stabled at Grantham, and he
would drive any distance with a fast trotting horse
to hunt on the Leicestershire side, returning to
Aswarby again that night. After the death of his
first wife, which happened in the fifties from the
result of a carriage accident, Sir Thomas never again
hunted in scarlet. He belonged to the good old
school, and was regarded as one of the fathers of the

SPORT IN THE SIXTIES 21

hunt. My old master, the late Mr. Chaworth
Musters, was another of the fine old Enghsh gentle-
men born and bred for sport, for I am sure his
happiest days were spent with hounds. I went
to him as huntsman to the South Notts in 1867,
with the understanding that he would take a better
country as soon as one became vacant, and two
seasons later we migrated with his pack to the
Quorn. Mr. Chaworth JVIusters came of a long
line of sporting ancestors, and in a letter to me,
dated December 10, 1871, he wrote : ' My grand-
father began to hunt hounds about 1805, and his last
pack were sold at Colwick in 1845. He used to hunt
with his father's hounds — my great-grandfather —
which were kept at Colwick, but whether he ever
hunted them himself or not I do not know. He
hunted first of all and certainly last of all in this
country, the South Notts, the same which I hunt
now, and which his father hunted before him. He
also hunted the Pytchley two or three seasons,
the Badsworth one season, the Southwold several,
and, hke Colonel "Jack" Thompson, the Ather-
stone.' Old Mr. " Jack " JMusters, the grandfather,
Uved in the days when there were giants in the
land, the golden age as it is called, and, like Squire
Osbaldistone, he was very active and fond of feats
of strength. On one occasion he made a bet that
he would jump in and out of twelve sugar -casks
placed all in a row in Nottingham market-place,
and I believe he accomphshed the feat. It was his
delight to pound the field and get away with
hounds all by himself. To ensure this, he would

22 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

sometimes have a bagman turned down over a wide
river, and a second horse waiting for him on the far
bank, to gallop away over the vale of Whatton."

" In November 1868, owing to the death of Lord
Hastings, who had held the mastership of the
Qiiorn for two seasons, Mr. John Chaworth
JNIusters succeeded ; and the season of 1868-69
was a very good one for scent and consequently
for sport. INIr. Story of Lockington used laugh-
ingly to say, ' It would be a pity if Mr. Musters
could not show sport, considering that he had three
huntsmen in his estabhshment besides himself,
namely, myself to hunt the high country ; Bob
INIachin, late huntsman to the Rufford, to whip-in ;
and John Goddard, who, after hunting the Quorn
hounds and Mr. Tailby's, undertook the manage-
ment of the stud at Quorn.' Having hunted both
countries, I think the Quorn is easier to ride than
the Belvoir, because there are very few ditches and
very httle grass in any of those. Since my time the
ox-rail has practically disappeared, a strand of wire
taking its place, but when the timber was up you
wanted a bold, well-bred horse who could extend
himself to get safely over. When the Quorn
country is wet it gets very boggy, and sucks horses
in owing to the nature of the soil."

" I must tell you of a singular and terrible
accident which happened to my whipper-in when
at Quorn. His name was Onion, and he was a
keen promising servant. As the weather was very
hot in the autumn of that year, we went out with
hounds at three o'clock in the morning to catch

SPORT IN THE SIXTIES 23

the dew, and we took them to Garenden Park,
close to Loughborough, the property of Mr. de
L'Isle. After spending a long morning showing
them the deer, so as to break the young hounds
from giving chase, I decided it was time to turn
homewards as the sun was getting very hot.
Suddenly Onion saw amongst the thorn bushes a
white stag grazing, and it was lame from an injury
to one of its hocks. 'Do let the hounds have a
look at him ! ' said Onion, and he was so keen and
excited about it, that at last I turned round and
said, * Where is it ? but we have done quite
enough ! ' The moment I said so, he galloped
his horse round the thorn bushes to set the deer
going, though I shouted to him, ' Stop, stop ! don't
go on ! ' But it was no use, he seemed crazed
about this white stag. The next moment I heard
a crash, and going to see, found his horse had
cannoned against the stag as they met round the
thick clump of thorns, both were down, and Onion
lay stretched senseless on the ground. I got him
into a sitting posture, which is always the best
thing to do in cases of concussion, and held him up
until a doctor arrived. Mr. de L'Isle sent down
ice and stimulants, and had a tent erected, for it
was impossible to move him, but the poor young
fellow died that night in his red coat and boots
where he fell."

Referring to the records of the Quorn Hunt at
this time we find that Mr. Musters's health unfor-
tunately proved unequal to the work after two
seasons, and the expense was gTeater than he could

U HUNTING REMINISCENCES

afford to coiitinue, so that he was obliged to give
up the country, though much pressed to go on
hunting it with a subscription. The hounds were
lent for one season, 1870-71, to Mr. John Coupland,
and they were hunted by Jem MacBride ; after
which Mr. Coupland bought the Craven hounds,
and JNlr. Musters took his own back to Nottingham.

" Another of the old school of sportsmen whose
going days were over just as I appeared on the
scene in Leicestershire was Mr. Gaskin, who hved
at Sysonby Lodge, a hunting-box on the Kettleby
and Melton road. The old gentleman knew every
yard of the country with gates and gaps, so that he
could trot about and get a bird's-eye view of all
that was going on. With him rode a second
horseman armed with a hatchet and saw ; and
directly they came to a fence that had been
mended up, he would say, 'John, here is one of
our gaps made up. Clear it all out, clear it all out
at once ! ' Instead of a hunting-crop he carried a
thick oak walking-stick, and if his horse would not
stand still whilst his servant was reducing the fence,
he would crash it down on his head, shouting,
' Whoa, won't you stand still ! ' In his younger
days it was said he went well to hounds, thoroughly
enjoying the ride, but when he was reduced to
trotting about to look on at the rising generation
negotiating a strongly fenced country, he would
set his teeth and grin with delight, exclaiming,
' Look at the lunatics, John ! look at them ! ' "

"Time flies," continued Frank, musingly. "I have
Hved long enough to see many of the best-known

SPORT IN THE SIXTIES 25

fox coverts grow up from saplings to tall trees. I
might mention Casthorpe covert by Belvoir, which
was planted by the late Duke of Rutland to blot
out the view of a fallow field from the Castle, as he
liked to see nothing but grass. Then there is
Sherbrooke's covert, about which Lord Forester
had to be consulted as to the site, and Mr. Sher-
brooke paid for the planting of it, some twelve
acres or more of thorn and gorse. The gorse soon
sprang up, but the thorns took twenty years or
more before they were good covert. When 1
came as huntsman to the Duke's country one of
the first things I took in hand was the improve-
ment of the fox coverts, which had been sadly
neglected, the sticks had been chopped down and
laid, which is the worst possible plan, because they
are full of rotten thorns, very bad for the hounds
to get amongst ; so I had them all cleared out and
burned. When Mr. Henry Chaplin hunted the
Burton country, he had all his coverts brushed,
and very good it made them. Young thorns
should be topped just as long as you can get a man
to go amongst them, if not they grow up like
kidney-bean sticks, harbour starhngs, and no grass
wiU grow at bottom. Thorns and grass grow well
together, and make the best of fox ground ; old
thorns soon spring up again when chopped down,
but newly -planted thorns take a long time to get a
start, and privet wants frequently topping or else
it soon grows out. In conclusion," Gillard remarked,
as he put the old hunting-horn back again on to the
mantelpiece, where it stands as an ornament with

26

HUNTING REMINISCENCES

several other trophies of the chase, " if I have been
successful and enjoyed a good time, I owe much to
the kindly advice given to me at starting by my
dear masters, who were my best friends until death
removed them. Mr. Musters used to say, ' Frank,
we must hold the candle to the end, play the game
out whatever it may be,' and the Duke of Rutland
often said to me, 'Make as many friends as you
can, Frank, and as few enemies, and then life is
sure to run smoothly with you.' "

Mr. John Coupland, M.P\H.

CHAPTER III

Season 1870-71

The Hunting View from Belvoir Castle — Appointment of Huntsman
to the Belvoir— Letters of Congratulation — Will Goodall^ junior^
First Whip — The Institution of the Hound Van — The Kennels at
Ropsley — James Cooper, late Huntsman — The Duke of Rutland's
Visit to the Kennel — Dick Christian's Story of the Duke's Leap—
The Duke as a Master — Mr. George Lane Fox's Letter to Mr.
Tom Parrington — Frank's First Entry in the Diary, Aug. 23,
1870 — Osbaldeston Furrier — The Belvoir and Cottesmore Hunts
join in the Field — The Duke takes a heavy Fall — Mr. Tom
Hutchinson picks him up — A Day of Disaster — Sir ^Vatkin
Winn's " Royal " and John Walker in his Kennel— A good Run,
and Mr. Henry Custauce asks for the Brush — H.R.H. the Prince
of Wales has a Day — The Field out.

ELVOIR and fox-
hunting are al-
most interchange-
able terms, for no
history of the one
can possibly be
complete without
frequent mention of
the other. A Duke of Rutland may stand at one
window of his dining-room and overlook twenty
parishes, each of which bears a name that is associ-

The Belvoir Hound Van.

28 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

ated with some brilliant episode in hunting history.
The topmost turrets of Belvoir Castle command views
on every side over the far-famed fields of Leicester-
shire and Lincolnshire, where the mightiest Nimrods
of modern days have delighted to disport themselves.
The county hunted by the Belvoir embraces every
description of ground, extending on the west from
the Trent to the German Ocean on the east, reach-
ing from Leadenham on the north to Melton
jNlowbray on the south, distance across as the crow
flies, thirty miles. The past history of the Belvoir
Hunt can be summed up in a very few words, a fine
old Conservative institution, hunted for over two
hundred years at the expense of a succession of
Dukes of Rutland, under the management of hunts-
men who have been acknowledged as the best of
their day. In a little under one hundred years but
four huntsmen have been at Belvoir kennel, viz.
Goosey, Goodall, Cooper, and Frank Gillard, fiUing
the post successively from 1816 to 1896, all follow-
ing the same system of breeding in the kennel,
maintaining the high traditions of the pack.

We find Frank at Quorn in the spring of 1870,
and scarcely had he settled himself in the saddle
under the mastership of Mr. John Coupland, than
the Belvoir were in want of a huntsman. At first
there was some httle difficulty in terminating the
engagement with Mr. Coupland, but directly the
late Duke of Rutland expressed a wish that Gillard
should be his huntsman, he was gTaciously released.
Letters of congratulation were addressed to Gillard
on his appointment from a very numerous acquaint-

SEASON 1870-71 29

ance, and amongst the hard -riding fraternity and
covert-owners there was great rejoicing, the letters
from Lord Forester, Mr. John Welby, and others
being sacredly preserved by their recipient. His
Grace the Duke of Rutland wrote from his seat in
Scotland, May 1870 : "I am much indebted to
Mr. Coupland and gentlemen of the Quorn Hunt
for releasing you, and I shall be very glad of your
services. You know it is a place for regular hard
work, as the distances are long and 1 hunt five days
a week." Sir Thomas Whichcote, one of the
hardest men that ever rode to hounds, wrote from
Aswarby Park, Lincolnshire, " I cannot resist
giving a Une of congratulation, and I trust
Providence will spare you many a long year to
fulfil the proud position of huntsman to the kindest
master of the noblest pack of hounds in England.
I intend to purchase three more hunters for next
season. Young Goodall writes me word the Duke
has been kind enough to appoint him first whip ; I
think you will find him sharp, active, and attentive."
The first whip referred to in the letter was Will
Goodall, the son of old Will Goodall who had a
numerous family, and hunted the Belvoir for nearly
twenty years, meeting his death by falling upon his
own hunting-horn, which he had thrust into the
side pocket of his coat. Young Will's first
experiences were in the stables at Aswarby Park,
where Sir Thomas Whichcote paid for his education,
and taught him to ride ; he then " entered to
hounds" as second whip under George Carter. From
there he got promotion with Mr. Henry Chaplin,

30 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

master of the Burton, coming to Belvoir as first
whip in 1870. Springing from a family to whom
" hunting a pack of hounds " comes as naturally as
finding game does to a setter, he proved himself a
brilliant whipper-in and subsequent huntsman to
the Pytchley.

Complaints were made in Cooper's time that
beautiful as the Belvoir hounds were in their work,
they did not say enough about it, and it was the
one thing that Gillard fancied faulty when he came
as huntsman. The kennel was full of Senator (1862)
blood. Cooper swore by him and everything that
he got; his was the most fashionable strain. Senator
was by Singer out of Destitute ; Singer by Comus
out of Syren, by Mr. Drake's Duster (1844) out of
Sprightly, by the Grov^e Singer. Destitute was by
Sir Richard Sutton's Dryden out of Tuneful, by
Trouncer out of Skilful, by Grove Stormer. The
two special quahties Senator transmitted to his
stock were nose and drive. His own sister
Destitute had the best nose to work a hne down a
road that Frank Beers ever saw a foxhound possess.
Then all the Senators could drive at any pace, and
old Jack Morgan said, at the time he had a good
many of them in Lord Galway's pack, " They do
get their hackles up when a fox is sinking."

There was a hound, called Wonder, in the kennel
with a voice hke a bell, and he did not fail to use
it at the right moment. For this quality Gillard
used him freely, although he was not of the
Senator line, being the son of Chanticleer, son of
Chaser, son of Brocklesby Rally wood, brought to

SEASON 1870-71 31

Belvoir in 1850 by Will Goodall. Wonder's dam
was Willing, a noted bitch by llallywood, son of
Brocklesby Rallywood or Vaulter family. Both, it
will be seen, trace to the same source through a
whole decade of chase history down to the great
Furrier several times, and then to a bitch called
Comely, by Lord Monson's Conqueror out of Red
Rose, who lived about the year 1785. The kennel
was full of Senator blood, so that Woodman and
Warrior — the sons of Wonder- Susan — two of this
season's entry, were just sufficiently far enough
away from that strain to give Gillard a chance to
still further accumulate this famous blood so full of
Duster, without inbreeding. It was no easy task
to breed Belvoir hounds, and one cannot help
admiring the judgment with which all the strains
are picked up to such standard points as the Drake
Duster (1844) or Osbaldeston Furrier. No animal
of any sort whatever has been bred to in the same
persistency as can be traced to Osbaldeston Furrier.
He was the best hound of his day in the opinion of
all hound-breeders. Warrior, it will be seen, was
quite a Belvoir bred hound, as his pedigree does not
get away far, and is confined to Belvoir, Brocklesby,
the Grove, and the Drake Duster, whose dam was
got by Factor, the son of JNIr. SaviUe's Carver. So
in Warrior there were two hits to Duster, three to
Carver, two to RaUywood, and two to Senator.
Warrior eventually sired Weathergage, 1876, who
sired Gambler, 1884.

The strength of the kennel when Gillard came
was sixty-seven couple, but was reduced by five

32 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

couple as soon as the vanning to distant meets
became an institution.

It was Lord Forester's original idea to have a
hound van to take the pack on to the distant
fixtures of twenty miles and more. Both Will
Goodall and Cooper preferred instead half-way
kennels at Ropsley, but these were abandoned
when Gillard came, and a van was instituted, to
the great saving of wear and tear both to hounds
and hunt servants. Many a time in GiUard's
younger days when whipping - in, turning to
Ropsley at the end of the day meant farther to
go for the hunt staff, and by the time the pack
were kennelled there, it was nearly midnight before
Belvoir was reached, or there was a chance of
changing wet clothes. Well might it have been
said of the Belvoir, that one day's hunting with
them was equal to two in the provinces. Cooper
had an attraction at Ropsley, because he was
courting his future wife, the daughter of the land-
lord of the Fox's Brush Inn.

The noble master placed the greatest confidence
in Frank GiUard's abilities, leaving it to him to
carry on the correspondence and business generally
of the hunt. The whole internal machinery of so
vast and important a hunt as the Belvoir was
practically worked by one man for a quarter of a
century, and on such good lines that the kennel
occupied the premier position by general consent.

Few things interested the Duke more than a
chat with his huntsman about hounds, in the
sanctum at the kennels, known as "The Duke's

SEASON 1870-71 33

Room," where the celebrated sires and favourites
of his pack were drawn for inspection, and he would
dwell long in silent contemplation on their beautiful
symmetry and colour. A corner of this room at
the kennels was railed off so that the hounds should
not touch the noble master's gouty leg, aggravated
by severe accidents in the field. When young,
the Duke could hold his own across country with
the boldest and best, and delighted to play a con-
spicuous part with such bold spirits and briUiant
performers as Asheton Smith, Lord Forester, Lord
Jersey, Sir Charles Knightly, IVIr. Green, Sir
Thomas Whichcote, and Lord AVilton. It was
Dick Christian who used to tell how his Grace
once jumped Croxton Park wall near the entrance
gates, and pounded every pursuer. " It's nigh six
feet and a tidy drop on the other side. Will
Goodall and none of them would have it ! " Un-
fortunately, a series of severe falls crippled him
considerably, and in 1863, during a smart run from
Casthorpe covert, he had a very heavy fall on his
head, when jumping a stake-and-bound fence, the
result of the accident being that with all the will of
younger days he was after that physically incapable
of riding up to hounds. What he could do in early
days as JNIarquis of Granby will always place him
in the first rank of those whose performances in
the field belong to the period known as the "golden
age of fox-hunting." A courteous bearing and
manner distinguished the Duke, and though a hard
rider, full of enthusiasm that danger could not
daunt, he had always a marvellous control over

D

34 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

the impetuous spirits of whicli a Belvoir field was
so largely composed. Yet his government was
marked by the gentlest suasion, and in anything
stronger than an ironical rebuke he was hardly
known to indulge. Seldom interfering with the
pack in the field, he never gave his huntsmen a
direct command, preferring rather to turn his order
into a request. Conservative to a degree, he
delighted in upholding all the famous traditions
of the finiiily pack, and when discussing any
subject relating to hunting, quahfied his opinion by
saying, " I think Lord Forester would have done
so ! " Politics he did not trouble much, but his
few speeches in the House of Lords on Protection,
which he always upheld, were short, vigorous, and
to the point. Such was the master who ruled the
destinies of the Belvoir, and whose service Gillard
found so congenial and conducive to aspire to
excellence. The liberality with which hunting
affairs have all through been conducted at Belvoir
Castle never degenerated into mere display; indeed,
many provincial establishments were more con-
spicuous for the lavish scale of their expenditure.
Nothing was spared that could help to make the
pack thoroughly efficient or sustain its high reputa-
tion, and all reasonable claims for damage were
promptly satisfied.

Every day has its line recorded in the diaries
of twenty-six seasons' sport, kept religiously by
Gillard. The death of every one of the 2709
foxes slain during that period is mentioned.
Here is the first entry, characteristic of many

SEASON 1870-71 37

thousand others, all of whicli might be used to
conjure up a pleasant memory of the past. It
was INIr. George Lane Fox who said very truly
in a letter to his old friend, INIr. Thomas Parring-
ton, the promoter of foxhound shows, " If a man
is once a real sportsman, and loves hound and
horse, he will, when age prevents him from taking
an active part, still continue to delight in hearing
of the sport that hounds show and which others are
enjoying." If that be true, a debt of gratitude is
due to Frank Gillard for keeping so consistently a
record during the whole of that time, which forms
a history of the men and manners in the world of
sport. The writing is scrupulously neat and clear,
and reads as follows : —

''August 23?'d, 1870.— Commenced cub-hunting,
found a good show of cubs at old Church Wood
(Woolsthorpe), hounds running from fox to fox
one hour and twenty minutes, killing three cubs.
Remarks. — The harvest was very early, but owing
to the dryness of the weather we could not begin
sooner. It rained yesterday afternoon for five or
six hours. Owing to it falling unexpectedly we
had not got the earths stopped ; in consequence, it
was half-past nine before we made a start, rather
an unusual hour for the first morning ! The day
was dull. Wind, S.W. Fair good scent. Foxes
killed, 3. To ground, 0. Hounds out, 84 couple.
I rode the chestnut hack mare."

On the last day of September the meet was
arranged for half- past ten at Bel voir to suit his
Grace, who was out for the first time with his two

88 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

friends, Sir Francis Grant, P.R.A., and Mr.
Parker Gilmour, who were staying at the Castle,
whilst Mr. Chaworth JNIusters, as was his wont,
slept the night at the kennels, the guest of Frank
Gillard. Scent was not very good, but the young
entry distinguished themselves by Three Queens,
where the ground was much foiled by fur, and
doing so greatly pleased the Duke. Ferryman
and AYoodman were first away on the line of their
fox, after running through Harston pastures, whilst
Fleecer afterwards distinguished himself by carrying
the line from Harston to Hallams Wood, where the
pack effected their second kill.

A curious incident in a day's sport at the end of
November is related with an afternoon fox from
Newman's Gorse, which beat hounds after a
good hunt up to Saxby. AVhen the hunt was
returning by Freeby Wood the Cottesmore were
seen running into it, leaving with a point for
Waltham, where the huntsman was told of a fox
being shut up in a stable at Welbournes, which he
promptly demanded and gave to the hounds. The
fox had been captured an hour before, and was
undoubtedly the Bel voir fox, for he was as stiff as
a stake, and one hound was seen to foUow him
on in the direction of Waltham. The Duke of
Rutland and most of the field joined in with the
Cottesmore, and followed them to Waltham,
thinking they were ^vith the Belvoir. A few days
later his Grace took a bad fall, owing to his
liorse jumping short at a brook by Carlton Scroop,
and first to render aid was jNIr. Tom Hutchinson,

SEASON 1870-71 39

one of the hardest men to hounds of the yeomen
brigade. " Oh, that brute of a horse, your Grace,"
he exclaimed, " I'll cut his throat ; he's not fit to
live." " No, no ! Mr. Hutchinson," rephed the
Duke, who always excused his horse on every
occasion, " it was not his fault." " But I will cut
his throat, your Grace, I will," persisted the good
Samaritan, who was always very determined and
resolute. Possessing a marvellous control over a
horse, JMr. Tom Hutchinson was one of those who
seem to be able to make them do anything, and
they all knew this, when he was on their backs that
they must do their best. JMany are the wonderful
stories told of his celebrated cob Jack, who could
top over anything his own height, and it was a
lesson to watch his master ride at a big place,
giving each hand a hurried lick so as to get a better
grip of the reins as he measured his distance and
sent him at it.

A day of disaster happened on February 14th,
when hounds were in Belton Park, for though
several foxes were afoot they were so headed by
foot people that little good could be done, and then
to crown aU, the huntsman's horse kicked an old
hound, Sportsman, in a gateway and killed him on
the spot. Sportsman was a lemon-coloured hound
by Sir Watkin AVinn's Royal, whom old John
AValker, the huntsman to that kennel, said "that
there was never such another hound as Royal
living"; he was always singing his praises, and so
Cooper used him at Belvoir. Frank tells the story
of how when a youth, whipping -in for the Hon.

40 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

JNIark Rolle in Devonshire, he was sent to Sir
Watkin Winn's kennel to bring away a draft of
twenty-six couples. " Are the hounds ready, sir ? "
asked young Frank of old John Walker on his
arrival, quite expecting that he would start the
homeward journey by the next train. " No, they
are not, young man, and won't be for another week,
you go and help my whips in the kennel ! " During
his stay he learnt much from the old huntsman
which was very useful to him in after-life, for John
Walker was hard to beat at his calling. But to
get back to our day's hunting and its misfortunes
from which we have somewhat digressed : AVill
Goodall, the first whip, got his horse so fast in a
ditch near Jericho AVood that he had to be dragged
out by a farm team, and the second whip's horse
was so dead beat that he had to be left the night at
Foston. No one was left to help Frank home with
the hounds at night except Cooper, the ex-hunts-
man, who was out on a pony.

The best day of the season was February 15th,
from Croxton Park, and a capital scent enabled
hounds to race a fox to the left of Wymondham
past Woodwell Head, straight through Gunby
Gorse to Morcary Wood on Cottesmore domains.
A few fields from the Great North Road hounds
were close to their fox, and it looked fifty to one
on a kill. So sure was JNIr. Henry Custance, the
famous jockey, blazing along on his favourite horse
Doctor, that he said to Gillard, " Give me the
brush, will you ? " " Oh, dear, I wish you had not
asked me," replied Frank, "for now we shall not

SEASON 1870-71 41

kill him ! " " Oh, but they can't help doing so, he's
crawling about just in front of them," argued
Custance. "It's bad luck to ask for a brush
before it comes to hand," replied Frank. So it
proved on this occasion ; a fresh fox jumped up in
the huge forest, and led hounds out past JMickley
A'N^ood, to the east corner of Witham. Instead of
entering the covert the cunning old customer ran
along the outside, and crossing the Great North
Road by North Witham, hounds were brought to
slow hunting, but working it out with great
perseverance, reached Gunby Warren and effected
a kill. The run lasted upwards of three hours,
the distance was not less than fifteen miles, and no
one rode more consistently than the late Duke.

A very fast dart, for which the beautiful Celvoir
are so famous, happened from Ingoldsby Wood with
a straight-necked February fox. Taking the line
of coverts Boothby Little Wood, Humby and
Ropsley Rise, he crossed the Bridge-end Road, ran
past Welby, and they pulled him down in the open
near to Gipple, after racing for thirty-five minutes,
distance seven miles. Five couple of hounds, with
Benefit leading, got away in front of the others,
and the pace throughout was so great that they
were never caught.

INIarch 15th was made memorable by the presence
of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales on a visit to Sir
Frederick Johnstone at IMelton Mowbray. The
choicest coverts of the Belvoir were reserved for the
occasion, namely, Coston and Newman's Gorse, but,
alas ! the ground was hard as iron and there was a

42 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

total absence of scent ! On the Pytchley side the
same morning the ground lay four inches deep in
snow, but the Duke's territory, on the contrary, was
a foot deep in dust, and in spite of Gillard's untiring
efforts no sport resulted. Amongst a large and
distinguished field out to meet the Prince were
Colonel Kingscote, JNIaster of the Horse, Colonel
Ellis, equerry, INIr. Knollys, private secretary. Sir
Frederick Johnstone, Lord Grey de AVilton, INIr.
Gilmour, INIessrs. Behrens, Captain Boyce, INIr.
Henry Chaplin, INIr. Ernest Chaplin, Captain
Coventry, Lord Calthorpe, Colonel Forester, INIajor
Paynter, Captain the Hon. Henry INIolyneux,
Captain Riddell, Captain Barclay, Captain King,
Captain Pennell Elmhirst, and Mr. Chapman.

The season's sport was much hindered by
weather with hard going at the commencement and
finish. There was a long stop for frost, and the
cold was so intense that twenty-six degrees were
registered in the Belvoir gardens on the last day of
the year. The number of hunting days was 116,
the number of foxes killed 140, and 48 marked to
o-round.

FoRRARD Away.

CHAPTER IV

Seasons 1871-72 and 1872-73

The Hunt Stud — The Mare that taught Mr. James Hutchinson —
Jumping Gates — The Hunters Black Charley and Culverthorpe —
Old Tom Chambers — Mr. Ferrand — Sir Thomas WHiichcote's Stud
—A Visit from Mr. Chaworth Musters^A Morning's Cubbing in
Flood with Mr. Algernon Turner only — The Belvoir catch a
Blankney run Fox, and two Opinions about it — Colonel the Hon.
H. H. Forester — H. R. H. the Prince of ^A'^ales at Croxton Park —
H.R.H. clears a prostrate Farmer — H.R.H. apologises — A wet
Day in Lincolnshire — A good Day and Mr. George Drummond —
Frank Beers from the Grafton — The Hound Grafton Silence.

M

Y stud of horses for five
days a week was ten
or twelve, and the
Duke was never very par-
ticular to a horse or two,"
said Gillard, as he revived
the memory of many an
equine acquaintance. " I
was a nice weight, eleven
stone three pounds, and amongst my lot were
some of the best I ever rode, for we were capitally
mounted. Five of those that I had at this time
were bought for the Duke ; they all came from

-'^X'M^

44 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

INIr. 'Bob' Chapman of Cheltenham, and the
figure was always the same, £350 apiece. During
the seven seasons that I was whip to these
hounds we were only allowed one horse a day, and
we had to arrange with one another that whoever
got away with hounds in the morning had to go on
up to the huntsman through the run, the one left
behind bringing on the tail hounds. It was a hard
day's work for one horse, but it is astonishing what
a well-bred one can do, and we liked it better than
did Lord Henry Bentinck's servants, who were
over-horsed with three or four a day at about 300
guineas apiece. The Burton Hunt horses were so
full fresh that the men could not ride them to turn
hounds quickly, and they gave them more falls than
did our slaves. Goodall the first whip was allowed
two, and he was a hard bruising horseman. One of
those that he rode was a chestnut mare, bought of
]Mr. Bedford, the Grantham tanner, and I always say
that she taught Mv. James Hutchinson to ride. His
father before him, tall in build, with snow-white hair,
was a splendid man across country. I remember him
jumping a very wide brook by Garthorpe, and the
singular point about it was that I never saw this
place jumped by any one else except his son James
some years later, when riding the particular chest-
nut mare we were speaking about. Hounds swam
over the brook, and you may always be sure it is a
big place when you see them swim, and as I turned
to the left for the ford I saw Mr. James Hutchinson
sail down to it and get well over, exactly where
his father had it, of which fact he was in ignorance

SEASON 1871-72 45

until I told liim. On another occasion he gave me
a lead on this mare over a locked gate near Folk-
ingham, so we knew something about her, you see,
when she was brought to carry the first whip.
She finished her career breaking her back in a wide
brook near Folkingham. Talking of jumping gates,
that seems to have gone quite out of fashion, yet
at one time of day there were plenty who never
thought of stopping to open one. I have seen the
late Duke of Rutland, when hounds were running,
take half-a-dozen gates in succession. As a matter
of fact, a hunter had to be a good timber-jumper in
those days, when ox -rails were more general in
Leicestershire and the big bullock pastures of
Lincolnshire."

The cubbing time was a good one with a scent
most mornings, so that hounds were out thirty-
seven times, accounted for fifty-six foxes, besides
marking fourteen to ground. Amongst the good
days this season that of January 3rd stands out
for mention, lending itself for narrative. Melton
Spinney supplied the fox, who ran with a point for
Brentingby Spinney, where a shepherd cur joined
in chase and nearly spoilt the run. From Goadby
Gorse it was a regular race of thirty minutes to the
kill in Croxton Park, and out of the large field Sir
Frederick Johnstone was certainly the foremost.
With the evening fox from Freeby Wood hounds
ran by Saxby nearly to Woodwell Head, where
they were stopped by darkness after running well
for fifty minutes. There were lots of falls and
tired horses, but the pride of place belonged to

46 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Lord Wilton, who was first from find to finish.
Although there was a sharp frost in the morning,
scent was very good in spite of the ploughs carry-
ing. " I rode Culverthorpe and Black Charley,"
Gillard records, " and both carried me well, especially
the latter, who, when he got to Woodwell Head,
had lots of gallop left in him." Black Charley was
a very stout horse and great jumper. He was*
bought for the Duke's own riding from INIr. Chap-
man, but was a bit too gay, for which reason he
was passed on to me. Culverthorpe was a good-
looking chestnut, ridden by Cooper the hunts-
man, and in those days when whipper-in to him, I
had to hunt the hounds on several occasions when
he was laid up, and old Tom Chambers was the only
one to turn hounds. It was poor old Tom's fixed
rule never to jump a fence under any pretence
whatever, so I had pretty well to run the whole
show, but was singularly lucky, as it liappened to
be a very good scenting season. On one of these
particular occasions, when I was riding Culver-
thorpe, we found a fox in Nightingale Gorse and
ran him hard to Burton Plantation, where he had
to surrender his brush. Just by the Flowerpot
Inn, at the Burton cross-roads, hounds sighted a
fresh fox running heel way, and immediately gave
chase. We had just jumped into the road, but
having no whipper-in, I turned old Culverthorpe
short back over the fence, extended him for two
fields and got to their heads, lifted them back on
the Une of the hunted fox, and killed him hand-
somely. A great friend of the Duke's, old JNIr.

SEASON 1871-72 47

Ferrand, noticed the incident, and congratulated
me on what he considered a very smart per-
formance. This old gentleman used to stable
his stud of hunters at the inn at Belvoir, and as he
was often away for weeks together, Lord John
Manners, the present Duke of Rutland, used to
ride them when he liked, and very well he went
to hounds in those days. In the field old Mr.
Ferrand was quite a character, very jolly and
noisy, singing out, ' Forrard, forrard ! ' as he rode
along at the tail of the hunt, quite oblivious of the
fact that there were no hounds in his immediate
neighbourhood to cheer along. However, it was
one of his fond illusions that every hound in the
pack knew him, and many a time was he chaffed
by the Duke and his friends when he accompanied
them to the kennel."

The Lincolnshire breed of foxes have always
been noted for their stoutness, and we find a great
day's sport recorded on January 16th from Kings
Gorse by Culverthorpe, hounds travelling at a
good fair pace over the ten lordships of Culver-
thorpe, Oseby, Haydour, Dembleby, Aunsby,
Scott Willoughby, Newton, Osbournby, Three-
kingham, and Folkingham, where they killed him
near the big gorse after a run of one hour and
forty minutes. Again, when hounds met at Haver-
holme Priory, five-and-twenty miles distant from
kennels, and every mile of the journey done by
road, they started a stout fox from Eveden Wood,
and killed him by Swarby after a splendid gallop.
Sir Thomas Whichcote certainly had the best of it

48 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

all the way, and told Gillard afterwards that it was
the best gallop he had seen since Cxoosey's days.
The squire of Aswarby rode the best of cattle, all
being big bang-tailed horses as nearly thoroughbred
as possible, looking as if they were cast in the
same mould. Old Tom Wincup was the stud
groom at Aswarby, and he was most successful hi
the art of conditioning hunters, so that there were
few studs to equal that of Sir Thomas AVhichcote's
in excellence, and many of their portraits from the
brush of the elder Ferneley are to be seen hanging on
the walls of the dining-room at the Hall to this day.
During; the month of IMarch, when the hours
of sunlight lengthen out, the opportunity is
generally taken by strangers from a distance to
enjoy a hunt with a neighbouring pack. Amongst
those who came to enjoy a good day's sport from
Cottam Thorns and the Normanton coverts were
JNIr. George Fitzwilliam and his huntsman George
Carter, also JMr. Chaworth INIusters, who was able
to congratulate Frank on a good performance after
an old dog fox who led the pack for one hour and
fifty minutes before he was caught. Just at this
time the famous master of the South Notts was
out of harness, which enabled him to have a day or
two with the Belvoir, and on these occasions he
always put up with Frank, discussing many a good
day's sport with him. To be in the service of four
excellent masters does not fall to the lot of many
in a lifetime, but Frank Gillard is one of those who
can own to this, and perhaps illustrates the old
adage that " A good master makes a good servant."

J. f.J,:yA'j//.

^^^<^^:!^^2^o,^'£^

SEASON 1872-73 49

The last day of hunting this season was April
12th, and the game was played out, for the
weather was hot, the ground hard, and scent nil.
The number of days hounds went out was 134,
being stopped 16 days for frost, accounting for 110
foxes, marking 61 to ground.

Season 1872-73

A very early start from kennels was always the
rule on cub-hunting mornings, to reach the outlying
coverts perhaps twenty miles distant. The stable-
men were up before cock-crow, and the crack of a
whip under the huntsman's window about 3 a.m.
was the signal for all in the kennels to be astir.
On the morning of October 21st the outlook must
have been most uninviting, for after a time of
di'ought the flood-gates of heaven had opened, and
rain fell in torrents from 1 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fair
weather or foul hounds always kept their appoint-
ment, and by 6 a.m. twenty-nine and a half couple
were rousing the echoes in Sherbrooke's covert.
Half the country was under water in the vicinity
of the covert, so quickly had the floods risen, but a
litter of cubs were set afoot, and after a hunt lasting
one hour, a nose was secured for the kennel board.
The next find was in Hose Gorse, from which
covert an old fox with the pack close after him was
set going, running over the Canal Bridge nearly to
Kaye Wood, where he turned by Harby, coming
back by Piper Hole Gorse and Goadby Bullimore
to Melton Spinney. The whereabouts of the

E

50 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Melton brook was completely hidden by the flood
in the low-lying meadows, and the hunt staff, who
were only mounted on hacks, had the greatest
difliculty to keep the pack in view. Fortunately
hounds turned on the hue of a fresh fox, swimming
back over the Melton brook and were promptly
stopped. The field out on this desperate wet
morning was certainly a select one, the only other
horseman beside the hunt staff being Mr. Algernon
Turnor of Stoke.

The opening meet on the 1st of November was
at Leadenham House, and, unfortunately, a fox
possessed with the spirit of mischief led the pack
for a mile up the railway towards Caythorpe,
where they met an express when running hard.
All but one hound, Durable, turned, and she was
cut to pieces by the express. As extra trains
were running for Lincoln races, the scene was
promptly changed to the heath country.

On November 11th, after meeting at Staunton,
the pack viewed a fox going into Cottam Thorns,
and it was one the Blankney hounds had run from
Coddington Plantation. The Belvoir promptly
took up the chase, ran him out by Elton, and
killed in the open by the road - side between
Staunton and Cottam. On being told that an-
other fox had been seen running into Cottam
Thorns a return was made to that covert, which
was found full of Mr. Chaplin's hounds, who had
run in, only to find it tenantless, and to hear that
the Belvoir had made a meal of their fox. A
deputy master acted on this occasion for Mr.

SEASON 1872-73 51

Chaplin, with Harry Hortoii as huntsman ; and
directly he met Gillard in the central ride he tried
to pull him by the leg : " It's all right, Frank, we've
killed our fox after a rattling good gallop ! "
"Yes," replied Gillard, "he looked very stiff, but
your hounds have not killed him." "Well, we
soon shall, for they have just marked him to
ground in the covert," went on the master, de-
termined not to be bested. " I'm afraid they won't
do that," replied Gillard, "for there is only one
earth in the covert, that's artificial and stopped
safe enough. I'm afraid you've made a mistake
and been running some of those old hares, for we
killed your fox stiff as a stake half an hour ago. "

In a good gallop during December the Melton
brook was crossed, and Colonel the Hon. H. H.
Forester, one of the fathers of the hunt, went in
for total immersion. He was known to his
intimate friends as "the Lad" on account of his
sprightly appearance, and over a country was
hard to beat, though somewhat handicapped by
wearing glasses. Especially is this the case in
foggy or wet weather when it is almost impossible
to see at all with the glasses dimmed by mist, and
on one occasion the Colonel set his horse at an
unjumpable fence, which he refused in the last
stride, much to the surprise of the rider.

The visit of the Prince of Wales to Belvoir as
the guest of the Duke of Rutland makes this
season a memorable one, for he enjoyed three days'
sport with hounds on the Leicestershire and
Lincolnshire side of the country. On March 5th

52

HUNTING REMINISCENCES

an enormous field of over five hundred horsemen
assembled at Croxton Park to give His Royal
Highness a befitting welcome, so glad were they

H.R.H. The Prince of Wales inspects the Belvoir.

to see him honour the fair pastures of Leicester-
shire with his footprints, and before the visit was
completed he commemorated the occasion by
planting some gorse for a future fox covert near to
Baggrave. The meet was by the old ruin known

SEASON 1872-73 53

as Croxton Park, the remains of what was once a
residence or sporting lodge of the Rutland family,
the habitable portion of which now shelters the
widow of poor old Will Goodall. Very pmictually
to time the party from the Castle rode up with
the Prince of Wales, amongst them being Lord
George Manners, the Earl of Wilton, Lord
Calthorpe, Mr. Parker Gilmour, Mr. Henry
Chaplin, M.P. To the regret of every one, the
noble master, the Duke of Rutland, was prevented
from appearing in the saddle owing to an attack
of gout. The elder school of sportsmen were
represented by Lord Wilton, Mr. Parker Gilmour,
Lord Scarborough, Colonel Forester, JNIr. Mickle-
thwaite, Mr. Sherbrook, Mr. Hardy, the Rev. T.
Heathcote, and Mr. Westley Richards. Amongst
the younger men fifty might have been picked out
in a run to show the way to an ambitious stranger.
Lord Grey de Wilton, Sir Frederick Johnstone,
Captain T. Boyce, Major Tempest, the Hon. H.
H. Molyneux, Lord Carrington, Mr. H. Chaplin,
and a host of top sawyers, including a strong
detachment from Mr. Tailby's hunt with the noted
rough-rider of that day, Dick Webster. Nor
must we forget the large body of those who don
the yeoman's mixture, who, though seldom allowed
to retain second season hunters, are generally there
or thereabouts when hounds run. At the head of
these we must place Mr. Burbidge of Thorpe,
Mr. Wood of Market Overton, and Mr. William
Pinder of Barrowby. Such is a sample of the
large body of sportsmen who welcomed the Prince,

54 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

and with them he chatted pleasantly for half an
hour before hounds threw off. These special days
so often turn out badly for sport, which is frequently
marred by the crowd, and on this occasion the sun
was hot, scent was a vanishing quantity, foxes ran
short, and the crowd was everywhere. The find
was in Freeby Wood ; hounds then rattled their fox
by Brentingby, crossed the Melton brook, and
turned into a nice country, a line for Goadby
village, where fresh foxes jumping up spoilt all
chance of an orthodox finish. By the afternoon
the day clouded down, and a good gallop resulted
from Coston covert, hounds racing hard for
Woodwell Head, bowling their fox over in the
open by Edmonthorpe, and Gillard had the honour
of presenting the brush to the royal stranger.
The horse ridden by the Prince was a superb
chestnut, and carried him right up to hounds over
a stiff line of country, in spite of a large thrusting
crowd, and the difficulties caused by one or two
self-constituted pilots. At one fence a farmer
took a fall just in front of the Prince, who, unable
to check his horse, cleared the prostrate form, but
he immediately pulled up, and riding back to the
fallen horseman expressed his regret. To this day
the incident is remembered and appreciated by
sportsmen who love fair play, for selfish indiffer-
ence is too often, we fear, characteristic of a hard-
riding Leicestershire field, whom Whyte Melville
described as "fierce as hawks, jealous as women."
On the following day the Prince met hounds and
a large field at Newton Bar to sample the Lincoln-

SEASON 1872-73 55

shire side of the country. Unfortunately the
weather was bad, and got worse as the day ad-
vanced. A fox found in Folkingham big gorse led
hounds over one of the worst lines of deep plough
country across to Heckington, so that His Royal
Highness abandoned the chase, and went to lunch
at Aswarby Hall with Sir Thomas Whichcote.

A singular and terrible accident happened on
one of the latter days of March, when hounds
were hunting a fox in Belton Park. A blinding
snowstorm came on, and while Mr. Clark Cole
of Fulbeck was facing it, his horse jumped on one
side to avoid coming into collision with a tree,
pitched his rider against the trunk, killing him on
the spot.

One of the best days of the season resulted
from Bottesford on a good scenting morning at
the end of March. The find was in Normanton
Little Covert, and hounds ran hard nearly to the
Debdales, crossed the Great Northern Railway
and the river Devon by Mussons Gorse, running
through Shipman's Plantation to Woolsthorpe
Wharf, where they pulled him down after a blazing
forty minutes. " I never saw hounds run a fox
harder," was the remark Frank set down against
the day, " and he turned short several times, but
they were able to turn equally short on his line."
A great run followed in the afternoon, lasting till
darkness set in, and only Mr. George Drummond
was left of the large field of the morning. This
keen sportsman, who had a fine stud of hunters
stabled at Grantham, was cousin to the Duke ; he

56

HUNTING REMINISCENCES

was full of ride, and hard to beat over a country.
When hacking home at night with hounds, which
was often his wont, he would say, "Well, Frank,
who has had the most falls to-day, you or I ? "

A hard day's sport with a fox round Melton
put a finish to the season, and only wanted blood
to make it excellent. The weather was very hot,
and at six o'clock the pack came to a full stop by
Welby Holt, with only Mr. A. V. Pryor and the
Hon. H. H, Molyneux left out to help Gillard
with the pack into Melton, for both the whippers-
in were left behind looking up missing hounds.
On this day Frank Beers, the huntsman from the
Grafton, was out on a hack to watch hounds in their
work, and buy some of the draft. The Grafton
kennel dipped very freely into the Belvoir blood,
paying as much as £80 for a single hound. About
this time the crack of that kennel was Silence —
the name was enough to hang him — by Statesman
out of Garland, and he proved one of the finest
sires the Grafton ever produced, and had a
numerous family, over one hundred couple.

Taking all things into consideration it was a
good season of 136 days, with only 11 days" stop
for frost. The number of kills was 98, and 57
were marked to ground.

Vengeance, by Gameboy — Vanity.

CHAPTEH V

Seasons 1873-74 and 1874-75

Sir Francis Grant, P.R.A. , in the Field and at Work — Leicestershire
Sport compared with Lincohishire Sport — Will Goodall, junr. —
Sir Frederick Johnstone and Mr. " Chicken " Hartopp — Hunters
Tom Day and Lady Grey — Lord Wilton leads the Field — William
Blakeshorough, Whip — Death of Loi-d George Manners — Mr.
Richard Norman and Lord Forester — The Empress of Austria
has a Morning's Cub-hunting — Her Beagles in Austria — Tliirty-
eight Days' stop for Frost — Red-Letter Days afterwards — A Fall
taken by Captain Riddell — Lord Wilton and Lord Grey de Wilton
at Timber.

,NE of those who hunted
from Melton at this period
was Sir Francis Grant,
President of the Royal
Academy, considered the
handsomest man that rode
to the three packs in his
day. Related to the Duke
of Rutland by marriage
[v^'^with Miss Norman, he
was a constant visitor at
Belvoir, spending many an hour on the flags with
Gillard. Perhaps of all the pictures and portraits

58 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

he painted, none is more widely knoAvn than that
of the " INIelton Hunt Breakfast," a hunting picture
which vies in interest with Mr. Ferneley's scene at
Barkby. Doubtless it was a labour of love for the
artist himself, who though a heavy weight, and by
no means lucky in horse-dealing transactions, was
seldom far from the finish of a good thing, and
at times pounded the field. On many occasions
GiUard sat as model, when Sir Francis was
painting a large picture of a kill with hounds,
and it was generally agreed that the central
figure of a fat huntsman holding the fox above
his head spoilt the contour of the group, he was
therefore painted out, and Frank went day after day
to Melton to stand as model for the new figure.
" A great honour to have been chosen as the subject
for the brush of so distinguished a painter ! " we
suggested. " It was terrible hard work holding up
that fox, I can tell you ; by Jove it was an awful
bore, and I should not like to have to do it again ! "
replied Gillard, shaking his head. Sir Francis Grant
was just as fond of shooting as he was of hunting,
and very often walking about some coverts the
Duke had given him, on more than one occasion
omitting to stop the earths when hounds were
expected, so that the huntsman was compelled to
write rather strongly on the subject. In reply he
sent a pencil drawing of himself mounted on an
old pony, riding out at the dead of night with a
spade under his arm and a lantern tied to his
stirrup iron. Written underneath was, " Is this
the sort of thing you want me to do ? "

SEASON 1873-74 59

The best sport this season appears to have been
on the Lincohishire side of the country, and some-
what indifferent in Leicestershire owing to short-
running foxes. So good an authority as Brooksby
has said, when summing up the merits of the two
sides of his Grace's kingdom, " Real sport — and
nothing but the sport — being the primary object,
we are incHned to concede that such is more
likely of attainment on the Lincolnshire than the
Leicestershire side of the Belvoir country. For in
the former division the ground is, at least here and
there, equally favourable ; the hounds are the
same, while the foxes are undoubtedly better. In
the one you have a local field of reasonable dimen-
sions and less ardent aspirations ; in the latter you
have a swollen field, a jealous — no, let us say, a
zealous crowd." When hounds visited the Cay-
thorpe Plantations and Reeves Gorse on the
extreme northern Lincolnshire boundary they
found them alive with foxes. On the line of a
good old dog they led the way over a country
from the Beacon Plantation to Normanton hill-
top, where they turned on to the heath land
by Sparrow Gorse, bowling him over in the middle
of a large grass field near Rauceby High Wood,
after making a nine - mile point. Again, on
November 19th, after meeting at Croxton Park, a
good gallop resulted from Newman's Gorse, hounds
going away close at the brush of their fox. Past
Freeby village and Thorpe Arnold, with a sharp
turn to Brentingby Wood, the time was thirty
minutes, and all the way hounds were a field or

60 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

two ahead of the hard-riding division. Without
dwelling long in Brentingby Wood he led the way
back at a reduced pace by Freeby to the starting-
point, where they rolled him over. Altogether the
run lasted 50 minutes, and the distance was 8 miles.
Will Goodall, the first whip, was one of the
hardest that ever crossed a saddle, and as keen as
mustard for sport ; he would go from morning to
night without taking bite or sup. Gillard would
often remonstrate with him on the folly of doing
so, but could never persuade him to carry a flask
or food, as he always declared that he never felt
the need of it, and had so strong a constitution
that he could fast with impunity. Alas, poor
fellow ! he tried himself too high in his attempts
to keep weight down, and in all probability sowed
the seeds of the fatal disease that cut him off in
the prime of life. On one occasion, when return-
ing home at dusk with hounds after a very hard
day, he pulled an armful of peas from a stack,
shelling them as he went, being ravenous, nor
would he stop in spite of warnings. The con-
sequence was he was seriously ill afterwards, and
laid up in the kennel for several days. On
December 6, after meeting at Stoke Rochford,
a great gallop is recorded with an outlyer into the
heart of the Cottesmore country. After passing
Burton Goggles he turned for Lobthorpe, took a
direct line for Morkary Wood, over a stiff bit of
desolate grass country. Disdaining shelter, he
crossed the North road and turned straight for
Greetham, which was reached in one hour and

SEASON 1873-74 61

forty minutes. Several foxes were afoot, but
sticking M^ell to the line of the hunted one, they
followed him on through Woolfox Plantation, and
ended up by marking to ground in Exton Park,
near to the keeper's house. The distance hounds
ran as measured on the map was 22 miles.

One of the best known of the Melton division
was Sir Frederick Johnstone of Westerhall, who
with his brother did more skylarking than any-
body, except Mr. " Chicken " Hartopp. But the
Johnstones should be good horsemen, for the crest
of the family suggests life in the saddle, being a
winged spur with the motto, " Nunquam non
paratus." It is said to have originated from the
lady of the house serving up a clean spur on a dish
when the last bullock was killed — a hint to spur
over the border and fetch more from Cumberland
or Westmoreland. A convivial spirit with Lord
Waterford, Sir Frederick was always full of ride,
and ready for a good thing with Bel voir, Quorn,
or Cottesmore. When looking through the locker
of his memory Gillard brought to light the follow-
ing story, going back to the days when he carried
the horn for the Quorn : — " We were sailing away
with a breast-high scent across those great bullock
pastures by Asfordby, and all the timber was up.
I was riding one of my best horses, Tom Day, a
wonderful fencer, and we cleared a wide place
with an ox-rail on the far side, and I think it was
one of the biggest I ever jumped ! Sir Frederick
Johnstone was close up, banging along over all
those big fences, and as he followed on, I looked

62 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

round, for I knew he had got something to do.
His horse caught the single rail as he landed,
sending it flying through the air right back over
the head of his rider. He rode up afterwards to
me and said, ' I shall buy your horse and the gray
mare Lady Grey when Mr. Musters sells the
Quorn horses at the end of the season.' I must
tell you Lady Grey was a flyer every one wanted
to buy, and on one memorable occasion she carried
me in a clinking gallop. We found our fox at
John o' Gaunt, and crossed the Twyford brook on
the south-east side of the station, made a seven-
mile point, and only rode over one field of plough,
pulling our fox down on the hillside by Dalby
Hall. Lord Wilton led the field all the way ; we
jumped the last fence side by side and saw hounds
race into their fox ; he said, ' Frank, that is the
best gallop I ever saw,' and he had seen a few in
his time ! Well, I must tell you that as I set the
gray mare's head for the Twyford brook, Henry
Custance, who was riding on my left hand,
shouted out, ' It won't do, Frank, it won't do ! '
However, I did get over, though it was a wide
place, and I don't know what became of him, for
the pace was too good to inquire. When the
hunt horses were sold, Tom Day did not make a
very high figure, for he had a game leg, but it did
not make much odds to him, for he threw it away
as soon as he set going, and I think he was one of
the best horses to gallop on through the deep that
I ever sat on. Unfortunately Lady Grey got
pricked with a fork in the elbow-joint two days

SEASON 1873-74 63

before the sale, and joint oil starting to run,
Mr. Musters had her destroyed. Sir Frederick
Johnstone told me afterwards that a thousand
would not have stopped him from buying
her."

Frost visited us in February, but the first day
out we had a quick thing from Clawson Thorns
to Piper Hole Gorse. Ascending the hill to this
covert took the wind out of our horses, but when
we reached the table-land we were able to keep
the pack in view, racing all the way to Knipton,
where they marked to ground after a regular burst
of forty minutes. It being but a small earth, we
dug, and two others besides were found lying up
at the end of it. The first was given a start, and
hounds ran hard to Croxton Banks, where they
unfortunately changed ; but on hearing that one
of the other foxes was still in hand, we had him
turned down, and a regular race of fifteen minutes
resulted, until he saved his brush by getting to
ground.

A mad dog was destroyed at Leadenham, so the
district was given a wide berth by hounds in con-
sequence, and the fixture changed during February
to Haverholme. It was on this day that the after-
noon fox from Newton Wood gave a splendid
gallop by Scot Willoughby, Osbournby hill -top,
Aswarby, nearly to the Thorns. With the pack
close at him he doubled back to Osbournby, and
was rolled over after going racing pace for thirty-
five minutes. Hounds were a field ahead all the
way, and those nearest to them were Sir Thomas

64- HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Whichcote, Major W. Longstaffe, and Mr. John
Hardy.

On JNlarcli 21st, with the evening fox from INIelton
Spinney, one of those fast spins occurred for which
the Belvoir are so famous. After crossing the
Melton brook close to the town, they ran at a
great pace to Thorpe and Scalford, where there
was a welcome check, for the pace had been a
cracker. Following on to Waltham, it had to be
given up, for there was no more daylight. Those
who stayed to the finish were Major Tempest,
Captain King, Mr. Chaplin of Brooksby, and his
brother Mr. William. " We only wanted blood
to have made it a first-rate day," was Gillard's
verdict.

The number of hunting days this season was
138, including cubbing, and 105 foxes were killed.

Season 1874-75

A change in the staff this season was caused
through Will Goodall being offered the Pytchley
horn by Earl Spencer, and in his place came
William Blakesborough, who had turned hounds
seven seasons for Lord Eglinton. He remained
but one season at Belvoir, and then went to hunt
Lord Middleton's hounds.

The rider of the pale horse was very busy this
season, and made many gaps in the ranks of the
veterans ; before the year had run its course the
hunt deplored the loss of Lord George Manners,
Mr. Richard Norman, and Lord Forester. For

SEASON 1874-75 65

twenty-seven seasons did tlie Right Hon. John
George Weld, 2nd Lord Forester, rule over the Bel-
voir, acting as a warming-pan between the master-
ships of two Dukes of Rutland, retiring in 1857.
His mastership dated back to the palmy days of
fox-hunting ; he was the very centre of a brilliant
group of sportsmen, and most impatient of the
presence in the field of town-bred sportsmen. Lord
Forester rode out all his time, and towards the last
had to be helped into the saddle, but once in it he
could go with the best. No man ever had a better
innings at hunting, for he dropped into the master-
ship of the best pack at a most favourable period,
held it for an unusual length of time, and made
the most of it. The hunting spirit has run high
among the Foresters for centuries, and he was one
of the last of the old school of aristocrats of whom
Thackeray's Esmonds were a type. On his marriage
with Lady Melbourne, widow of the Hon. Frederic
Lamb, created Lord Beauvale, he was presented
by the Belvoir Hunt with a splendid piece of plate,
representing a fox in a tree, with figures of the
leading members of the hunt grouped round,
an incident which occurred in Croxton Park,
1851, also depicted by Sir Francis Grant, R.A.
On the reverse side were the names of the sub-
scribers— the Duke of Rutland, Marquis of Granby,
Earl Winchilsea, Lord John Manners, Lord George
INIanners, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, Lady
INIarion Alford, Right Hon. R. A. C. Nisbet
Hamilton, Sir. J. C. Thorold, Sir T. Whichcote,
Sir M. J. Cholmeley, Sir Glynne Earle Welby, Sir

66 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

H. Bromley, Sir R. G. H. Clarges, General Reeve,
General JNIildmay Fane, Colonel J. Reeve, Colonel
H. Fane, Colonel P. Dundas, Rev. Thomas
Heathcote, Mr. John Litchford, Mr. A. Wilton,
INI. P., jNIr. W. E. Norton, and twenty-eight others.
One morning at the end of September, during
the cub-hunting season, Gillard received a mysteri-
ous wire asking him to change the fixture from the
Lincolnshire side of the county to nearer Melton.
After much wire-pulling it turned out to be no
less illustrious personage than the Empress of
Austria, and of course a royal request amounted
to a command, so the meet was changed from
Boothby to Three Queens at 8 x\.m. The Empress
duly arrived with her suite of four gentlemen and
a lady, having chartered a special train from
London to Melton that morning. This was the
first occasion that the Empress of Austria enjoyed
a day's hunting in England, and after looking about
for a house in Leicestershire without being suc-
cessful in her search, she betook herself to Che-
shire. On her morning's cub-hunting with the
Belvoir she wore a tall hat and rode a good-
looking bay hunter, a present from the late Lord
Dudley, who was said to have given a long figure
for him. The Empress remarked, after casting a
very critical glance over the pack of twenty-three
and a half couple, " Why, you have all lady hounds
out this morning ! " This was a fact, but an excep-
tion to the rule which was for a few small dog
hounds to always run with the lady pack, and
Gillard was surprised that it was noted so quickly.

SEASON 1874-75 67

Amongst the Empress's suite was Count Botazzi,
who had hunted from JNIelton before, and came for
the express purpose of piloting her Majesty ;
however, he declined the honour at the last
moment, saying that he was indifferently mounted,
and did not know the country well, requesting
Frank to do so, warning him to mind where
he led, for the Empress was sure to follow. The
morning's sport was a good one, for after finding
in Herring's Gorse, a nice spin resulted by Saltby
to Hungerton, where the pack were beaten by
scent. With the second fox from Sproxton Gorse
they ran hard over the heath -land country to
Denton, where they pulled him down after a
nice spin of twenty-five minutes. The Empress
rode in workmanlike style, being greatly delighted
when she saw the fox rolled over and was pre-
sented with the brush. After the hunt she re-
turned to kennels, inspected all the hounds, ex-
pressed a wish to see the hunt horses, gardens,
and Castle — in fact, did all the sights of Belvoir
before realising that she was ready for luncheon after
so strong a morning's exertion. As the Duke of
Rutland was away from Belvoir, Frank and IVIrs.
Gillard entertained the Empress and her suite in
their parlour. To answer all her questions about
the sporting pictures and hunting trophies which
adorned the walls was quite a pleasure, and while
doing so her host attempted to open a bottle of
soda water for his royal guest. Alas, it is never
safe to do two things at once ! the result being
the cork flew out sooner than was expected, and

68 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

to Frank's horror tlie Empress of Austria was
saturated with the contents of the bottle. How-
ever, she good-naturedly laughed heartily at the
accident, and so did all her suite. On her return
to Austria she commissioned Gillard to buy a pack
of beagles, the best that money could find. It
took a whole summer to execute the commission,
and a lawsuit was only just missed with a wild
Irishman who insisted on sending a lot of red
lurcher terriers. At last twelve couple of twelve-
inch beagles were found, bright with Belvoir tan,
and smart as new sixpences. Before sending them
away they were hunted, and good to follow was
their beautiful cry, Frank Gillard, Junr., taking
them over, being entertained right royally during
a week's stay in Austria. The Empress, delighted
with her new purchase, found a good hare for
them and started a hunt. Very quickly they out-
distanced the field who were on foot, at the finish
the Empress being the only one left going, and
she threw aside first one garment, then another,
until in her enthusiasm to keep them in sight
she landed in the middle of a drain. Ponies had
to be procured to catch the runaway pack, and
they were never used again as foot beagles, being
much too fast.

The opening day of the season was delayed on
account of the hard state of the going, and hounds
stopped hunting in the middle for thirty-eight days
of frost. After the break up, a big day occurred on
January 6th from Piper Hole Gorse, a good fox
facinsT the river Smite as bold as a lion. Hounds

SEASON 1874-75 69

went away close at his brush and pressed him so hard
that he ran nearly in a straight line to Widmerpool
Inn, which was reached in forty-five minutes with-
out a check. After heading through Kinoulton
Gorse he endeavoured to reach the main earths at
Owthorpe borders, but these were fortunately
stopped, so he turned away, struggling gamely on
to Cotgrave Gorse, and though it looked fifty to
one on the chances of a kill, the friendly shades of
night threw her pall over the scene, allowing a right
good fox to live to run another day. The distance
hounds ran was not less than 13 miles, and it was a
very severe day for horses, many of the JNIelton
men having to leave theirs out all night in the
Widmerpool country.

Another red-letter day of this season was on
January 16th, when a fox was started from Burton
Sleighs, the neutral covert on the borders of the
Cottesmore country. The line was by Easton,
past Swayfield Wood, through Mickley Wood, over
Witham Common. The pack raced for fifteen
minutes as if they were sighting their fox, but, un-
fortunately, by Witham they changed on to the line
of a fresh one, who led the way by Holywell, the
pace being so good that tired horses were to be seen
standing like landmarks all over the face of the
country. Although the hunted one was viewed 50
yards in front of hounds, he just managed to crawl
into Grimsthorpe Park, where he beat them, spoil-
ing a fine hunting run that only wanted blood to
crown it.

All through January and February the pack

70 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

ran hard and straight day after day, accounting for
their foxes in capital style. Amongst these good
things was the fast spin of thirty-five minutes from
Elton INIanor, ending with a kill in the open ; and
again from Leadenham, when hounds were running
for two hours from fox to fox, being stopped at dark
with all the horses reduced to a trot. A fine run
of one hour and thirty -five minutes occurred from
Nightingale Gorse, ending with a kill in the middle
of Syston Park. The first forty -five minutes of this
gallop were accomplished without a check. On
February 13th, from Stoke, hounds had a very hard
day, running incessantly for six hours, and at last
three and a half couple slipped away, ran their fox
into Grantham town, where he was captured
by some boys, but died before hounds could get
hold of him. Great sport was supplied from
Goadby Gorse with a fox who led the way at a
terrific pace in the direction of Melton Spinney,
changing his course for Stonesby Ashes, ending
with a mark to ground in Buckminster Park.
Foremost of a large field was Major W. Longstaffe,
mounted on one of Mr. George Drummond's stud.
Captain Riddell, Mr. Samuda, Colonel the Hon.
H. H. Forester, Captain the Hon. H. H. Molyneux,
and Mr. Corbett Hollands. There were few more
ardent followers of hounds than Captain Riddell,
the gallant ex-officer of Lancers and most accom-
plished horseman. Gillard tells a story of how 'on
one occasion in a good run the field got pounded,
until Captain Riddell saw a gate in the corner
which he soon had off its hinges, letting him into

SEASON 1874-75

71

a cattle-pen surrounded by five-foot timber baulks.
The straw in the yard made the run at it as springy
as a feather bed, so that, hard man as the gallant
officer was, his judgment prompted him to turn
away from the fence. Just as he pulled his horse
round, old Lord AVilton crossed his bows, and
lifted his horse in splendid fashion out of the crew-
yard over the rails. This was too much for Captain
Riddell, and he attempted to follow the lead, his
horse breasting the top rail, turning a complete
somersault on to the top of his rider. The landing
was on a rough cart track, and those who saw it
made sure the rider was crushed to death under
his horse, but to their surprise both sprang up and
set going again at once. The old Lord Wilton
could top over strong timber in a marvellous way,
and his son Lord de Grey was nearly as good.

The number of hunting days this season was
128, the number of foxes killed 125, and 43 marked
to ground.

After the Day's Work.

CHAPTER VI

Season 1875-76

Bel voir Blood and Competition — '^Gillard's Compound" — Alfred Orbell
AV'hipper-in — Gillard's Opinion on digging- out Foxes— Tlie Rev.
" Billy " Newcome of Boothby and Mr. Banker Hardy of Gran-
tham the last Home — A Run in the Fens piloted by Mr. F. Smith
— Lenton Church Spire — Cuthbert Bede's Pen — Peck, the second
A\'hipper-in^ has an awkward Experience — Mr. Micklethwaite on
Sport and Marriage — The Gray Horse Sluggai-d — Retrenchment
and Subsci-iption from the Lincolnshire Side — Fox killed in a
Brewing Tub at Sleaford — Mr. Tom Oliver — A good Day in
Leicestershire^ and Miss Miles in the Field and on Paper.

annual puppy show in the
summer is adopted by most
kennels throughout the
kingdom, but the old order
at Belvoir was never to
enter into competition on
their own flags, or those
^ of Peterborough. Occupy-
ing the premier position
by general consent, the
Duke's kennel had no occa-
sion to contest. Yet at Peterborough the beautiful
Belvoir blood won the ribbands for other packs

The Fox on the Kennel.

SEASON 1875-76 73

who had dipped into it, and many a time have
we seen cheery Frank's face lit np with a smile as
he watched the hounds of his own breeding catch
the judge's eye. There was no doubt that the
Senator strain was the most fashionable blood at
this time, winning this summer at the Alexandra
Palace Foxhound ShoAv for both the Quorn and
Brocklesby kennels.

As many as one hundred couple of puppies were
sent out to walk every season from Belvoir, many
going to the tenants on the Derbyshire estate as
well as Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. A good
start in life was insured for each puppy sent out
from kennel, a label bearing his name and pedigree
accompanying him, together with two bottles of
medicine for distemper and jaundice, with full
instructions when to use it, and a small gilt spoon
in which to measure the same. Consequently
the mortality amongst puppies was reduced to a
minimum, and the fame of "the Gillard com-
pounds" for distemper is to-day known world
wide.

This season Alfred Orbell was promoted to the
position of first whipper-in, a duty which he
performed Avith great credit, being quick to turn
hounds, and a nice weight, 9 stone 7 lbs. The
cubbing time was one of the best on record,
especially during October, when several nice pre-
liminary gallops with stout cubs in the open
resulted. During the second and third weeks of
September, when the weather was so hot and dry,
the Belvoir woods afforded excellent schooling

74 HUNTING REIMINISCENCES

ground for the young entry, so that in forty-three
mornings' work thirty-three brace were offered up
on the altar of learning.

When a discussion was raised on the question
of digging out foxes, we drew Gillard on the
subject. "No one hates it more than I do," he
replied. " I should say that after November 1st in
each year, for the last twenty years, not more than
a brace in a season have been dug out. In the
cubbing season, however, when foxes go to ground
like rabbits morning after morning, it is ruinous to
a pack of hounds ; but to help them to get a fox
out not only makes them keen in their work, and
steady from riot, but it thus teaches them to mark
their fox to ground. In the regular hunting
season, for various reasons best known to the master
and the huntsman, it is sometimes necessary to dig.
Depend upon it, after a fox beats hounds by going
to ground, he will follow up his cunning, and if
one hole is stopped he will find another. I
should, therefore, with the help of a terrier, or by
other ineans, bolt him from drains and such like
places."

The season was remarkable for wet and windy
weather, hunting being stopped ten days in
December, ten days in January, and three in
February. Of good days' sport recorded, that of
November 12th, from Kirkby Underwood, resulted
in two fair gallops over an excellent woodland
grass country. The day was a hard one for horses,
both whips being left behind to hunt up missing
hounds, and the distance back to kennels was not

SEASON 1875-76 75

less than 20 miles as the crow flies. " It was a
pity we had not more daylight to have enabled us
to kill our fox," Gillard remarks against the day,
" for it looked fifty to one on our doing so had we
not been compelled to whip off" in the big woods,
and I never saw hounds so glued to a scent or so
determined not to be stopped. Mr. John Hardy,
the Rev. W. C. Newcome, and Major W. Long-
staffe acted as my whippers-in, helping me to
get hounds back to Grantham, where the van
Avas awaiting us." No day was too long for the
veteran Mr. " Banker " Hardy, who was one of
the mainstays of the hunt ; he kept a stud of good
hunters at Grantham, rode them hard, and enjoyed
the sport thoroughly. His great friend was the
Rev. " Billy " Newcome, and the two were very
often the last to bid the huntsmen good-night, for
they never thought of going home until hounds
did. Mr. Newcome was a well-known figure with
the Belvoir hounds for half a century, being all
that time Rector of Boothby. After hounds he
was a fearless rider, possessed of iron nerves,
though not a finished horseman ; he frequently
went pounding along with a slack rein, and at
different periods of his career came in for
some serious crumplers. A contemporary of Sir
Thomas Whichcote at Eton, he was born the
same year, 1813, and passed away in the winter of
1896.

A run down into the fen country when it rides
deep is always a stiff day's work, and on December
28th, after meeting at Rauceby Hall, a great gallop

76 HUNTING REIVIINISCENCES

resulted from Summers Plantation to Howell,
two or three miles below Haverholme. Darkness
stopped hounds at the finish, but the line they ran
could not have been less than 20 miles, the distance
back to Belvoir was 30 miles, so that the hunt
horses put two days' work into one on this occasion.
The big fen-land drains are quite unjumpable, and
Frank tells how he trusted himself to the pilotage
of a fen-land farmer, Mr. Fred Smith, who, when
he came to a single plank bridge, dismounted and
ran over, swimming his fen-bred horse across the
drain. Quick as thought, the huntsman had his
horse in the stream at the same time, and with the
lead got him the right side ; but INIr. Joseph
A¥ilders, who delayed to follow, got his horse
stuck, and it looked at one time as though he
would have to leave him there. The fox was
killed by a solitary, outlying cottage, where lived
a man blessed with twelve children, and they had
never before seen a foxhound or scarlet coat, being
quite out of civilisation.

On December 29th a good gallop of an hour
and fifteen minutes was enjoyed from Hose Gorse,
over the vale straight from Sherbrooke's Gorse,
crossing the Smite, running by Hickling and
Kinoulton through Kaye Wood to ground in a
tunnel under the road by Hose Lodge. For a
ring this was a first-rate performance, and all over
a charming country, which for fencing is warranted
to satisfy the biggest glutton that ever crossed a
saddle.

The spire of Lenton church on the hill has

SEASON 1875-76 77

come into the landscape background of many a
famous run, besides being the steeple for the annual
hunt chases. When it was restored by the Rev.
Thomas Heathcote in 1875, he asked the Duke of
Rutland for a subscription. " Why should I sub-
scribe to a church that is not on my property ? "
asked the noble master of the Belvoir hounds.
" Because it is such a good landmark when your
hounds run," replied the fox-hunting vicar ; and the
Duke promptly sent £5 towards the restoration of
the spire. At INIr. Heathcote's death in 1883, the
Earl of Ancaster, patron of the living of Lenton,
presented it to my father the Rev. E. Bradley,
better known as Cuthbert Bede, author of Verdant
Green, and though not a follower of the chase,
his pen contributed many a note on hunting lore
and Belvoir Hunt history. Under the shadow of
Lenton church spire hounds met the last day of
the year, and started a line fox from Heathcote's
covert, running a fast ring to ground by the
Folkingham rifle butts. The second gallop was
from the Little Gorse, and proved a fast forty
minutes over a charming hunting country, ending
with blood. The first point was for the Big Gorse
and Walcott village ; then swinging round through
Heathcote's covert, he went straight away past
Laughton to a drain below Dowesby willow-bed
on the edge of the fens. A terrier to bolt him
was procured from Mr. Tom Casswell of Pointon,
that well-known sportsman and distinguished
agriculturist, who was brought up in the South -
wold country, where more farmers have entered

78 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

to sport than in any other county in England.
A large dog-fox he proved to be when pushed out
by the terrier, and a stout one too, for hounds had
raced from find to finish. Those nearest to the
pack were Sir John Thorold and his two brothers.
Captain Cecil Thorold and Major Charles Thorold,
also ]Mr. Beaumont of Irnham. Amongst the
farmer division, Mr. James Hoyes of Hanby was
most prominent, and he was tremendous over a
country, though seldom mounted on a second
season hunter.

New Year's Day was spent in the saddle, and
the ground was terribly deep after a heavy rain.
The scene was in Leicestershire, and hounds
whipped off in darkness near Hose with no one
left to help Gillard home, till he met his second
whipper-in Peck, near Harby. At the end of
three seasons' service with the Belvoir, Peck left
to become huntsman to Count Larish's pack in
Bohemia. An awkward experience once happened
to him when riding; a hack home from Grantham
in the dark after a very long day's hunting. It
was in the days of toll-bars, and when stopping to
pay at Denton his hack was so fidgety that he got
down to count his change by the light of the lamp.
An over-officious limb of the law lying in wait for
a chance to distinguish himself sprang out of the
darkness, seized the hack, and told Peck that he
was drunk. The whipper-in was so offended at
the base insinuation that, without further ado, he
went for the policeman and blacked both his eyes.
The end of it was the handcuffs were forced on to

SEASON 1875-76 79

poor Peck, and he was marched back to the lock-up
in Grantham, red coat, top-boots, and all. He
had the sympathy of all who knew him, and it
was some little satisfaction to know he had
punished the policeman, though he made himself
amenable to the law by doing so.

A brilliant gallop of fifty minutes came off
from Aswarby Thorns on January 25th, hounds
racing over the park, forward by Swarby and
Aunsby, through Dembleby Thorns, Nightingale
Gorse, and Haceby coverts, straight as a rocket.
On the far side of Sapperton Wood, near to
Pickworth village, the leading hounds were but a
few yards behind their fox, and a kill looked a
certainty. Directly this good fox found the pack
so close at his brush, he turned sharp down wind,
and immediately all trace of scent vanished.
Those who held good places in the run were Sir
Thomas Whichcote, Major Longstaffe, Mr. John
Welby, JNIr. John Hardy, and ]Mr. F. Searson.
Amongst the school of old sportsmen who were to
the fore at this period was Mr. Micklethwaite, who
had rooms at Grantham, over White's the saddler.
The old gentleman was quite a character, wearing
a red flannel jacket over his scarlet coat, and nearly
always riding a roarer. It was his custom never
to go first at a fence except every one else was
pounded, and it was a case of in or over. If he
got the right side he would wait to see how
they followed on, enjoying the fun. There was
no occasion to read the newspaper when Mr.
Micklethwaite came out hunting, for he was

80 HUNTING RE^NIINISCENCES

always full of the news, and proclaimed it in a
loud voice, so that half the field might know what
he was talking about. Starting life in the navy,
it had always been his ambition to hunt five days
a week in Leicestershire if riches would allow, and
the wherewithal coming to him in middle life,
he carried out his wish after retiring from the
service. His seat on a horse was a very loose one,
and he summed up his enjoyment by the number
of falls he took. " Capital day's sport, took five
falls, and enjoyed myself thoroughly!" was often
a remark he would make to Gillard as he shogged
home with him at dusk. On one occasion his
friend, Mr. "Banker" Hardy, said to him,
" INIicklethwaite, did you see how well Captain
'Doggy' Smith jumped that gate?" "Where,
where, tell me which gate," said the old gentle-
man, keen as mustard, as he turned his horse
back and sent him at the gate indicated, with
the result he cut every bar out of it. He once
said to Gillard, " ^ly friends say that I ought to
get married, what do you think about it, Frank ? "
"Well, sir, to speak from my experience of ten
years of married life, I think it is the best thing
that can happen to a man ! " " Well, Frank !
you see you've probably got a wife who can sew
your shirt buttons on for you, or, for all I know,
can make a shirt. Now, if I married, it would be
to some fine lady who would want to spend £50 on
some Bond Street milliner's finery, and then where
would my hunting be ? No, Frank, I am better
single ! " The stories told about this cheery old

SEASON 1875-76 81

sportsman and his doings are many, and one of his
cracking falls made him go light-headed for a
time, that when he got back to London, he
shocked his many friends by jumping out of a
window. He turned up again at covert side all
right next season, and said, "Frank, I made one
of the biggest jumps I ever made in iny life this
summer, three stories high ! I don't suppose I
was right in my head, it ought to have killed me,
but it did not ! "

February as usual this season brought its
quantum of good sport, and on the 2nd hounds
ran a fox very hard from Croxton to Easton Park,
where he beat the pack by scaling the wall after
making three attempts, falling back twice. The
web-like foot of a fox enables him to take hold of
a wall and get over a high one where a hound
cannot follow.

Frank had an interesting recollection of a
favourite gray horse Sluggard, who carried him
well for eleven seasons, and only gave one fall.
When a four -year -old the horse belonged to a
small farmer, who was often three sheets in the
wind, and used to hunt twice a week, jumping over
every mortal thing, no matter whether hounds ran
or not. The horse's tail had never been pulled or
squared, and he lived in a crew-yard where a besom
and duck-pond constituted all the grooming he ever
got. " I wish you would buy that horse to carry
me, Mr. Musters," Gillard often said to his master ;
but Mr. Musters's reply was always, " I don't
know what the deuce you will want me to buy you

G

82 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

next, Frank ! " When the Borough Hill chases
came off at the end of the season, Sluggard was
entered in the Farmer's race, which he won easily,
and then that good sportsman Mr. Brewster of
Denton bought him, but could only get second in
one or two chases. At last when Gillard returned to
Belvoir he got Sluggard into the hunt stable. The
only fall he gave in eleven seasons was by Wymond-
ham in a good gallop, and Frank always said it
was his fault, not that of the horse. Finding the
crowd were rather too close to his heels when
riding him at a wide open gully, he changed his
purpose, and asked him at the last moment to jump
some stiff timber at the side. The result was
Sluggard came end over end, and in the melee his
bridle slipped off; Lord Aylesford followed, and
seeing that the huntsman had a damaged shoulder
and could not raise his arm, he caught the horse
for him and got his bridle on. Sluggard was a
tricky horse to ride until you knew him, for he
threw his head up and down as he approached a
fence, but was safe as London when left to it. On
one occasion when Blakesborough, the first whip,
rode him, he turned up at the end of the day with
two fearful black eyes where the horse had hit
him with his head.

A succession of bad seasons for agriculture
caused the shoe to begin to pinch all those whose
income was derived from land, and the expense of
hunting a pack of hounds five days a week over
such an enormous extent of country became too
great a burden even for the noble owner of Belvoir.

SEASON 1875-76 83

When talking the matter over the Duke suggested,
as a means of retrenching, to hunt four instead of
five days a week. This proposal Gillard begged
should not be entertained, preferring rather to hunt
six days a week as long as he had breath in his
body to do so. " But, Frank," said the Duke in his
usual kind way, " you must remember that we all
get older ! " A rough estimate of the cost of
hunting the Lincolnshire side of the country was
drawn up, and a meeting of gentlemen took place
at Belton Park with Lord Brownlow in the chair
on February 22nd to consider the matter. A sub-
scription of £1500 a year was immediately forth-
coming to meet the expenses of the poultry and
damage fund, with the proviso that Gillard was not
to be interfered with, and all responsibility rested
with him when the Duke was not in the field.
The hunt then continued the even tenor of its way
to the day of the Duke's death.

A curious finish to a smart gallop occurred
with the evening fox on Leap year day this
season. The find was in Sir John Thorold's plant-
ation, and hounds fairly raced, leaving Cranwell
to the right, turning to Holdingham covert away
to Sleaford, where they killed in Miss Peacock's
brewing -tub after a capital twenty -five minutes.
When crossing the valley below Cranwell, the
horse Gillard was riding swerved from some sheep-
trays, and jumping at the netting, got completely
wound up in it, rolling over, smothering his rider
in the most tenacious clay, so that it was necessary
to be well scraped before he regained the free use

84 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

of his limbs. When INIiss Peacock's garden was
reached at Sleaford, Frank was on foot helping
hounds to discover the whereabouts of their fox,
which had vanished amongst the out-buildings.
Hearing muffled sounds and a great splashing, he
found Dutiful worrying the fox single-handed in
the brewing-copper. One of the horses ridden by
the huntsman on this day was a five-year-old bay
mare Primrose, the property of Mr. Tom Oliver
of Walcott, a pair of fifteen stone blood ones, own
brother and sister, bred by him, being on price to
the Duke for £700. However, the deal did not
come off, and the horses subsequently went for a
much lower figure elsewhere. In those days Mr.
Oliver was flourishing ; for they were the prosperous
days of farming, and he had a stable full ; even
to-day, in spite of hard times, the spirit of the
chase is not quenched within him, for he is to be
seen on foot following the hounds, leading a
couple of varmint -looking terriers ready for any
emergency.

Towards the end of the season, when hounds
were running in Belvoir woods, a vixen was viewed
carrying a cub in her mouth, and the pack were
promptly stopped. On another occasion a hunted
fox was seen by Gillard to sit down and extract
a thorn from his foot, as if he cared nothing for
danger ; but instances of vulpine cunning are
so numerous and well known.

The season's sport concluded, with a good day
in Leicestershire, April 12th, which we reproduce
from Frank's own diary. " Owing to a hea\y

SEASON 1875-76 85

snowstorm we failed to do any good with our
morning fox, but at five o'clock a good one was
set going from Bescaby Oaks. First he took a
turn over Croxton Park, then away past Sproxton
Thorns and through Coston Covert. Up to this
point the pace was very severe, though the field
kept pegging along, and after getting clear of the
last-named covert, hounds raced past Wymondham,
bearing to the left for Woodwell Head. At Coston
Covert and Sproxton Thorns I lifted the pack
forward on to the line of our fox as he left
the covert, and so lost no time, but Woodwell
Head being a bigger covert, I had to let them
carry the line through. This they did without
dwelling there, and by the time we galloped to
the south end, the pack were streaming away
towards Cottesmore Gorse, just skirting it as they
ran round by Teigh, and killed near Edmond-
thorpe in the dry canal. It was after seven o'clock
when we killed, and the distance as the crow flies
from Croxton Park to Cottesmore Gorse is ten
miles. The mask was presented, instead of the
brush, which was a poor one, to Miss INIiles, who
went well on one of the Duke's horses. Those
who were up at the finish were Major Longstaffe,
Mr. John Hardy, JNIr. Turner Farley, Mr. James
Hutchinson, Captain King, and the Rev. J. Mire-
house. All the horses were beat, and a call was
made at Mr. Pochin's house for gruel." The next
day the Duke had a description of the run written
by Miss Miles which pleased him very much,
especially as she described Gillard taking a

86

HUNTING REMINISCENCES

cropper at a blind fence, and he had forgotten
to admit it.

The number of hunting days this season was
139, and the foxes killed 131, with 61 marks to *
ground after November 1st.

Hunting the IjIne.

CHAPTER VII

Season 1876-77

John Bull's Top-boots — Catching a Lamb-stealer — Thomas, Eai-1 of
^Filton, Social Whip to the Quorn — ^Turkish Bath for Hunters-
Mr. Little Gilmour, Prince of the Heavies — Sir George Wombvvell
— The Messrs. Behrens — Tlie Butcher in Blue — The Hound
Weathergage entered — Belvoir and Brocklesby Entries — Will
Goodall and Rallywood in 1850 — Distinguishing Points of the
Belvoir Pack — Weathergage's Pedigree — Mr. Burbidge of Thorpe
and his Fox Covert — A Kill in Staunton Churchyard — Lord
John Manners across Country — Sir Beaumont and Lady Florence
Dixie — Major Whyte Melville — Captain Pennell Elmhirst — Melton
Spinney — The longest Run of the Season — Lord Carriugton —
The best Day of the Season — The Horse Melon — Presentation of
Plate to the Sixth Duke of Rutland, and his Speech.

WENTY-SIX seasons
is no considerable
period when marking
the flight of time, yet
in the history of a pack
of hounds it gives
a record of many
changes in the way
we live and conduct
our sport. When

Swept over everything in Chase. Gillard COmmenCCd tO

hunt the Belvoir hounds, a fine old generation of

88 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

sportsmen were passing away, and the present
fathers of the hunt were winning their spurs over
the fields of Leicestershire. The fashion then with
the sturdy yeomen of his Grace's kingdom was to
walk about in high boots with brown tops from
one week's end to the other, in the same way
that the typical John Bull is represented to
us to-day. Two of the last of this race were
Mr. Wood of Market Overton and Mr. John
Ashbourne who lived near Croxton, both first-
class sportsmen. Gillard tells a story of the latter
at the time he whipped - in to Cooper. It
was the spring of the year, and Mr. Ashbourne
asked the Duke of Rutland and Lord Forester to
look inside his barn to see a long string of lambs
hanging up. " Well, what has happened to them ? "
asked Lord Forester. " I only want to show you,
my lord, what a good time the foxes have had, not
to complain about it ! " replied Mr. Ashbourne.
" Don't be too sure that it is our foxes ! " went on
Lord Forester. "Draw a waggon into your field
to-night and watch with your men. If a fox
comes — shoot, for a lamb-stealing fox ought not to
live. Shoot him or whatever comes ! " The plan
was carried out that night ; the marauder appeared
at the lamb's pen, the shepherd fired, and was
much surprised to find that he had killed no fox,
but his own thieving dog.

The leader at Melton was Thomas, Earl of
Wilton, one of the last of the old school of
aristocrats ; and Egerton Lodge, the abode of
hospitality when once the threshold was passed.

SEASON 1876-77 89

was by no means an easy place to get the entree.
No one could have filled the post of social whip to
a subscription pack like the Quorn as did the old
Earl, who successfully steered the hunt through
troublesome times. Lord „Wilton kept a large
stud of hunters, and was the first to introduce the
Turkish bath in his stables, which is considered ad-
vantageous for conditioning hunters. Then there
was Mr. Little Gilmour, as cheery and full of spirits
as a schoolboy home for his holidays. He was a
great favourite at Melton as well as at Belvoir,
and nobody worshipped him more than his stud
groom, old Charley Wells, who used to swear by
him and his contemporary Sir George Wombwell.
The Prince of the Heavies, as ^Ir. Little Gilmour
was called, if we give full credit for the extent to
which he was handicapped by weight, surpassed
either Sir Francis Grant or Lord Wilton. These
were both large-framed, heavy men, but Gilmour
could give either of them a couple of stone at least,
and was always superbly mounted. The Messrs.
Behrens stabled forty horses, so Melton was full.
A well-known character of the Melton Hunt was
Morris " the butcher in blue," mounted on an old
hunter, going gallantly across country, thereby
winning all the custom from the hunting division.

The most favoured sires among the stud hounds
this season were Why not — 1870 — in his eighth
season, a wonderfully good son of Senator — 1862
— and Woeful by Wonder — Susan. His shoulders
were perfection and his wise gray face full of
intelligence. The seven-year-old Royal, son of the

90 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

younger Rallywood, the light-faced Admiral and
Albion in their fifth season, the four-year-old
Barrister and two-year-old Rockwood, were all
good ones who left the mark of high lineage
in many a subsequent entry. Saffron in his
seventh season was the most favoured of the
Senator race, though the six-year-old Firebrand,
by the same sire, from Frolic, and his brother
Brusher, were in great favour. Three and a half
couple among the best of the hounds in their first
season were by Saffron and also many beautiful
whelps. Warrior — 1879 — by Wonder was the
sire of nine and a half couple in the pack this
season. Of all the sires, however, none were so
generally admired as Fallible — 1873^ — a three-year-
old son of Milton Furrier and Prophetess. His
bright black tan coat, supple, muscular limbs, clean
shoulders, deep, full chest and ribs, and shapely
head, showed true foxhound style in every line.
In later years, possibly, the Fitzwilliam got a bit
too coarse and big for the Duke's hounds, but
Fallible proved an exception, for he was as near
foxhound perfection as possible, and he proved of
the greatest use to Belvoir. His reputation would
have been lasting if it had ended when he got
Stainless — 1881— a hound said to be incomparable
by Mr. Chaworth Musters. He certainly was a
beautiful hound, his colour, neck, shoulders, and
general contour being so perfect. Stainless did
good service for his own kennel as well as the
Cottesmore, and in his seventh season was much
damaged from being ridden over.

SEASON 1876-77 91

This season, in the entry of 16 J couple was
the famous Weathergage by Warrior the son
of Wonder, and his dam was Royalty, by
Rambler, son of Senator. In Gillard's opinion
Weathergage was the best hound in every part of
a run he ever saw, and he combined nose, drive,
tongue, and devilry in breaking up a fox, which he
transmitted to all his get. Weathergage was not
a taking-looking hound, being flat-sided and three-
cornered in appearance. His ribs were deep and
his neck was short ; so mean did he look, that
Gillard treated him as the ugly duckling of the pack.
"I did not breed from him at first; but when I saw
what beautiful stock he got in other kennels — for
he never sired anything so mean-looking as himself,
I started to get a kennel full of the sort." His
voice was beautiful — he had only to speak and the
whole pack would fly to him, trusting it. It is
quite different when a bad hound speaks, the rest
know ; they only cock one ear as much as to say
" You fool and babbler ! " Weathergage always
seemed to know which way to cast, and carrying
a line down a road he was unsurpassed. He did
this on the last time he ever hunted, enabling the
pack to kill their fox handsomely.

The Belvoir always crossed well with the
Brocklesby and vice versa; three couple out of
seventeen, Lord Yarborough's entry this season,
were by Belvoir sires. If all the strains belong-
ing to these two great kennels could in any way
be summed up, it would be found that a vast
amount of hunting in this country is indirectly

95> HUNTING REMINISCENCES

indebted to them. Numerous kennels have been
entirely formed from Belvoir and Broeklesby drafts,
or by the kind privilege allowed to sportsmen by
the Dukes of Rutland and the Earls of Yarborough
in the services of stallion hounds. It is not too
much to say that these kennels are of national
importance to masters of foxhounds generally,
therefore the condition of the great packs and how
the entries have been made up each successive
season, must be a source of great interest. Such
entries as they always were too ! with Belvoir
walking a hundred couple of puppies a year, and
Broeklesby nearly the same number, whilst from
this prodigious choice just seventeen couple was
the selected few that each kennel put on.

The standard of 23 inches, to which Will
Goodall reduced the pack on his accession to
power, has been maintained, and the work, breed-
ing, and beauty of Lord Yarborough's Rallywood,
who came to Belvoir in 1850 when an old hound,
has been transmitted to his present descendants.
Will Goodall said of him : " This is a most
beautiful short-legged dog, exceedingly light of
bone, but with beautiful legs and feet ; he was
considered by the late Will Smith to be one of the
best-bred hounds in the Broeklesby kennels. Rose-
bud, his dam, worked until she was ten years old,
and was never known to do anything wrong — was
perfection in her work, and everlasting." Broeklesby
Rallywood's age did not prevent Goodall from
sending fifty-three couple of puppies by him out to
walk the next season. It has always been admitted

SEASON 1876-77 93

that to Rallywood, Belvoir owes greatly the staunch
and staying qualities of its hounds. " The Druid "
tells us that, "when he died, in 1853, twelve years
old, he was buried in the centre of a flower-bed in
Will Goodall's garden, and a red currant tree now
blooms over his remains." His blood is diffused
through every fashionable foxhound pack m
England, and portraits of him by the elder Ferneley
hang in the smoke-room at Belvoir Castle, and
the Rev. Cecil Legard's home at Cottesbrooke,
Northamptonshire.

The wonderful evenness of appearance is quite
unapproached in any other kennel, for a Belvoir
hound is a marvel of beauty and putting together.
It was always a matter of comment and admiration
when strangers viewed the pack at covert side, to
see their sheen of coat and polished appearance,
groomed as they were like thoro-breds. Gillard's
kennel management has never been surpassed, and
gives colour to the story that any hound seen
making his own toilet by scratching himself in
public, was instantly drafted to the provinces.

Amongst the days of note this season was the
run from Burbidge's Covert on November 8th, and
amongst those to see it drawn was its faithful
custodian Mr. Burbidge of Thorpe. This good
sportsman rode out his title as " father of the hunt "
on less than half-a-dozen mounts, he was tall and thin
with white hair, never rode more than nine stone,
and was the beau-ideal of a lip'ht weight. He will
always be remembered as the owner of a famous
gray whose doings in the field have been com-

94. HUNTING REMINISCENCES

memorated in verse by Tom JNIarkland. The
veteran was consulted by the Duke on matters
connected with the chase ; and when the nearest
vulpine stronghold to Melton was planted, it was
called Burbidge's Covert, with sufficient reason too,
for he tended it, overcame difficulties arising from
the floods, and did all he could to make it a sure
find. Hounds left with a point for Burton Lazars
and Great Dalby, crossed the steeplechase course,
and ran their fox to ground at Twyford. This
was a good hunting run of one hour, scent was
never very good, but hounds made the best of it.
Old Warrior and his son Wellington, with Patience
and Finder, distinguished themselves in maintain-
ing the line, for the fox ran 50 or 100 yards on
every road he crossed.

On December 4th from Belvoir a good hunting
run resulted, the find was at Muston Gorse, and
hounds ran a bee line by Debdale's Covert, Ailing-
ton, and Bennington to within a field of Cotham
Thorns, where he turned and was killed in the
porch of Staunton Church. The parson, Mr.
Staunton, was a hunting man, and quickly on the
scene when the fox was brought out into the road-
way for the final ceremony. On this day Lord
John Manners, subsequently seventh Duke of
Rutland, went wonderfully well, although the
going was terribly deep. It was a rare scenting
day, and though the run was all the way on plough,
hounds raced as if it had been grass. The distance
from Muston Gorse to Cotham Thorns is 8 miles,
14 as hounds ran, and the time just over two hours.

SEASON 1876-77 95

A note of regret stands against the day's sport
of December 6th, when Gillard had the misfortune
to stub his good horse Brilliant, and though lame,
he jumped the JNIelton brook. The floods were
out and Sir Beaumont and Lady Florence Dixie
jumped it well at a very wide place. This was a
period before Lady Florence wrote condemning
fox-hunting, and there was not a lighter weight
or more determined horsewoman in the shires.
Her mounts all had to go when she was up, and if
they did not know how, she very soon taught
them, being able to plant a refractory horse down
each shoulder with a hunting-crop better than many
men.

The day before Christmas a fall of 13|^ inches
of snow occurred, but a rapid thaw setting in,
there was practically very little delay. In so
extensive a kingdom as that hunted by the Duke
of Rutland a soft spot could always be found —
some locality where the going was possible, for the
nature of the soil varies so considerably that frost
will not touch the sheltered vales when the up-
land country may be hard as a road. Gillard
knew his ground well, and averaged less days
in kennel for a stop than any other huntsman
in England. Although snow blocked the fences
of Leicestershire, hounds had nothing to hinder
their sport over the barren tract of stone -walled
country out by Byard's Leap.

Another good day was seen from Goadby, and
this time hounds ran from the Bullamore to Harby
Hills, where the fox dipped down into the vale

96' HUNTING REMINISCENCES

running by Long Clawson. Up to this point
the pace was first-rate, but after that it was hard
work to keep the line to Willoughby, on the
Wolds, where they killed this good old fox in the
middle of the village, making a good finish to a
fine run of one hour and thirty-five minutes, dis-
tance 13 miles as hounds ran. Those who kept
with the pack were Lord Grey de Wilton, Sir
Beaumont and Lady Florence Dixie, Mr. John
Welby, Mr. A. V. Pryor, Mr. E. Chaplin, JNIr.
Cecil Samuda, Captain Pennell Elmhirst, and his
brother of the pen, Major Whyte Melville. On
the long list of those who have seen sport with the
Belvoir, no name stands out in bolder relief than
that of George Whyte Melville, soldier, novelist,
poet, and sportsman, by birth and natural instincts.
The two great objects of his life at this time were,
as he said of himself, " the pig-skin and the pen " ;
his days were devoted to hunting, and his evenings
to literary work. Happy the man who had George
Whyte Melville for his companion on the home-
ward ride after a day's hunting, and he often
came to Gillard at the finish to express his enjoy-
ment at the excellence of the sport.

Amongst coverts that have established a reputa-
tion for being a safe draw, Melton Spinney may be
reckoned one of the best, and on January 20th it
responded well to the call. No doubt the fox
roused was the one that had been run on many
occasions before, for he pointed as usual for Melton,
then wheeled round for Brentingby Spinney and
Freeby Wood, going at a rattling pace forward to

SEASON 1876-77 97

Saxby, and they killed him at Thorpe Arnold,
close to old Mr. Burbidge's house, after a capital
gallop of one hour and seventeen minutes.

The longest run of the season came two days
later, when they found in Easton Wood, and went
away at speed past Stoke Park, a ring into Witham
Wood running hard for quite an hour, getting
their fox dead beat. Unfortunately a fresh-found
one jumped up in front of the pack and took a line
from Burton Sleigh to Lenton village, crossing the
brook, through Keisby Wood without a pause,
and on to Aslackby village, pointing for the fen
country. Here the pack were within fifty yards of
him, but a flock of sheep interposed and obliterated
scent. The pace to this point was very fast, and
tired horses were standing about all along the line.
Continuing on past Dowsby, hounds went straight
over the fens, and this good fox beat them near
the Forty Foot Drain. It was a wonderfully fine
run over a splendid line of country, for hounds
only passed through one covert from the start,
and that was Keisby Wood. The time from
leaving Easton was two hours and twenty minutes,
the distance as the crow flies is not less than 14
miles.

Another great day on the Leicestershire side
came on January 24th, after drawing Coston Gorse,
when hounds went streaming away on the line of
a good fox towards Garthorpe, passing to the left
of Wymondham, running zigzag to Woodwell
Head, through this covert and down the hill to
INIarket Overton. Turning for Cottesmore a shep-

H

98 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

herd dog coursed him, causing a slight check, and
the pack divided by Burghley Wood. With the
main body Gillard held on to Greetham Wood,
where the run ended, for the whipper-in came on
with the information that the hunted fox, stiff as a
stake, had entered Burghley Wood. This fine run
lasted one hour and seventeen minutes, and those
to the front all through were Lord Grey de Wilton,
Lord Carrington — one of the smartest and best to
hounds, who, the following season, became Master
of the Cottesmore, — Lord Wolverton, and Mr.
Beaumont Lubbock.

The best run of the season, combining pace and
distance, was on February 20th, from Colonel
Willson's Gorse by Brandon, hounds going over
that fine country below Fulbeck and Leadenham
to Wellingore Gorse — in the opinion of the late
Sir Thomas Whichcote the biggest line to ride
in the whole hunt. The river Brant was crossed,
and turning by Stragglethorpe, he came back
to his starting - point, which was reached in
an hour from the time of finding. Too game
to stop, this stout-hearted one led the way for
Willoughby Gorse, where Gillard viewed him
very beat. Struggling on, he nearly reached
Syston Park, when the pack fairly raced from
scent to view, killing in the open, thus ending a
fine hunting run of two hours and forty minutes.
The distance hounds ran was nearly 24 miles, and
the pace at times was very severe.

Though the Duke passed many a good horse
on for Gillard's riding, he would never take one

SEASON 1876-77 99

from him, although sometimes rather short of a
suitable conveyance. Many a time would Frank
say, " Such and such a horse, your Grace, would
carry you well ! " " Does he suit you, Frank ? "
the Duke would ask, in his usual kind considerate
way ; " if so, keep him." One of these mounts was
a chestnut short-legged horse, well bred and up to
fifteen stone, called Melon, and unfortunately in
going through a gateway in a good run this season
he got pushed on to the hasp, which tore the flesh
on his ribs very considerably. Bad luck marked
him down ; for no sooner was he better and going
strong in a run than he reared up with Gillard and
fell dead as a stone by Kettleby. Frank laments
his loss in the diary : " He carried me five seasons,
and a stouter horse I never rode, coming out as he
did twice a week."

The all - important day, which will long be
remembered in the annals of the Belvoir Hunt,
was April 10th, the occasion of the presentation of
plate valued at 2500 guineas to the ducal Master.
No fewer than 240 gentlemen and farmers of the
Belvoir Hunt subscribed as a token of their
esteem, respect, and grateful appreciation of the
sport during twenty years so liberally provided
for them. The presentation took place in the
armoury room at Belvoir Castle, where a very
large gathering of sportsmen and ladies dressed
for the hunt met the Duke, who wore scarlet.
Sir W. E. Welby Gregory, M.P., made the
presentation, in the absence of Lord Brownlow,
and amongst the large number present were Lord

100 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Scarborough, the Marquis of Bristol, Sir John
Thorold, Sir Thomas Whichcote, the Rev. T.
Heatheote, Captain Drummond, Mr. John Welby,
]\Ir. Algernon Turner, Sir Hugh Cholmeley,
Colonel Reeve, Major LongstafFe, Mr. John
Hardy, Mr. James Hornsby, etc.

His Grace, who was deeply touched, rising
to reply, said, in a telling speech : " The Belvoir
hounds have been in existence as a pack for more
than one hundred and fifty years, and I hope
that as long as ever the old Castle remains, its
woods and vales will continue to re-echo their
music. For a successful day's hunting we are
mainly indebted to the abilities of the huntsman ;
and when I consider the names of those who have
been huntsmen to this pack — Newman, Shaw,
Goosey, Goodall, Cooper, and Gillard — I cannot
be astonished that the hounds should be able to
show you sport. This is a festive occasion, but
even the brightest scenes have their shadows, and
it is impossible on an occasion like this not to
remember the faces we no longer see, the names
of those we have no longer amongst us — Forester,
beloved of the hvmt, Lichford, Alford, Howson,
and many others — who would have been amongst us
this day, but that the Giver of all Good has seen
fit to call them away. Though they have passed,
their spirit still lives to animate and encourage
us. Fox-hunting is the noblest, finest, and
most unselfish sport in the world. Long may it
flourish. It brings all classes together. We all
rejoice together at a good run, and regret together

SEASON 1876-77

101

We clear the large fences
and

laugh

over a bad scent.

together, we fall into the brook,

together ! "

A splendid luncheon terminated the proceed- '"
ings ; and the remainder of the day was spent in
hunting a woodland fox.

The number of hunting days this season was
150, with only 3 days' stop for weather. The
number of foxes killed was 110, and 45 were
marked to ground.

'A Hunting Morn, I think.'

CHAPTER VIII

Season 1877-78

A scratch Pack v. a thoro'bred Pack— The Business of the Summer —
The blind Master from the Grove — Proof of the Pace of the Belvoir
Hounds — Lord Rossmore surprises Mr. Little Gilmour^Nine of
the Messrs. Hornsby in one run — The Rector of Colsterworth's
Cottesmore Hunt Hat — Frank's Description of a good Hound Day —
The Saffron Family as Hounds — The Samuda Pink Wedding —
Another good Hound Day^ Senator, Saffron and Brusher — The
Hound Wellington killed on the Railway — A good Run from Melton
Spinney — Lady Florence Dixie presented with the Brush — Story
of Captain " Tom " Boyce receiving a Brush and Hunt Button — A
good Run and Lady Florence Chaplin presented with a Brush — The
Ash Wednesday Run — The Hon. H. H. Molyneux's Collection of
Ash Wednesday Masks — The Horse Wing gets in the Smite — The
Hose Gorse black Fox rather wide of his Home.

T has been seen in England that
a scratch pack has never lasted
more than a few seasons, and
those who have been content to
hunt with any sort of hounds
have invariably tired of it before
they have arrived at middle age.
The old hunts and the veteran
sportsmen have owed their exist-
ence to the celebrity of packs
of foxhounds, and the greatest
assistance to sport has been the enticing pleasure

SEASON 1877-78 103

some people have found in forming packs and
breeding hounds.

The interval between one season and the next,
it can easily be realised, was no idle time for the
head of the Belvoir kennel, and a week or inside of
a fortnight at the nearest seaside place, so as to
get salted, amounted to the year's holiday. " I
was never very happy away from my hounds for
long," Frank would say, " and I liked to be within
hailing distance, so that I could run down in the
day and see how they were getting on." Greatness
has to pay its own penalty, and Belvoir of all
places was looked to by Masters of hounds as the
fountain-head for information. The amount of
letter - writing was therefore very considerable,
together with the copying out of countless
pedigrees, to send to those who desired alliances
for the matrons of their own kennels. The number
of visiting lady hounds to Belvoir every season
amounted to over 300.

Amongst those who came regularly every
summer to enjoy a day on the flags with Gillard
was an ex-master of the Grove who was stone-
blind from the result of an accident in the hunting
field. In spite of his affliction he never lost heart,
and would ride out on a led horse, saying to Gillard
in the most cheery way, " I'm coming to see your
hounds, Frank!" No man enjoyed himself more
when he was at the kennel, and as each hound was
drawn for inspection, he would feel him all over
most critically from head to stern, remarking,
"Well, Frank, this is a nice hound if he is straight!"

104. HUNTING REMINISCENCES

His judgment was very sound, and his remarks
interesting to listen to, for he had a most delicate
sense of touch, and a good memory for hounds.

Cub-hunting began this season on the last day
of August at Willoughby Gorse, ending November
3rd at the Rectory Covert, after 41 mornings' sport,
in which 55 cubs were accounted for, " Through
September the weather was moist, so we did
capitally, but during October scent was bad," is an
extract from the huntsman's diary.

A red-letter day was November 14th from Coston
Covert, hounds racing with a breast-high scent to
Woodwell Head, accomplishing the distance in 12
minutes. Gillard took the time, and so did the
Rev. J. Mirehouse of Colsterworth, who was
always "a good docker." The Duke was very
pleased when he heard of this brilliant burst, and
remarked that it proved the Belvoir hounds were
faster than in Goosey's time. The run of the
afternoon too was worthy of mention, for hounds
got glued to the line of a traveller from Stonesby
Gorse, racing past Garthorpe to the Ashes and
Freeby, ending up with slow hunting nearly to
Brentingby, where darkness came on and all the
horses were beat. Those left to see the finish
were Lord Rossmore, Captain Candy, Mr. Richard
Hornsby, jun., and the Rev. J. Mirehouse. The
mention of names calls to mind incidents of the
chase. On one occasion in a gallop from Old
Hills to Melton, a gate served the leading division,
and whilst Mr. Little Gilmour, the king of the
heavy weights, was bending down with the crook of

SEASON 1877-78 105

his whip under the latch, Lord Rossmore, who was
a bruiser, jumped the gate, much to the astonish-
ment of the cheery old gentleman, who in his day
could find his way about a strongly-fenced country
rather better than most men.

Amongst those who found it possible to have foxes
as well as pheasants were Messrs. James, William,
and Richard Hornsby, of Grantham, who rented
the coverts about Culverthorpe at this period ; and
though warm disciples of the gun, a blank day in
their coverts was unknown. A good story is told
of a stranger, at the end of a run, who noticed
that out of eleven at the finish, nine bore the name
of Hornsby. " I knew they had made the town
of Grantham," he said, "but I did not think
they made the Belvoir Hunt as well ! " Harking
back to the Rector of Colsterworth, whose name
we mentioned in the famous gallop from Coston
Covert to Woodwell Head, we note his head-gear
as being the style of hat worn by the Cottesmore
Hunt in 1826. A good description is given by Mr.
C. T. S. Birch-Reynardson in his pleasant anecdotes
of bygone days when he says, " The tall chimney-
pot hats had as much nap on them as there is wool
on many a Southdown sheep's back. The hat of
those days was very unlike the light silk affair that
we cover our brains with in these days. But in
spite of this the servants of the Cottesmore Hunt
preferred them to caps, and were allowed to wear
hats, making an excuse that with caps the rain got
down their necks."

The incidents of a hound day as recorded in

106 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Gillard's diary are full of interest to the sportsman,
and we quote the doings of November 26th. " With
the second fox from Normanton Little Covert we
ran very fast, first towards Bottesford, then turned
and crossed the new railway, and river Devon, going
on to Orston Wind Mill, and back again by Staunton
right into Bottesford village, where we killed in the
street opposite Mr. Norman s house. This was a
good fifty-five minutes and a very satisfactory finish,
especially as our fox threaded his way through the
village, making it very difficult for hounds, as is
generally the case when near bricks and mortar.
Those hounds that distinguished themselveswere old
Nero, Spinster, Crusty, Redcap, Rocket, Dauntless,
and the Saffron young bitches Sanguine, Spangle,
Sorcery, and Starlight. The latter especially pleased
me by making hits and driving their foxes when
scent served them." Old Nero had a voice that
any one might distinguish and remember, there was
such a ring with it. Saffron was a hound very much
admired, for he was as level as ever you saw one,
and his daughters were so good in their work, no
day was too long for them ! "It was beautiful to
have to hunt such hounds," added Frank with a
sigh, as he viewed in memory every hound named
in the account of the day's sport.

December 12th was the " Melton Pink Wedding
Day," the Duke of Rutland arranging for his hounds
to meet at the House, Melton Mowbray, the resi-
dence of his cousin Colonel Markham, in honour of
his daughter's marriage, JNIiss Cecil INIarkham, to
JNIr. Cecil Samuda ; the noble master, the members

SEASON 1877-78 109

of the Hunt, and Frank Gillard going to church in
scarlet. After the grand ceremony and breakfast
were over, a very large field accompanied the pack
to Burbidge's Cover, where a fox was found who
proved quite equal to the occasion. A crowd of
foot-hunters had stationed themselves on the high
ground overlooking the cover, but bold reynard
swam the river and ran through their very midst.
Once clear of them he took a bee line, with the
hounds pretty close to his brush, away by Burton
Lazars, Berry Gorse, Laxton Spinney, over the
Whissendine brook, and passed the village by
Ranksboro Gorse and the Punch Bowl, entering
Wheat Hill planting. Here there were two or
three foxes, but the pack, sticking to their hunted
one, ran back by Wild's Lodge to ground near
Melton ; the time was an hour and fifty-three
minutes. To commemorate the happy occasion the
bride and bridegroom presented Gillard with a silver
hunting-horn, and as they went away from Melton
by train they viewed hounds with their fox running
from Burbidge's Covert.

A hound day is recorded by Frank on De-
cember 17th, after meeting at Scrimshaw Mill as
follows: "A good hunting run resulted "from the
Rectory away past Elton, where we crossed the
railway by the Plaster pits. Here a fast train cut
through the pack, killing a fine bitch called Novelist,
but we ran on by Thorston and the Coronation
Covert, marking to ground at Flintham. This was
a good straight gallop at a rattling; pace, distance
as the crow flies from six to seven miles, and it

110 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

proved a good pipe-opener for the run of the after-
noon. A tough customer was set going from
Normanton Thorns, and I never knew hounds run
harder than they did on this occasion for the space
of one hour and ten minutes. The fox was any-
thing but a straight -necked one, the line being,
first in the direction of Cotliam Thorns over a
stiff holding country as any to be found in the
Belvoir Hunt. Farther on it was not so sticky for
our horses, though I think the fences are a bit
bigger as we ran by Foston, Allington, and
Gonerby Moor. We hardly reached Barrowby
Thorns when a turn westward took us by Sedge-
brook away to Allington, but Mr. John Welby's
new privet covert had not grown up strong
enough to shelter him, so off he went for a tunnel
N.E. side of the village. He was, however, soon
bolted, and hounds bowled him over, well deserv-
ing his blood, which they thoroughly enjoyed after
their very hard day. The way the pack worked
from morning to night deserved great praise ; they
seldom required assistance, and every hound, except
poor Novelist, was up at the finish. Those which
I observed most during the run were Dealer, Rebel,
Discord, Garland, Gossamer, Gambler, Partner,
Patience, Wilful, Wenlock, Dahlia, Careful, and
old Saffron." Turning to the Field, under the well-
known nom de plume of Plantagenet, we read the
following : " The Duke of Rutland and Frank
Gillard may be congratulated on the appearance
of this season's entry on paper, and the outside
hunting world must see much in it to approve of,

SEASON 1877-78 111

for Jack Morgan says — and I believe many others
are of his opinion — that no hounds on earth can
beat those with the blood of Senator in them.
Turning to the Brocklesby entry we see that
Nimrod Long is rather a follower of the same
opinion, for he has dipped very freely into the
blood. Saffron, a light-faced tan hound, now in
his seventh season, is perhaps the most favoured
of the Senator race. Though the six -year -old
Firebrand, by the same sire, from Frolic, has been
much used through the length and breadth of fox-
hunting England, and all his progeny are liked.
Brusher by Saffron is much like his sire in colour,
but with a square and more massive head, his
well-knit frame is full of the power that indicates
his faculty for driving, and the activity that makes
him equal to clearing any fence."

Hunting in the vicinity of a railway was always
a source of great anxiety to Gillard, and he tells
the story of the death of Wellington from a pass-
ing train on the line by Rauceby. It is very
seldom that hounds flash straight over the metals,
more often casting about, and on this occasion old
Wellington went up the line with his nose on the
ground, meeting the train. The engine-driver
blew his whistle, and the old hound threw up his
head as though he had heard a view halloa. The
next second the engine killed him, much to
Gillard's distress, " for he was such a good hound
in his work, one of the most reliable in the
pack ; his voice being husky, you could always
distinguish him from the rest. He spoke to fox

112 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

and nothing else, so it was always safe to cheer
when he was heard."

The New Year brought with it excellent sport,
and on January 9th a fine gallop from Melton
Spinney is recorded. A fox was immediately set
o-oins, crossing the brook in a line for Old Hills,
where he turned and recrossed the railway and
brook at Scalford. The navvies were at work on
the new railway by Newport Lodge, and turned
him so that he made his way back to the starting-
point and saved his brush by shifting responsibilities
on to the shoulders of a friend. It was one of the
best runs of the season, and at racing pace for fifty
minutes. Out of the large field of the morning
very few turned up at the finish, and these were
Captain Smith, Mr. John Welby on a 15 -hand
3 - inch blood horse, INIr. Allcard, INIr. James
Hutchinson, and Mrs. Sterling.

A ffood Leicestershire hunt was scored on
January 16th, and one of the field enjoying cross-
country work as a holiday was Fred Archer,
staying at IMelton. The afternoon fox led the
way from Coston Covert by Stonesby, hounds
travelling very fast down to the brook below
AValtham to within a field of Goadby Gorse,
where he turned and recrossed the brook back
again to Waltham. " I stopped them there,"
Frank records, "for I had lost both my whippers-
in, and the only one left to see the finish was
Mr. Micklethwaite, who had gone well all through
and taken his regulation number of falls. ]Mr.
'Banker' Hardy also came up, and these two

SEASON 1877-78 113

very kindly helped me back with hounds to kennels
in the dark."

A great gallop of two hours and fifteen minutes
from Goadby Gorse occurred on January 23rd
with a brush at the end of it. Hounds ran fast
past Waltham Rectory to Bescaby Oaks, through
it without dwelling, and on by Saltby over the
heath to Skillington. Here a point was made for
Buckminster, ending with a kill in the open near
to Stainby. The distance hounds ran was about
sixteen miles, and nine as the crow flies from
Goadby Gorse to where they killed. The brush
was presented to Lady Florence Dixie, who had
gone remarkably well, and the hunt numbered no
more ardent follower. No day's sport was too
long for Lady Florence, and she would come at
the end of the afternoon with the request, " Now,
Gillard, you will draw once again, won't you ? "
" I can tell you," added Frank, as he narrated the
story to us, " I did not want any coaxing if there
was a fox covert anywhere within reach ! and as
to daylight, we did not always take that into con-
sideration if there was any light from the moon."

Leicestershire this season seemed to be the
favoured side of the country, for again on February
6th a tremendously fast gallop was seen from
Coston Covert by way of Wymondham, Gar-
thorpe, Coston, Sproxton, Stonesby, Waltham, to
Freeby Wood. Time to this point was forty
minutes, with but one slight check by Stonesby
village. One good gallop calls to mind the in-
cidents of another, and Gillard harked back in

I

114 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

thought to a memorable occasion when he rode
whipper-m to these hounds. " We found our fox
in Freeby Wood and ran round Stapleford and
Whissendine village, a big ring back to our start-
ing-point, giving us the brook to jump twice,
finally marking to ground in a turf drain, from
which we bolted and killed. I remember how
well Captain 'Tom' Boyce went on a good-
looking chestnut horse ; he was a new - comer
from Ireland, and the Duke of Rutland, who was
also out and going well, was so delighted that he
presented Captain Boyce with the brush and
that night also sent him the hunt button ! "

On the Lincolnshire side of the Belvoir country,
the domains of Rauceby, under the fostering care
of that keen sportsman and distinguished soldier.
Colonel Mildmay Willson, C.B., have always held
the reputation of being one of the best nurseries
for foxes in the hunt. As a natural consequence,
good runs to instead of from Bauceby oftener
result, but February 19th saw a really brilliant
gallop from Cliff Hill Covert. The line taken was
by Rauceby Thorns away over the heath past
Cranwell Lodge and Lord Bristol's Plantation,
where hounds fairly ran into their fox a few
fields short of California Covert, near Fulbeck.
The brush was presented to Lady Florence
Chaplin, wife of Mr. Henry Chaplin, M.P., two
of the keenest and best across country, and fre-
quent followers of the Belvoir in spite of the
attractions of their own pack at Blankney.
Amongst the foremost division were Miss Laura

SEASON 1877-78 115

Willson, Lord Brownlow, Sir Thomas Whichcote,
Colonel John Reeve, Captain Tennant, Mons.
Couturie, Mr. John Hardy, Sir John Thorold,
Colonel Charles Parker, and Mr. T. Robarts.

The Belvoir Ash Wednesdays have often been
records in the annals of the hunt, and in olden
days the meet was always fixed for 12 o'clock by
Saltby Church, just when the congregation were
coming out from service. On this particular Ash
Wednesday of March 11th, the meet was at Piper
Hole, Avhere a very large field were assembled to
meet hounds. The wind blew very hard, and a
fox from Holwell Mouth cheeked the gale at a
rattling pace away over the vale, past the right of
Nether Broughton. The bulk of the field were
left the up-wind side of Holwell Mouth, having
failed to hear hounds leave covert owing to the
roar of the wind through the trees. After taking
a direct line for Hickling, he wheeled round and
ran between the two Broughtons, nearly reaching
Old Dalby before he took a right-handed turn
over the hill, after which he headed away in a
straight line for Willoughby on the Wolds, where
they killed him close to the village. The time was
one hour after leaving Holwell Mouth, and there
were plenty of applicants for a piece of this good
Ash AV^ednesday fox when hounds broke him up.
Over the chimney-piece of the comfortable hunting-
box Sanham House near Melton, a brace or more
of grinning foxes' masks killed with the Belvoir on
Ash Wednesday, and labelled as such, are the
pride of their owner the Hon. H. H. JNIolyneux.

116 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

A similar run in 1867 from Clawson Thorns over
the same line of country, with a kill at Willoughby,
is on record for the Ash Wednesday of that year.

Of the horses Gillard rode, he had many a story
to tell. " Yes, Wing was a big valuable horse, full
of quality and as good a shaped one as ever you
saw, but he was not my horse ! I never thought
him quick enough ! He was bought by the Duke
from Squire AVilliam Wing of Market Overton,
hence his name, and he carried me several seasons
on the Leicestershire side. I remember on one
occasion he put me down, and altogether out of a
run, by jumping short at the river Smite. The
banks of the river are steep, being rough with the
growth of thorns, and Wing in mid-stream showed
no inclination to make an effort to get out again.
I began to wonder where the deuce I should be,
for Tom Chambers with my second horse had gone
on with hounds, not knowing that I was left
behind. A Leicestershire farmer at last came to
my rescue, and at once said, ' My little old mare
will pull him out for you ! ' When he brought
the mare, I exclaimed that she was only about
half the weight of my horse and could not possibly
be strong enough to pull him out, but he only
laughed as he adjusted the end of the rope in a
slip knot round Wing's neck. In a very few
minutes he had my big horse high and dry on the
bank, but I exclaimed, ' He's dead sure, enough,' for
the rope had drawn tight and strangled the poor
brute, so that he lay on the bank apparently
lifeless. My farmer friend, however, laughed, and

SEASON 1877-78 117

dispelled my fears, saying that he had lifted many
a heavy cart horse or bullock in this way out of
the stream with his little light nag mare, and until
he had choked the life out of them to prevent
their struggling it was well-nigh an impossibility
to lift any horse safely out of a deep water-course.
It turned out all right ; Tom Chambers came back
with my other horse, just as Wing came to life
again little or none the worse, though I sent him
back to Belvoir stables."

Interest attaches itself to the events of March
29th, when hounds met at Weaver's Lodge, for it
was the only day this season the Duke was able to
hunt with his hounds on the Lincolnshire side of
the country. The pack were lucky enough to
score a really good hunting run, which was quite
unexpected in such dry weather. As was his wont,
the Duke took up a position at the down-wind
corner of Newton wood, for he delighted to view
the fox away. There were no less than two and a
half brace in the covert, and Gillard with the Duke
viewed two brace away whilst they listened to the
pack running hard in the wood with number five.
When at last he did break, with hounds close at
his brush, Frank exclaimed, *' By Jove, your Grace,
that is our Hose Gorse fox, I know him, for he
looks as black as if he had been shaken out of a
soot bag." The Duke laughed at the idea, quite
thinking that Gillard was drawing the long-bow in
his enthusiasm, considering that Hose Covert lies
at least eleven miles from Newton wood as the
crow flies. However, events proved that Frank

118 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

was right, and the Duke admitted so when he met
him next day. This fox took almost a straight line
for Croxton Park, through Haydour Southings,
Ropsley Rise, Ponton Park Wood, crossing the
Great Northern Railway, passing to the left of the
School Platts covert, where he ran out of scent.
" The distance was eleven miles as the crow flies,
and I knew him directly by his dark appearance, to
be our Hose Gorse fox, who had, during the
season, given three nice gallops from that covert,
in the direction of Croxton Park. We never did
account for him, so I fear that he came to a bad
end." The hunting days of this season were 139,
and 115 foxes were killed, with 26 marked to
ground.

^> -, CJ-"

A SINKING Fox.

CHAPTER IX

Season 1878-79

Will Wells, Whipper-in— George Gillson's Career— George Cottrell
leads for a Sovereign — A Wet Jacket — The Belvoir and Quorn
Packs clash — Two good Gallops from Leadenham— Colonel John
Reeves' Entree Dish — Parson Heathcote's Pudding — Brook-
jumping — The good Fox of Sherbrooke's Covert — A Run to the
" Forty Foot " Drain — A severe Run from Sproxton to Crown
Point — A curious Accident to Mr. Alfred Cross — Good Sport —
The Messrs. Frank and George Gordon — Three Foxes killed by
Haverholme — The Horse Peter — Mr. Fisher of Orston.

iHE story of one pack of hounds
must necessarily give us links in
the chain of events with many
another, and this constitutes some of
the charm of hunting history. It is
pleasant to note the early career of
men who were destined to become
famous later on in the world of sport,
and Belvoir has always been looked
to as the school for huntsmen and
a stepping-stone to promotion, so
that the record of the whippers-in
who learnt their business and served
under Gillard is an interesting one. The change

George Carter.

120 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

in the staff this season brought Will Wells
and George Cottrell to Belvoir, as first and
second whipper-in. For smartness and fine
horsemanship it is generally agreed that Will
Wells heads the list of the many who turned
hounds during the last quarter of a century, and
he came from the Quorn, where he acted in the
capacity of second whipper-in to Tom Firr, with
George Gillson, the present Cottesmore huntsman,
first whipper-in. Will Wells was the beau-ideal
of a hunt servant, and quickly established himself
as every one's favourite, the bruisers delighting
in galloping Will, whose seat over a fence was the
envy and admiration of all who beheld him flitting
about a strongly-fenced country like a swallow on
the wing. He possessed in a remarkable degree
the rare knack of making all horses go alike, good,
bad, or indifferent, such as we venture to think has
only been equalled by Captain "Doggy" Smith,
when he was the pride of a Leicestershire field.
Both these fine horsemen — and we make no apology
when we link together the names of the gentleman
and the professional — were wonderfully strong in
the saddle, and could see their way through a fence
where there did not appear a place fit for a pigeon
to fly.

We mentioned the name of George Gillson, the
first whip to the Quorn this season, and promotion
came to him with the offer to carry the horn for
Lord Ferrers, who kept a pack of hounds to hunt
the Donnington side of the Quorn country. The
pack was a very good one, for Lord Ferrers began

SEASON 1878-79 121

with Belvoir blood and stuck to it, but it was
soon dispersed when the Quorn claimed this slice
of country to themselves. When this happened
George Gillson migrated to the York and Ainstry,
where he remained until Mr. William Baird accepted
the mastership of the Cottesmore, and his choice
fell on Gillson for huntsman in 1888, to the great
improvement in the breeding of that old-established
pack.

The second whipper-in, George Cottrell, came
from Mr. George Lane Fox, and after a season or
two at Belvoir he passed on to Quorn to fill the
first position of whipper-in. Possessed of a good
voice, he was a plucky horseman and good servant.
Many a time, to use Brooksby's words : —

AVhen we're jammed in a corner, the timber too strong,
The bullfinch too thick, and our courage all gone —
Hie ! give us a lead ! and over he'll flip.
But it's little improved by the galloping whip.

Gillard called to mind a particular occasion when
a locked gate, with an up-hill take off and bad
landing, confronted the field. Some one said, " Now,
George, give us a lead, and we'll give you a
sovereign if you smash it." Cottrell, riding a
mare bought from Mr. Philip Hornsby, humped
his back, rammed the mare at it, getting well over
without breaking the top bar, but he at once
pulled up and drew the sovereign.

A succession of bad colds brought on a smart
attack of gout and rheumatism which placed Gillard
hors de combat for a few days and gave Wells the

122 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

opportunity to carry the horn. When we come
to think of the number of wet jackets he must
have carried during his long career we are inclined
to marvel that he never took permanent harm, for
many a day it was eight or nine o'clock before he
was able to effect a change. A good heart and a
temperate life were the real secret of the preserva-
tion of health and usefulness. We are reminded
of a wrinkle given by the post-boys for travelling in
bad weathers which may be of service to the hunt-
ing man of to-day. A long great-coat was part
and parcel of the post-boy's equipment, and when,
brinffing his '* bounder " back, he would often sit on
the apology for a seat to drive the horses. If he
had got wet when riding the stage, on the return
journey he put his dry coat over the wet jacket,
and never feared taking cold when so doing, saying
it converted cold water into hot.

The opening day of this season was November
4th, the meet being Three Queens, hounds setting a
good fox going from Tipping's Gorse. Although the
pack did not get away on the best of terms, they
eventually settled to the line, and the farther they
ran the more pace improved. The line was by
Sproxton Thorns, Coston village and Coston Covert
to Wymondham, where the fox was viewed just
ahead, but a couple of sheep-dogs joining in the
chase, spoilt the run. The pack whipped off at
Woodwell Head after running well for four hours.
Considerable friction was caused by the Quorn and
the Belvoir meeting during a run in one of the
coverts of the former pack on November 25th.

SEASON 1878-79 123

The meet of the Belvoir was at Plungar on a cold
foggy morning, and after dallying with a bad fox
at Harby Covert, a good one was set going from
Hose Thorns, giving a regular Leicestershire burst
of thirty minutes by Hickling to the Curates Gorse
on Quorn soil. It was fully thirty minutes before
hounds could set their fox going again from the
covert where he had lain down in the thick tangle,
obliterating all trace of scent. In the meantime
the master came into the covert and requested
that the Belvoir hounds be taken out to let the
Quorn come in. Such a request was against all
the canons of sport, and could only have originated
after a trying morning spent with a bad scenting
fox, which had been the lot of the Quorn. Gillard
declined to go, saying that it was no use his being
so early beaten off by such an unreasonable request,
for he was sure his hounds would stick to their run
fox in spite of Quorn whip-cord. The fox must
have heard the squall, for the next moment
Cottrell's scream proclaimed him away in the
direction of Willoughby with the pack not far
behind his brush. A little farther on Gillard got a
view of his hunted one with back arched and brush
dragging. " Is that a run fox ? " he asked of
Captain Pennell Elmhirst who happened to be
nearest to him, and there was no gainsaying the
fact, for hounds pulled him down fairly in the
open before they had gone a mile. Whilst the
obsequies were performed, both fields drew up,
having enjoyed the sport together ; so all's well that
ends well, and may both packs flourish for many a

124 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

day to come, enjoying excursions over the borders
of one another's country.

Two good hunting runs fell to the lot of those
who joined the field at Leadenham on November
26th. Colonel John Reeves was one of those who
found foxes for both packs, his coverts being situ-
ated on the borders of the Blankney country. Both
gallops ended with a kill, and both commenced with
a thirty minutes' burst, ending with steady hunting.
The first, from Leadenham Hill -top Covert, was
away over the vale nearly to Wellingore by Brant
Broughton to Caythorpe, where he turned and was
finally killed at Fulbeck hill-top after running for
two hours. The next gallop was from California
Covert, hounds going away at racing pace to the
left of Bayard's Leap, Lord Bristol Plantation, nearly
to Dunsby Gorse, where they turned towards Blox-
holm. Gillard remarks in his diary, " We checked,
and a forward cast was in vain, so I held them
round to Pilkington's Plantation, where we re-
found our fox, and he made his way back through
Lord Bristol's Plantation to the starting - point
California Covert. We ran through the covert,
and two fields away from it hounds were at fault,
evidently having overrun their fox, for he jumped
up behind them and ran back into the covert,
where he puzzled them for some time, creeping
about in the briers. When he came to hand he
was a fine old dog, and had led the pack for one
hour and fifty minutes from find to finish."

Many an amusing story is told of the old squire
of Leadenham, over whose lordship we have just

SEASON 1878-79 125

been following the lines of two good foxes. A
typical character of the old school, his sayings and
doings savour more of the times of Squire Western
than with the manners and customs which obtain
in these " degenerate days," as it is the fashion to
call them. He seldom rode hard in the morning,
excepting to covert, on his hack, often turning up
with a scratched face, smashed hat, and clothes all
over mud. By the afternoon he would warm into
activity, and could slip along over a country with
the best of them. A staunch fox-preserver, in his
enthusiasm for the chase it is said that he once
had a whole fox served up for dinner. But a
better story is told of him when a brother sports-
man went to dine, and for a practical joke he had
a fox's tongue garnished and sent up on a dish.
Under an assumed name it was thoroughly enjoyed
by the unsuspecting guest ! But on this occasion
he met more than a match in his old friend the
Rev. Thomas Heathcote, who returned the com-
pliment by asking the Colonel to dine, and gave
him a Roland for an Oliver. A dainty dish was
set before him in the shape of a tapioca pudding,
of which the Colonel partook. " I am glad you
enjoyed it," the host remarked, "for it was not
tapioca at all, but frog spawn off my pike pond."

All through the month of December this season
there was much delay for winter and rough weather,
but the new year was ushered in under conditions
most favourable for sport, and a nice gallop was
enjoyed from Melton Spinney by way of Scalford
and Chadwell, whose brook was soon having the

126

HUNTING REMINISCENCES

mud stirred up by several hardy divers. How
often do we not see the Whissendine or one of
those winding Leicestershire brooks full of the
highest-priced hunters in England, where a polo
pony might jump it ? A horse can jump sixteen
or twenty feet of water " if he gets his foot in,"

The Fate of the Rover is sealed.

but how often when he comes down to twelve feet
of water has he a chance given him of taking off
properly ? The very pace that frequently gets
him over water as frequently gets him in ; and
horses, like human beings, are demoralised by a
bad example, for let but one leader come to grief,
immediately ten or a dozen more will stick their
toes in, shutting up like foot-rules.

SEASON 1878-79 127

A well-known fox took up his quarters in Sher-
brooke's Covert this season, and just as often as
hounds shook him out he gave good runs, in all
of which Captain " Bay " Middleton was fortunate
enough to take a prominent position. On February
8th this good fox gave a tremendously fast spin
over his usual line of country until he reached the
tableland by Piper Hole, where a check occurred
near to Scalford Bogs, after thirty-five minutes of
the very best, saving his life. At the end of the
day, when riding at timber. Lord Grey de Wilton
fell, breaking his leg.

A hard day's sport on the Lincolnshire side of
the country resulted on February 11th, when
hounds met at Aswarby Park, and Sir Thomas
Whichcote welcomed his many friends. The first
run was from Moneys Gorse, hounds giving their
fox a terrible doing for twenty minutes, regularly
bursting him. The second fox from Burton Gorse
set his mask for the fen country, and in the
deep clay land, hounds quickly had the foot of
horses. This fine old fellow led the way to within
two fields of the famous Forty-Foot Drain, and it
being impossible for the hunt staff to get across at
the critical moment, he twisted out of scent and
saved his brush. The tenacity of this stiff mud is
proverbial, as many a shirtless strapper can testify,
for he very soon learns in which corner of the
hunt the horse has been by the quality and
quantity of the soil he has brought away with
him. Though the sport was severe, that of the
next day on the Leicestershire side of the country

128 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

possibly beat it for goodness and severity. The
find was proclaimed from Sproxton Thorns, from
which covert hounds were quickly away for
Coston Covert, running like wildfire without
slackening to Crown Point, where they turned for
Woodwell Head. Here two or three foxes were
afoot, but the pack stuck to the line of their hunted
one and eventually got him away towards Wymond-
ham back to covert again. With hounds running
very keen for blood, he could never shake them
off, and as a last shift to save his life, made for a
drain between Thistleton and Crown Point, which
he was viewed to enter with the pack snapping at
his brush, after one of the fastest and severest runs
on record. A terrier unfortunately killed this
good fox in the drain, and he was dragged out
with a hook at the end of a pole to be given to the
hounds.

A large field assembled on February 19th at
Leadenham House and included its squire. Colonel
" Jack " Reeves, with his neighbour and contempor-
ary, Colonel Francis Fane of Fulbeck, Mr. Henry
and Lady Florence Chaplin, Sir John and Lady
Thorold, Lord Brownlow, Sir Thomas Whichcote,
Mr. John Welby, Mrs. Franklin, the Misses
Willson, Captain Tennant, Mr. Allcard, Mons.
Roy, Mons, Couturie, and Mr. Alfred Cross.
Without troubling about the details of an average
day's sport, we will describe a curious accident
which befell the last-named sportsman, who always
enjoyed his ride. Hounds had left Fulbeck hill-
top, sinking the vale, and after Gillard had nego-

SEASON 1878-79 129

tiated a stiffish fence he heard a tremendous crash
behind him. Looking round, he saw Mr. Cross
and his horse struggling about as they made
desperate efforts not to part company. However,
it was of no avail, for the next moment a riderless
steed galloped by, and a top-boot stood up in the
near side stirrup, just as if a leg had been inside it.
Mr. Alfred Cross happily was none the worse,
giving chase to his horse over a rough fallow field,
which was decidedly hard going for the bootless
foot.

The vein of good luck continued all through
February, and one good Croxton Park Wednesday
succeeded another, that of the 19th being as good
as that of the week previous. The famous Bur-
bidge's Covert Avas the first draw, but as Gillard
remarked to us, it is a mistake to disturb a good
fox covert oftener than once in three weeks. On
this occasion hounds chopped a mangy one who
had probably been run very hard on a previous
occasion. The right article was waiting for us
in Freeby Wood, and a very merry spin re-
sulted with him as far as Thorpe Arnold, where
he hid himself in a straw stack in Mr. Garner's
yard, but paid the penalty of his indiscretion.
The third fox was started from Melton Spinney,
running by Chadwell, Freeby, and Brentingby
villages to Burton Lazars in fifty -five minutes
without a check. When the line was recovered
the pack ran on by Freeby village, marking to
ground near Brentingby with all the horses pretty
well at the end of their tether. The noble master

K

130 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

was out on this day and unfortunately knocked
his leg on a gate-post when crossing the railway
by Saxby Station, which, added to the complica-
tions of gout and anno domini, caused much
anxiety on his behalf

Amongst the shining lights who rode with the
Belvoir at this period were the brothers JVIessrs.
Frank and George Gordon, sons of the Rector of
JNIuston, both hard to beat across country. The
elder brother, Mr. Frank, was very good handling a
young horse, he had also an eye for a hound, and
took particular notice of the pack in their work.
To-day his name is to be found in the working
committee of the Peterborough Foxhound Show.
The younger brother, Mr. George, was fond of his
ride, but with him it was first or nowhere. " On
many occasions I had to blow him up for getting
a bit too forrard ! " said Gillard, who like the
recording angel has got all our shortcomings down
in his book. " But you could not help but forgive
him in his impetuosity, for he was a fine horseman,
and could jump over stiff timber out of a road
as only a good one can. His answer to me was
always the same, 'You must blow somebody up,
Frank, so it may just as well be me ; but you know
somebody ought to keep up the riding reputation
of the Belvoir ! ' he would add with a merry
twinkle in his eye. I remember on the occasion
the Prince of Wales hunted with us from Hose
Gorse, I galloped my horse down the tow-path of
the Harby Canal to get to hounds lower down,
and I saw Mr. George Gordon standing on the

SEASON 1878-79 131

bridge, having slipped away ahead to get a flying
start and be first man, which was his delight.
Away he went, and after jumping one fence
successfully he tried to jump the rails which ran
down to the canal. Unfortunately for him there
was a space at the end of the fence to which his
horse swerved, thinking to get round it. The
result was certain catastrophe, the bank being
slippery and too narrow, besides the pace being far
too great to attempt such a feat. Mr. Gordon and
his horse went with a mighty splash into the stream,
both bobbing to the surface, the rider swimming
out for the bank. The horse followed him up and
knocked him down as he swam, so that if we had
not lent timely assistance it would have been a
A^ery awkward moment indeed. Some years later
he threw up his farm, and the fates banished him
to a non-hunting country. I can tell you that
when he said ' good-bye ' to me, he had tears in his
eyes ! "

The widest fixture from Belvoir was Haver-
holme Priory, the home of the Winchilseas, where
hounds were always welcomed, and her ladyship
on each occasion of their visit had a button-hole of
choice flowers ready for Gillard, who submitted to
the decoration with that courtly grace that always
distinguished the huntsman of the ducal pack. A
good day's sport was enjoyed there on February
21st, it being a singular coincidence that three
foxes were slain in the vicinity of bricks and
mortar. The first was killed after a nice gallop of
thirty minutes from Evendon Wood to the " Old

132 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Place," Haverholme village, the second from
Sleaford Wood to Mr. Sharpe the seed merchant's
nursery garden, and the third surrendered up his
brush in the Bloxholme Hall gardens, where several
of the hounds got badly cut by dashing through
the window of a greenhouse. " I was riding old
Gameboy that day, and he jumped a very wide
drain by Haverholme ; Will Wells tried to
follow, but his horse made a mistake and fell.
I always remember the spot because it is a
tributary of the river Brant, and in the days when
I was whipper-in to Cooper in a run from Fulbeck
on the occasion of the marriage of Colonel Francis
Fane, the bridegroom, who was one of the field,
got a tremendous ducking owing to his horse
jumping short."

The account of two more brilliant gallops over
Leicestershire closes the record of this season's
sport. The first of these was from Melton Spinney,
*' a regular clipper of twenty minutes, for we killed
him close to Mr. George Norman's front door at
Goadby Hall. It was a race, for hounds led horses
by quite three fields down the valley towards
Chadwell. I was mounted on my old roan horse
Peter, a common enough one to look at, but he
could both gallop and jump with the best of them,
and was safe to clear a wide place, for he went very
fast at his fences. I remember he jumped into the
road by Hose, which is a wide place with an old
water-course running alongside, and it all but put
Captain ' Bay ' Middleton down when he followed,
for he only just saved a fall by good horsemanship.

SEASON 1878-79 133

On another occasion I set old Peter going at a
wide beck by Bottesford, and just in front was
Mr. John Welby, who did not stop for much in
those days. However, he did not Hke the look of
it, and held up his hand for me to stop. I might
as well have tried to stop the sun in its course as
turn old Peter's head when set for a fence, and he
jumped it with a foot to spare. Old Mr. Fisher
of Orston followed on, and I think he was the best
of the farmer division to hounds that I ever knew.
The last good thing of the season was in the cool
of the afternoon on March 19th, after a hot and
unprofitable day's sport. We found our fox in
Melton Spinney and ran well with an improving
scent by the brook to Scalford and Old Hills,
nearly to Melton, where he turned. The pace
improved with every yard of the journey as we ran
by Thorpe Arnold and the Broom Cover, and we
killed near Waltham Ashes, putting a good finish
to a very nice gallop."

The number of hunting days this season was
112, and 101 foxes were killed.

Watchman, by Nominal— Whimsical.

CHAPTER X

Seasons 1879-80 and 1880-81

Hunt Changes — Tea with Frank Goodall, the Queen's Huntsman — A
Country equal to the Vagaries of any Weather — An awkward
Accident — Smite Hill Gorse Flames head a Fox — The big Ash
Wednesday Day — Mr. Alfred Brocklehurst first up — Colonel
Gosling borrows some dry Clothes — A kill under a Woman's
Petticoats — Frank rides a run under Chloroform — Will Wells'
Horse out all night — Twelve - Hour Cubbing Mornings —
Arthur Wilson^ Whip — Parson Bulleu of Eastwell — -Wet and
good Sport — Interviewing the Duke in his Bed — The Taste of a
" Pug " — Blooding a fat American Gentleman — A Jackal Tooth
Scarf-pin — A fast Gallop and dead Fox next Day — Lord Queens-
bury — Lord Doneraile, his Hounds, his pet Fox, his End — A long
Run,

A Portrait.

CHANGE is the general
order of things in this life,
but the Bel voir Hunt for a
century and a half escaped the
common lot, following the even
tenor of its way as a family pack
under the mastership of the
house of Manners. About
this time a general change
was effected in a compara-
tively small circle of the
fox - hunting world within

SEASON 1879-80 135

hailing distance of Belvoir, for, we find Lord Car-
rington succeeding to the mastership of the
Cottesmore on the retirement of Lord Lonsdale,
Sir Bache Cunard hunting Mr. Tailbys' country
in high Leicestershire, and Mr. Herbert Lang-
ham of Cottesbrooke following Lord Spencer
with the Pytchley, retaining the services of Will
Goodatl. To mention such classic names in
Gillard's hearing was a sure way to draw a good
story from him. " Luck generally favours a start,
and well I remember my first season with the
Quorn. What good sport we had ! Day after
day our foxes would take a good line of country,
and we continually crossed the borders of Mr.
Tailbys. In these days Frank Goodall was the
huntsman to that pack, subsequently leaving to
carry the horn for the Queen's stag-hounds, and
many a time he would say to me as I rode by his
house late at night after a good run into Mr.
Tailbys' country, 'You are the worst poacher I
ever knew, Frank ; I will shoot you the very next
time I catch you in my country ! ' ' Give me a
cup of tea and shoot me afterwards ! ' I used to
say, for I was very fond of a cup of tea on the way
home after a hard day, and I had lots of kind
friends and houses of call where they would get the
kettle boiling if they knew I was anywhere in the
neighbourhood about dusk."

The conditions of weather will often give a
clue to the sport of any particular season, and this
was so in the present instance. Owing to a wet
autumn, the harvest was delayed, so that it was

136 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

not until the first week in September that the
cubbing campaign could be started. Frost and
absence of scent at the very commencement made
sport moderate, proving the old saying, "A hard
Avinter follows a wet summer." This was verified
to the very letter, for hounds were stopped from
December 1st to 15th, as many as 37 degrees
of frost being registered in Leicestershire, after
which snow fell. The first day out, December
22nd, after the break-up of the wintry blast, found
the pack at Bottesford Station. To have hunted
anywhere else but in the low-lying country would
have been impossible, but an obliging fox started
from Normanton Thorns, stuck to the vale instead
of taking the high-level country, which was still
unridable, so that a run lasting one hour and a
half was scored by Foston, Bennington, Stubton,
ending at the Thirteen Acre Plantation.

With the new year the conditions for sport
improved, and a good gallop was enjoyed on the
3rd from Tippings Gorse, hounds running very
hard to Stoke Rochford, where the fox was headed ;
turning to Sproxton Thorns, he crossed the brook
by Saltby. The lead was given by JVIr. Alfred
Cross, and as hounds ran over the Sproxton road
a postman told Frank that his fox was only a
minute in front. Want of daylight spoilt the
finish ; but in spite of this it was a capital day's
sport, " and had it been in a grass country, hounds
would have run away from horses," was the hunts-
man's opinion. The mention of the foremost rider
of this day's sport brings to mind the story of an

SEASON 1879-80 137

awkward predicament he was placed in through
his horse making a mistake at a trappy fence.
Hounds had roused a fox in Casthorpe Covert, and
the first obstacle away was a wide drain full of
water, with a stake-and-bound fence on the top
of a bank. The lead was given by Mr. Tom
Hutchinson, whose horse popped over, climbed
the bank, and got the right side of the stake-and-
bound without making any fuss about it. Mr.
Cross was not so successful when he attempted
to follow, for after clearing the drain his horse
reared up on the bank and came backwards with
his rider into the water. A providential presenti-
ment told Gillard what was going to happen, and
directly the horse fell back on to the bank he was
ready to seize him round the neck with both arms
and hold him there, preventing his rider from
drowning: at the bottom of the stream. It was
a very awkward position, and he had to be dragged
out, being partly held down by the horse against
the bank side, and in doing this his top-boots were
again left behind. Mr. " Banker " Hardy, who saw
the accident, always said Gillard saved a victim from
a watery grave by prompt action, compliment-
ing him on his great strength of arm to hold the
horse up to the bank side for so long a time.

On January 12th, after meeting at Elton Manor,
a fox was found in Whatton Hall Plantation, and
setting his mask for Smite Hill Gorse, he received
something of a header from the flames that leapt
up from the covert, which was being grubbed up
and burnt, having outgrown itself. This gorse

138 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

was originally planted by Mr. Chaworth Musters
when he left the Quorn country, and it was re-
garded as a neutral covert for South Notts and
Belvoir. Ash Wednesday, always a great day
with the Belvoir, this season attracted a field of
over four hundred horsemen to the meet at Croxton
Park. There was a bite of frost in the air that
betokened a scent, and the influence of frost and
rain had worked wonders on the ground. A fox
was viewed by Will AA'^ells near to Sproxton
Thorns, and the information quietly given to his
chief, who obtained a flying start by lifting the
pack round the covert. Scoffers have been known
to hint at a bagman for the Belvoir Ash
Wednesday occasions, but the present knocks the
bottom out of such a suggestion. For twenty-
five minutes hounds screamed away by Coston,
Buckminster, and Sproxton where a brace were
running before the pack. On nearing Woodwell
Head scent became very low, and Gillard had to
render assistance, casting forward on the plough.
Just at a critical moment Wells's voice came
to set matters right, and away they streamed
at top speed down the hill by INIarket Overton,
going fast nearly to Barrow, leaving Teigh village
on the right. Not a gate was swung, and two were
jumped in quick succession, as the leading division
rode as if between the flags to keep hounds in view.
Mr. Hugh Lowther, now Lord Lonsdale, Mr. G.
Drummond, Mr. Rhodes, Captain Pennell Elmhirst,
Lord Esme Gordon, Mr. Gerald Paget, Captain
Byng, Captain Arthur Smith and Mrs. Candy were

SEASON 1879-80 139

piloting the way. After crossing the railway-
between Ashwell and Whissendine stations, the
huntsman fell, and Mr. Alfred Brocklehurst getting
the lead cheered hounds on, bored through a thick
bullfinch, and got the treasured remains away from
the savaging pack. The time of this fine run was
two hours and five minutes, the first twenty-five
and the last thirty being most brilliant. " When I
picked myself up," said Frank, as he continued the
narrative, " I found a big man in a billy-cock hat,
shepherd's Sunday clothes, and a red handkerchief
round his neck, pushing up against me, and as I
thought putting himself unduly prominent in the
group round the baying hounds. I therefore asked
him to stand on one side. He laughed at me, and
then I thought it was a face I knew. Sure enough
it was Colonel Gosling, who, with many others,
had come to grief at Coston brook early in the run,
and he was hardly recognisable in a shepherd's
Sunday clothes. My word, he did use to send
his horses along ; it was in or over with him ! "

A remarkable day's sport happened on February
13th, hounds running a stout fox for over two
hours from Ingoldsby Wood by Osgodby, back
to Humby and Ropsley, before they marked to
ground near Weaver's Lodge. To illustrate the
finish we might borrow the old picture of Selby
Lowndes' hounds killing their fox under an old
lady's petticoats. Directly the fox bolted from
a long drain down a field, he made straight for
two women from the village, and they ran for
the nearest fence. One managed to scramble over,

140 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

but the other, who was rather stout, got astride the
ditch, and hoiuids dashing up killed their fox in the
ditch under her petticoats.

Early in JNIarch, Gillard took a heavy fall near
Hose village, and dislocated his right shoulder
owing to Snowstorm, a gray horse, making a
mistake.

Frank continued as follows : — " One of the field
happened to be Dr. Williams, and he took me off
to a cottage to try to put me right. Well, he got
me down on the floor, pulled and hauled without
being able to get my arm in again. ' It's no use,' he
said, ' I must either chloroform you or send you
back home for your own doctor to attend to.'
' I'll be chloroformed here,' I said, ' for I want
to get my horse and go on ! ' So chloroformed I
was, and I never rode to such a good run in all
my life, or over such a good country ! When I
came too again there were several people round
me and all laughing, for I had given vent to my
pleasure, and called out to the whipper-in ' to put
them on quicker.' My shoulder was in, and I was
sent back home in a trap the first time in my life,
Dr. Williams remarking that he had never seen
any one with stronger muscles, and the mere fact
of my trying to help him had made it harder."

In consequence of this accident. Will Wells
hunted hounds, and very successful he was in
showing sport. On one of these occasions he was
placed in an awkward position, his horse falling at
the brook below Melton Spinney, and, getting
away from his rider, he was not recovered until

SEASON 1880-81 143

two men found him at Scalford, bringing him back
to the kennels at 10.30 that night.

One of the best days at the end of this season
was from Burton Long Wood, after meeting at
Easton Hall, and the line was through Easton
Wood, Witham, away past Lobthorpe to Mor-
kary and Clipsham, where he was viewed crawling
about in the wood ; but unfortunately the pack
changed to the line of a fresh one. The whole
of the journey is over a rough, wild country, and
those who held prominent positions through the
run were Miss Laura Willson, Mr. A. Cross, Mr.
Allcard, junr., Mr. James Hoyes, and Mr. James
Rudkin.

The number of hunting days this season was
115, the number of foxes killed 93.

Season 1880-81

Even cubbing excursions at cock-crow were not
always devoid of humour, for one morning when
the van stopped at Ancaster Inn by 4 a.m., making
it a half-way house for the outlying fixtures on
that side, they found in the stable a well-known
farmer's horse, which had spent the night on the
pillar chain. The occasion was Ancaster feast,
and one of great rejoicing ; so much so that the
owner of this unfortunate horse had been put to
bed in his boots and spurs by the landlord. For
many a day afterwards Gillard used to pull this
young roysterer by the leg about it, when he came
out hunting.

144 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Another wet summer, and consequently late
harvest, made it impossible to start cubbing before
September 9th, and on the second morning out
with the dog pack in Knipton Coverts, they made
a long day of it, hunting from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.,
returning to kennels without tasting blood. The
new addition to the hunt staff this season was
Arthur Wilson, who came as second whipper-in ;
and he soon showed his keenness for hounds,
taking great notice of them in the kennel, learning
much that Avas of great assistance to him when
he became huntsman to the York and Ainstry.
Unfortunately, before Wilson had been a month
at Belvoir, he took a very heavy fall on his head
when riding a young horse over a blind place,
and was laid up for a month.

Against the doings of the young entry on a
morning in October, the most delightful month of
the whole season's sport, Frank records the follow-
ing : " I never knew a better morning for hounds,
now there is a good covert with nettles and briars
in Patman's Wood. It proved to be full of foxes.
Hounds were kept very busy for an hour before
they drew blood, and another half -hour before
they got hold of their second fox. Just at the
moment the pack were killing him, the other part
ran a cub to ground in a short tunnel. All the
hounds joined in breaking up the second cub, and
then I took them to mark the other to ground,
which we bolted and killed after a fifteen minutes'
scurry."

In these record-breaking days it would be hard

SEASON 1880-81 145

to find a wetter one than that of October 5th, or a
more ardent body of horsemen than the Belvoh-
Hunt staff, whose enthusiasm was in no way damped
by the tremendous downpour. " We left kennels
at 3 A.M. for Rauceby, fourteen miles distant as the
crow flies. It rained in torrents from morning to
night, and we returned to kennels at 3.30 p.m. with
one nose to the kennel board. The next day, when
we went into the vale of Belvoir, we found it nearly
all under water, and the floods round the Thirteen
Acre at Allington looked like a sea. We killed a
brace of cubs, and on the journey home got another
wet jacket."

One of the best-known faces in the hunting-field
at this period was Parson BuUen of Eastwell, aged
eighty-five ; " he was a little bit of a man, a regular
Tom Thumb, mounted on a big chestnut horse."
On many days that he came out he would ride up
to Gillard and ask him where he intended to draw
in the afternoon, because he had to return to his
parish to take a funeral or wedding as the case
might be. The next time he would tell him, " I
got back in time, Frank, after that gallop ; had to
take the funeral in my boots and spurs, could not
be helped 1 it did not matter so long as I was
there ! " The bitterest pill of all was when the old
gentleman had to bury his own parish clerk, to whom
he was most attached, and who was used to all his
old-fashioned ways. Parson Bullen hunted up to
ninety years of age ; to the last he used to go, and
hated shirking.

This season was one of the wettest on record, but

L

146 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

there was a scent, so that day after day hounds
scored excellent runs, making the riding division
very keen. Red marks of excellence are placed
against the sport of November 10th at Croxton
Park, the 13th at Goadby, 17th at Stonesby, 26th
at Rauceby, and 27th at Waltham, where we will
join the hunt. " This was a hard day for hounds
and horses, and we started by riding to Burbidge's
Covert, where we cracked our whips before throwing
the pack in. A fox was soon away over the river,
but hounds did not settle well to his line, and he
was headed a time or two, which also puzzled the
pack. After threading the Stapleford coverts he
went straight for Whissendine brook in a line for
Ranksborough Gorse, but was again headed by a
man plashing a fence. Turning back over the
Burton Flats, hounds again crossed the river and
railway by Wyfordby, running by Brentingby
and Thorpe Arnold, finally marking to ground
near Newport Lodge. It was a difficult fox
to hunt, never running straight for more than
two fields, and those who rode to hounds had
plenty to do to keep near them over a very strong
bit of country."

The noble master was prevented hunting much
this season owing to rheumatic troubles in addition
to gout, but he took the liveliest interest in the
doings of the pack, and most mornings before
starting out Gillard would ride up to the Castle
dressed for the chase and see him in bed. The
affairs of the hunt were more often than not dis-
cussed under these conditions between Master and

SEASON 1880-81 147

huntsman, and whatever turned up in the morning's
correspondence, in the way of claims for poultry
or damage, was handed over to Frank to deal with.
The bye day on Thursday was the time and oppor-
tunity to personally investigate all such claims, and
the huntsman would jump on a hack, ride off to see
what could be done, making an offer to meet such
damage as soon as he had heard all particulars.
Before parting with any money he always complied
with the express wishes of the Duke by asking,
" Are you satisfied with what I offer you? You are
quite sure that you are satisfied with the amount.
We part friends ? " No wonder the Duke and his
huntsman were so deservedly popular, and Gillard
adds, " Claims from the Lincolnshire side were very
few." On some mornings the Duke was to be found
reading the accounts of the previous day's sport,
which often amused him immensely, and referring
to the quaint wording, he would say, " I read that
yesterday you were hunting a pug ; I hope hounds
liked his taste when they caught him."

Continuous bad weather was succeeded by a
stop for frost during half the month of January,
but the first day out hounds scored a nice gallop
of thirty-five minutes from Newman's Gorse.
Amongst the field out was a fat American gentle-
man who saw hounds for the first time, and his
friends insisted that he should be blooded with all
due ceremony befitting so important a debut.
Amongst the many presents and tokens of regard
Gillard received during his time from friends at a
distance, was a jackal's tooth mounted as a scarf-pin,

148 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

killed by hounds sent from Belvoir to the Blue
IMountains of Southern India.

The fastest gallop of the season happened on
February 16th from Coston Gorse, hounds racing
like wild - fire towards Wymondham, past the
villages of Coston, Sproxton, and Buckminster,
away in the direction of Woodwell Head, where
he turned sharp back to his starting-point. Those
nearest to them were Captain Smith, Mr. John
Welby, and Will Wells; the big field of the
morning, numbering some three or four hundred,
being scattered all over the country. Unfortu-
nately this good fox beat the pack near to Stoke
Rochford, for next day Will Charity the keeper,
and noted terror of the poaching fraternity, picked
up a dead one lying in the middle of a field not far
from Coston Gorse.

Two nice gallops are recorded on February 19th,
the first being a scurry lasting twenty minutes
from Old Hills ; and whilst hounds were breaking
up their fox in covert another was halloaed away
from it. His point was to the artificial earths
in Grimston Gorse, from which a terrier bolted, and
old Fencer getting hold, gave him a good shaking,
but he slipped through the pack like an eel, and so
saved his brush. The third fox, started from
Clawson Thorns, gave the run of the day by
Holwell Mouth, Little Belvoir, Welby Church,
back by Wartenby stone pits as if he meant the
Curate's Gorse. Being hard pressed, he turned for
Dalby, and they fairly raced into him after running
one hour and a half. Out of a large field those

SEASON 1880-81 149

who were best placed were Captain T. Boyce,
Captain Smith, Lord Cloncurry, Mr. George
Drummond, Mr. H. Praed, Mr. W. ChapUn, and
the Duke of Portland, who took two falls during
the run.

It was about this time that Lord Doneraile and
Lord Queensbury rented the Rectory at Barrowby
as a hunting-box, both being very hard men to
hounds. During the time of Cooper the huntsman.
Lord Queensbury left the navy and started to
hunt from Aswarby, riding old screws, which when
shoved along in reckless fashion over every sort of
country gave their rider some tremendous croppers,
but taught him much experience. Lord Doneraile
was a great sportsman, having hunted with Lord
Henry Bentinck's hounds ; and he quoted him on
every occasion as the highest authority on all
matters connected with the chase. One season his
lordship bespoke the whole of the Belvoir draft,
and these were duly despatched to Ireland, where
he and two other masters were to divide the
hounds. For months Gillard never had a line
acknowledging their arrival, and when at last in-
formation did come, it was to the effect that rabies
had broken out in Lord Doneraile's kennel, said to
have been imported by the Belvoir draft, and as in
the case of a diseased cow, the vendor must bear the
loss. A lawyer had to look into the case, which,
when investigated, brought a cheque for the full
amount by return of post. A curious and sad
ending closed this sportsman's career. It was his
wont to adopt as a pet a tame vixen fox, which

150 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

accompanied him everywhere, even when driving
in his carriage, and in a frenzy she bit Lord
Doneraile and his coachman. Both started off to
Paris to undergo Pasteur's treatment. The coach-
man was not a pennyweight the worse, but Lord
Doneraile died.

The season closed with a remarkable hunting
run which lasted four hours, and the distance
hounds travelled when measured on the ordnance
map was 26 miles. This fox was started in the
Debdale cover, and he ran through Allington,
Bottesford, Belvoir, back to Croxton and Denton
Park, being killed in Mr. Beasley's front garden at
Harston. The only sportsman who remained to
see the finish was Mr. George Drummond. It
might be thought that hounds did not keep to the
line of the same fox throughout this run, but there
was no doubt about it, because it was noticed by
several people who saw the find that a piece of fur
was missing from the middle of his brush, and this
was found to be so when hounds killed him.

Taken altogether it was an average season's
sport of 119 hunting days, 105 foxes killed, and 41
marked to ground.

Dahlia by Shamrock— Diligent.

CHAPTER XI

Season 1881-82

Trojan kills a Fox single-handed — Heathcote Covert — Heathcote
Hunters, Blue Stockings, Janette, and Miss Coates — Hunting in
a Hurricane at Aswarby — Sir Thomas Whichcote's Pony — Will
Tidey, the hard-riding Keeper — Mr. Ashmead Bartlett Burdett-
Coutts joins the Hunt — A quick burst in Leicestershire — Good
Days — Folkingham Big Gorse — Accident to the Rev. Thomas
Heathcote — Buying Horses without seeing them — Berserker the
Hunter Sire — Mr. " Banker " Hardy— A Run Fox killed by Grey-
hounds— The gamest Fox ever hunted — Arthur Wilson swims the
Whissendine — Devonshire and Leicestershire Rivers compared —
Will Wells and Arthur Wilson across Country — Will Wells'
Testimonial.

HE depth of the public

purse gives the strength

of the pulse for sport.

A bad time for agriculture

means a thousand -and -one

industries suffer, and there

/> is a falling off in capital

^ for investment in sport.

Owing to a very wet har-

trojai*. vest, for corn stood out in

the fields until October, the farmers had a very bad

time of it, and the few good samples of wheat

^-'v^^s'-^/-^,

152 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

touched sixty shillings, whilst barley fit for the
maltsters made forty-eight. Consequently, there
was a falling off in the following amongst those
whose income came from land, and their strength
is always regarded as representative of the vitality
of sport.

Open weather favoured the schooling of the
young entry, who started work on August 22nd,
accounting for fifty-two cubs in forty-two mornings.
The Duke followed the sport one morning on
wheels and saw a pretty finish, which pleased him
very much. Two hounds, Fencer and Trojan,
dashed out from the pack, and the latter killed
his fox single-handed ; he was a fast resolute
hound, and accomplished this feat several times
during his career. Fencer was an elegant hound,
much admired by the late Mr. Harvey Baily when
master of the Rufford, and he always expressed a
wish to possess him should he ever be disposed of
in the draft.

This was undoubtedly a great fox year, and
we find a note made of thirteen foxes viewed
away from a small four -acre blackthorn covert,
known as Folkingham Little Gorse, which
greatly pleased the owner, the Rev. Thomas
Heathcote of Lenton, who was a regular follower
of the hounds with five of his family. A tribute
must be paid to the memory of two brilliant per-
formers which carried the ladies — Blue Stockings,
the favourite mount of Miss Lucy Heathcote for
many seasons, and a better, bolder fencer never
looked through a bridle, though she was a three-

SEASON 1881-82

153

cornered mare in appearance. The other that
carried Miss Gertrude Heathcote for nine seasons
was Janette, named after the Oaks winner of this
year, and she was better known as "the Belvoir
Hunt pony," measuring but fifteen hands. Nearly

The King of the Pack.

thoroughbred, she was very fast and could stay
from morning to night, jumping some of the
biggest fences in Leicestershire and Lincolnshire
during her career. The faithful groom who
followed these ladies three and four days a week,
and had to ride up to them, was William Freeman,
often mounted on a small dark-brown mare, named

154 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

JNIiss Coates, who went very fast at her fences with
her head in the air. This mare started life in
Yorkshire leading gallops at a training stable,
was hunted, steeplechased, won jumping prizes at
shows, carried the ladies seven seasons, went well
in harness, bred four foals, never saved herself
at any time, always being keen and light-hearted
— but lived to be thirty.

The October gales this year did much damage
to fine timber, whose branches were full of leaf,
offering immense resistance to the wind. In one
of these hurricanes Gillard set out for Aswarby
Park, twenty miles distant, which he reached at
eight o'clock. Sir Thomas Whichcote was one of
a small field who braved the storm, but after an
hour of it, Gillard said, " By Jove, Sir Thomas, I
cannot stand this place any longer, the trees in
covert are flying about like feathers ! " At that
moment a huge branch crashed down close to his
horse, and up-wind he started for kennels, twenty
miles away. All over the country trees were
falling about, and the hound van, as it left
Grantham, was stopped by masses of debris across
the road. Unfortunately, on the last morning of
cub-hunting. Sir Thomas Whichcote, who was
crippled from gout and many accidents by flood
and field, fell heavily from his pony through a
stirrup-leather giving way. Like the late Duke
of Rutland, this fine old sportsman, on every
occasion he fell, always excused his horse.

When Sir Thomas was seeking a hack to take
the place of a hunter, Gillard sent him a pony to

SEASON 1881-82 155

try or buy if it suited. " I have tried the pony,"
wrote the old baronet, " and I find he can gallop
when he is squeezed, but if I do too much of that
I am afraid there might be two of him, and that
would never do ! " The pony was a flat-sided one
and a trifle light through the loin, which did not
please Sir Thomas, who liked his hunter cast in
the mould as near perfection as possible.

A stout October cub is not far removed from a
November fox, and a good morning's sport was
enjoyed from Stoke Pastures to Harlaxton, where
the market carts were met on their way to
Grantham town. A small field included Mr.
Markham, Mr. C. Samuda, Major Longstaffe, Mrs.
and Miss Hornsby, Mr. Richard Ord, and Miss
Turner from Stoke. Again from Kaye Wood, at the
end of the month, hounds raced an old fox pointing
for Quorn domains, crossing the Smite, which had
to be negotiated, one of those who got successfully
over being Will Tidey, the late Wiverton keeper.
It is not often that a hard-riding keeper is heard of,
but Will Tidey was one trained by Mr. Chaworth
Musters, who liked his men to ride, and was a
friend to keepers out of place through shooting
foxes ; and in this way he converted many vulpicides
from the error of their way.

Curious weather marked the commencement of
the season, but much good sport was enjoyed,
hounds accounting for their foxes day after day.
An old customer was roused in Heydour Southings
on November 11th, and hounds raced him through
Culverthorpe domains by Kelby and Wilsford

156 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Carrs, where he dwelt a few seconds. His bolt
was shot, and he went away again only a hundred
yards in front of the pack, who coursed and killed
him by Rauceby High Wood after a gallop of fifty
minutes.

The brush was presented to Mr. Ashmead
Bartlett Burdett-Coutts, out for the first time with
these hounds, hunting from Grantham, where he
stayed the season at the George Hotel with the
Baroness soon after their marriage. Mr. Burdett-
Coutts had a good stud of hunters, which carried
him well to the front ; he hunted four seasons with
the Belvoir, and then abandoned the chase, dis-
heartened by a series of heavy falls.

On November 12th the big pack of 18 J couple
trotted off to Sherbrooke's Covert, which on this
occasion held but one fox. " We were some time
in getting him away," said Frank, ransacking the
storehouse of his memory ; " he made a false start,
but at last crossed the Smite and ran in the direction
of Hose Thorns, bearing right-handed for Clawson
and Hose, and we killed him close to the house in
which Mr. Burton used to live. I have no doubt
but what he meant going to Harby Hills, but the
hounds pressed him so hard he had to yield up his
brush sooner. I certainly never saw hounds run
harder for 15 minutes, and but four of us were
with them, viz. Captain ' Bay ' JNIiddleton, Captain
Pennell Elmhirst, Will Wells and myself It was
charming ! "

Grand sport resulted this season, and amongst
many red-letter days there was the run of November

SEASON 1881-82 157

25th, one hour and thirty-three minutes from Brent-
ingby Spinney, hounds running from scent to view
across Croxton Park, killing their fox on the grass.
The brush was presented to the Hon. Mrs. H. H.
Molyneux, who rode her white mare " Grey Goose,"
a Leicestershire celebrity. On December 5th, a
remarkable day's sport was seen from Tippings
Gorse, lasting three hours and forty minutes, finish-
ing by marking to ground in a swallow hole near
Market Overton on Cottesmore domains. Again on
December 7th, with the afternoon fox from Freeby
Wood there was a capital gallop of fifty-five minutes,
hounds running round by Brentingby Spinnies,
Freeby, over the brook by Saxby, past Rickett's
Plantation to the hill-top as if Stonesby Ashes was
their goal. The hunted one then turned right-
handed past Coston, where unfortunately a fresh
fox jumped up and led the pack until night was
established, and they were stopped in the vale
below Market Overton. Out of a large field there
were but few left at the finish, and these included
the Duke of Portland, Lord Grey de Wilton, Lord
Cloncurry, the Hon. H. H. Molyneux, Captain T.
Boyce, Captain Tennant, Mr. G. Potchin, Mr. H.
Flowers, Mr. Parker, Mons. Coutourie, and two or
three strangers.

Heavy going after the frost and rain marked
the sport which closed the year, but a good day
was enjoyed from Croxton Park. A fox was
viewed by Will Wells to jump up out of a furrow,
shaking the wet from his brush before he started
on a long twisty run. A large field were out, and

158 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

there were many falls, but hounds scored a kill,
Lady Sykes bemg presented with the brush. On
the Lincolnshire side the pack were out on
December 27th, setting a big dog-fox going from
Folkingham Big Gorse, a twisty hunt of one hour
resulting, much to the entertainment of a Bank
holiday crowd of foot people. The find at the
gorse was unexpected, for the covert had only
recently been burnt down, having grown itself
out. Unfortunately the day was marred by a bad
accident, which happened to the Rev. Thomas
Heathcote, the squire of Folkingham, whose horse
fell at a fence near to the gorse, broke its own
back, and so injured his rider's spine that he died
from the effects some eighteen months later, in
his seventy-fifth year. The name of the horse
ridden on this fatal occasion was Glenthorne, and
a rather singular history is attached to him, for he
was bought by Mr. Heathcote without seeing him
first, trusting to the description in the sale list of
Sir Thomas Leynard's hunters at Belhus Park.
Mr. Tattersall was entrusted with a commission
of £170, and in due course the horse arrived at
Lenton Vicarage, to be well criticised by the
family, who hunted from that house six strong.
Except for a good shoulder, he did not appear
to have a point to recommend him, being very
much on the leg, possessing a big fiddle -shaped
head, long neck, and small quarters. But he
proved himself a sterling good hunter, and carried
the ladies in turn on the Leicestershire side. We
may add, whilst talking about Glenthorne, that the

SEASON 1881-82 159

whole of these reminiscences of Frank Gillard are
dipped by the writer out of an ink-pot made from
one of the fore -feet of this horse, mounted in
silver, by Rowland Ward of Piccadilly. Another
instance of a good judge trusting to chance when

Mr. Edgar Ia'bbock on Deerfoot.

buying a horse was that of Mr. " Banker " Hardy,
for many years honorary secretary to the Bel voir
Hunt, and one of its keenest followers. Seeing
an animal described in Tattersall's sale list that
promised well, Mr. Hardy sent a commission and
bought him. To his disgust, when he arrived at

160 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Grantham, he proved to be only a three-year-old
and entire, so he was passed on to a local dealer
for a small sum, but eventually blossomed into the
well-known hunter sire Berserker, by Buccaneer,
winner of many races. Mr. "Banker" Hardy
only survived his friend Mr. Heathcote two weeks,
never riding to hounds again after the day of the
accident, which completely unnerved him.

The great day of the season occurred on January
20th with the lady pack from Keisby Wood, racing
hard to Mr. Heathcote's new covert in seven
minutes. A change of foxes took place in that
covert, and then the pack ran on to Walcott,
checking again owing to their fox making a sharp
turn before they swung round by Folkingham Big
Gorse, where all trace of their hunted one vanished.
It turned out afterwards that a coursing gentleman
was riding up the old Fosse grass lane hard by,
and his greyhounds dashed away and killed the
run fox. So horrified was their owner that he
threw the carcase into the hedge and galloped off
without saying anything about it. A splendid
hunt, to make up for the disappointment of the
morning, was in store for the afternoon, a record
one as regards pace and cross country work.
Folkingham Little Gorse supplied the fox, which
started running a few fields towards Laughton, and
then turned and ran close to Pointon. In sinking
the wind from Pointon, it was evident hounds
were pressing their fox, for after travelling round
by Horbling at a cracking pace, the fugitive was
glad to seek the shelter of a drain. Hounds were

SEASON 1881-82 161

but twenty yards behind him when he got to
ground, and so surprised were they at his sudden
disappearance that they turned and twisted in
their eagerness, jumping over one another's backs,
each hound seeming to imagine that the other
had got hold of Charlie, the reason being that
the mouth of the drain was hidden from view by
a bunch of rushes. A terrier being applied, the
fox was bolted and killed, after a regular
race of twenty-seven minutes with no sign of a
check, and perhaps hounds never traversed so
much country in so short a space of time without
casting themselves. The following were the fore-
most division : Mr. A. Burdett - Coutts, Major
Longstaffe, Miss Turnor, Captain Tennant, Captain
Cecil Thorold, Major Charles Thorold, Mons. Cou-
turie, Colonel Mildmay, and Mr. Walter Willson.
A good instance of the stoutness of the South
Lincolnshire foxes is shown in the account of a
wonderful run from Newton Wood. This covert
is recognised favourite fox-ground, for a fell-
monger's shop is in the district, from which issues
savoury odours, poison it may be to the inhabit-
ants of the district, but caviare to the nostrils of
a fox, who knows what's good. Gillard records
that " he proved himself one of the gamest foxes
he ever hunted." At a nice hunting pace he led
the field round by Osbournby, Spanby, Horbling,
and Billingboro to Folkingham Little Gorse in
one hour and twelve minutes. " When I saw him
leave the gorse I thought he was done with, but
he kept on for twenty -five minutes before seeking

M

162 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

the shelter of a drain half a mile below Threeking-
ham. A terrier bolted him, and he actually went on
for fifteen minutes more before again getting to
ground by Sempringham, where hounds scratched
him out and drank the blood they had earned so
well." Those up at the finish were Colonel Mild-
may Willson, C.B., and Miss Willson, Misses L. and
G. keathcote, INIr. Ernest Chaplin, Mr. A. Burdett-
Coutts, Captain Cecil Thorold, Mons. Couturie,
and the Rev. "Billy" Newcome of Boothby.
The latter was a great friend of the Duke's, who
always asked, when hearing the account of a good
run, " Was JNIr. Newcome there ? "

The floods that visited the country by the
middle of February filled up all the dykes and
made the land ride very heavy. So we find Feb-
ruary 15th put down as a very hard day for horses
and hounds, and unsatisfactory as regards sport,
owing to the number of times hounds changed.
Beaten foxes were viewed all over the country,
and yet no kill was effected. From Newman's
Gorse hounds ran by Saxby, Stonesby, close to
Freeby village, into Stapleford Park. When the
river Whissendine was reached, Arthur Wilson,
the second whipper-in, tried to swim his horse
over the ford, very swollen after the night's rain,
and he was very nearly drowned, for he turned
his horse's head down stream with the consequence
both went under. Mr. Brocklehurst too was
another hardy diver who made the attempt to
follow, but parted company with his horse in mid-
stream and had hard work to get to land. Gillard

SEASON 1881-82 163

tells a story of how he swam his horse over one
of these mud-bottom Leicestershire streams during
the first season at Belvoir as whipper-in under
Cooper. The season was one of the wettest on
record, and all the rivers were running bank high ;
but the young Devonshire whipper-in, imagining
all streams had stone beds like those of his own
country, saw no fear in his ardour to turn hounds,
and fortune favoured him, for he was quickly out
again on the other side, without getting very wet
either. Parson Banks Wright saw the performance,
and riding up to him, said, "Young man, you
must not try to swim the rivers here, or you'll
soon be a subject for a coroner's inquest ; that
sort of thing may be all very well in Devonshire,
but you'll soon get stuck in the mud here ! "

On February 24th, a ten-mile point, lasting one
hour and six minutes, from Irnham Old Park Wood,
is worthy of mention, for hounds killed their fox
on the door-step of Belton House, the seat of
Lord Brownlow, after a very fast spin across the
park.

The weather being very open throughout the
season, sport was good, with only six days' stop for
frost. Hounds went out 144 days, killed 188 foxes,
and marked 55 to ground.

At the end of the season Will Wells left to
carry the horn for the Puckeridge. His career
with the Belvoir was a short but brilliant one, and
the hunt never had two finer horsemen than Will
Wells and Arthur Wilson to turn hounds at the
same time. Across country they were the delight

164

HUNTING REMINISCENCES

of the thrusters, who, to this day, cherish the
memory of many a good lead they gave during a
spell of excellent sport. Both were good in the
kennel, and to their quickness and instinctive
knowledge in the field many a fine run was due.
Sir Thomas Whichcote used to point with glee to
the great drains round Aswarby, and say : " Will,
I've got a good place for you there ! " On one
occasion Will got over, but Arthur got in, and in
the struggle he split his scarlet coat right up the
back, but cobbled it up with the aid of string and
black thorns to finish the day's work. When Will
Wells left, he was presented with a purse of money
and eleven silver hunting - horns from admiring
friends.

Birds of Passage.

CHAPTER XII

Season 1882-83 and 1883-84

All the Elements of Danger, Steam, Teeth, and Water — The Hunter
" Belvoir Grey Bob " and his end — The fastest Dart of the Season
— Lord Grey de Wilton breaks his Leg — Runs from Coston Covert
— Tom Chambers the old second Horseman— The Horse Gameboy
— Mr. Tom Hutchinson down but not dismayed — A good Run and
Mrs. Cecil Chaplin presented with the Brush — Gillard breaks his
Leg driving the Hound Van home — Letters of Condolence — Mr.
George Lane Fox on Hound-breeding — Acting the Good Samaritan
and its Consequences — Harry Bonner the Whip — Mr. Merthyr and
Lady Guest — Tlie great Day of the best Season on record — A good
Leicestershire Hunt — Horses go in for Swimming — Sir Thomas
AVhichcote begs a Mask — A fine Field of Ash Wednesday Horse-
men.

Evidence of a Good Day.

A PROLIFIC crop of falls
are the natural consequence
of good sport in a wet time,
when the ground rides deep
and water-logged. The incon-
venience of freshly fallen rain
it is possible to make light of,
for horses can then splash
through the dirt, and it does
not hold them, but directly the
ground crusts and dries on the
top, then it pulls them all to

166 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

pieces, and every stable has its quantum of cripples.
Certainly the season under consideration saw a
climax of dirt and good sport, and the weather
continued wonderfully open considering hounds
were stopped only fifteen days for frost.

A memorable and rather sensational day's sport
happened on November 14th from Stubton, when
a stout running fox faced all the elements of
danger before he was numbered with the slain.
The lady pack roused him in the Plantation near
the Hall, and he ran a ring for a few fields before
he went straight away for Whitehills, through the
covert on to the railway, where he was so blown
that he lay down close to a passing train. To save
the pack from destruction they were stopped, and
some plate-layers drove the fox off the line, nearly
every hound having a snap at him before he reached
Whitehill Covert. Going through covert like a
shot, he pointed away as if he meant Barkstone
Gorse, but finding the pace too severe, changed his
tactics and reached the river Witham with the
pack only twenty yards from his brush. Hounds
dashed over the river, but never recovered the line
again on the far side, so that it was pretty certain
this good fox must have drowned after leading the
pack for thirty-three minutes.

A heavy fall towards the end of November
placed Gillard hors de combat, as he hurt the
muscles of his neck and was very much shaken.
However, he was not so easily knocked out as some
people might think, for in a very few days he came
up smiling like an old prize-fighter, ready to be at

SEASON 1882-83 167

them again. One of his favourite mounts was the
old white horse Grey Bob, just the stamp for
Leicestershire, standing a trifle under 16 hands
on short legs, possessing great beam, bone, and
muscular development with unusual freedom.
Belvoir Grey Bob earned a place on the scroll of
fame, for he carried Frank before a thrusting
Leicestershire field for eleven seasons, and that
without ever giving him a fall that could be attri-
buted to the fault of the horse. On a certain Ash
Wednesday, with an enormous field out, a stranger
lady crossed Grey Bob at a fence, and the
consequence was upset horse and rider. However,
she never stopped to pick him up, and probably
thought there were plenty more huntsmen to take
his place. In Gillard's opinion the old horse was
quite capable of paying his way as a chaser, for he
had a great turn of speed. By some mischance he
was drafted from the hunt stables, and reappeared
the following season carrying his new purchaser.
Frank was naturally much distressed at losing his
old favourite, and this got to the knowledge of the
Hon. Lancelot Lowther, who, without saying any
more about it, bought the horse and presented him
as a personal gift to Gillard. The only conditions
were, that when Grey Bob died his fore legs
should be sent to the donor, and this was of course
gratefully done, one of the hoofs being again re-
turned to Frank, mounted as the base of a massive
silver candlestick bearing a suitable inscription —
" ' Grey Bob,' ridden by Gillard from November
1881 to April 1892."

168 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Frost came in December, and after that the
going was so terribly holding that hounds had the
foot of horses, and dirty coats were pretty frequent
amongst the riding division. Of the many good
days on record we choose that of December 19th
at Stubton. An outline of the sport we give
in the words of Frank's diary. " Directly we put
into Stubton Gorse the pack proclaimed a find by
giving us their fine music, which made reynard
bolt off in the direction of Fenton, and it soon
became evident that we must look pretty sharp if
we meant to keep with hounds as they passed to
the right of Fenton and Beckingham, direct as we
could go to Brant Broughton Upper Covert. We
ran two miles beyond it, and then turning to the
right made for Brant Broughton village, where we
killed him in a stable, thus ending a very good run
of one hour and forty-eight minutes to the Low
Covert. The pace was good throughout, with but
one check of importance which occurred after
crossing the Stragglethorpe and Sutton road, and
owing to my making a forward cast which re-
covered the line on the grass, the bulk of the field
never caught us again until we reached Brant
Broughton Low Covert."

The fastest dart of the season happened on
January 6th with 17|^ couple of the small pack
from Holwell JMouth in the afternoon. Taking a
picked line of country under Little Belvoir to the
corner of AVartnaby Stone Pit, some navvies
headed the fox at that point. From there it was
a race with hounds running as if viewing their fox

SEASON 1882-83 169

past Broughton close by Hickling to the artificial
earths in Kaye Wood, whose friendly shelter saved
a good fox's life after leading the pack at best
pace for over an hour. Those who got to the end,
besides the hunt staff, were Lord Grey de Wilton
and ]Mr. A. V. Pryor, who took a line of their own
to the left of the Smite, and old JMr. Willoughby
of Broughton took an awful cropper in his
attempt to follow. The remaining half - dozen
were the Hon. Hill Trevor, Captain Smith, Count
Charles Kinsky, IMr. Behrens, and two more.

Amongst the foremost leaders of the chase the
late Lord Grey de Wilton was one of the hardest,
and nothing would turn him from his purpose
when once he had made up his mind to go. Gillard
narrates a particular occasion when he was
pounded by a very rough briery fence, and wheeling
his horse round to find a more practical place lower
down, he called out to Lord Wilton, who was
coming at it, " to stop," but to no purpose, " for
he never altered his course a foot to the right or
left." By the time Frank got the right side, he
saw a riderless horse, and Lord Wilton down, the
holding briers having wrapped round and turned
him over. At once he noticed that his boot was
twisted back the wrong way, indicating a broken
leg, though Lord Wilton was unconscious of the
fact, and making vain efforts to scramble to his feet.
"Lie still, my lord, your leg is broken," shouted
Gillard. " Never mind me ; go on with your
hounds ! " was the reply.

When drawing Coston Covert, from which more

170 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

good runs have been seen than any other in the
hunt, it used to be the rule to send old Tom
Chambers on to wait in readiness to view away.
As Frank approached he would blow his horn
before throwing hounds in, and the plan generally
answered, a fox immediately leaving as old Tom's
musical voice sounded out of his very boots, and
he had a pair of the longest feet in the hunt. The
hounds knew the old man's " Gone away ! " and
always went to it, so that it was generally a flying
start from Coston Covert. A good day resulted
on January 24th from this covert to Woodwell
Head, away for Freeby, where the first check
occurred after a fine gallop of thirty-eight minutes.
The remainder was a fine bit of hunting on the
part of hounds and huntsmen, ending with a kill
at Stonesby, time two hours and twenty minutes.
Amongst the field out were Lord and Lady Grey
de Wilton, the Hon. H. H. and Mrs. Molyneux,
IMajor the Hon. and Mrs. Stirling, Colonel the
Hon. H. H. Forester, Mrs. Sloane Stanley, Miss
Turner, Sir Hugh Cholmeley, Captains Tennant,
Elmhirst, Boyce, Messrs. Pry or, Burdett-Coutts,
Henry Chaplin, Barclay, A. Brocklehurst, J.
Hutchinson, Westley Richards, Roy, Couturie,
George Drummond, the Rev. J. Mirehouse, and
J. P. Seabrooke.

Amongst the horses that carried Gillard well was
a little bay called Gameboy, who had a little too
much fire to suit the aged Duke, but when ridden
in a snaffle and nose band he proved one of the best
conveyances that ever carried a huntsman. On a

SEASON 1882-83 171

memorable occasion, Gameboy cleared a very wide
deep drain by Haverholme, and when in the air
Gillard saw Mr. Tom Hutchinson and his horse at
the bottom of it working their way up to find a
place to get out. Mr. Tom Hutchinson was so
delighted at the sight of Gameboy flying over,
that he shouted out, " I have a great mind to get
out the same side I came in, and have a try at it
again ! "

February 21st with the small pack at Stonesby
was a day worthy of the traditions of the month.
A traveller was unkennelled from the Gorse,
running a ring round Newman's Gorse over the
Rectory lawn at Waltham back to Stonesby Ashes,
where the pack divided and ran hard in covert
before they again united. Opinion had it that
hounds got away with a fresh fox, and he led them
at a rattling pace, past Garthorpe, crossing the
brook midway between Saxby, leaving Stapleford
three fields on the right. The railway was crossed
near to Whissendine, and the fox with hounds
close at him popped into a rabbit hole. First one
hound then another got hold of his nose, but the
roots of the fence prevented the pack getting fairly
at him, and his punishing white ivories paid them
back with interest. After about ten minutes of
this give-and-take business he bolted of his own
accord, and ran three fields before they caught him,
making a good finish to a grand run of one hour
and twenty-five minutes. The brush was presented
to Mrs. Cecil Chaplin riding her well - known
hunter " Pebble," a dark brown mare with white

172 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

markings, measuring under sixteen hands. A good-
sized field started to ride the run, which was a ten-
mile point from Waltham Limekihis to the kill,
but very few got to the end of it, for the brook at
Garthorpe caused a lot of grief.

In summing up the merits of the season, Gillard
remarked, " I never knew the Belvoir vale to ride
so holding, the ground was somewhat dried on the
top, so that horses could hardly lift their feet out
of the dirt." The number of days registered was 137,
with 113 foxes killed, and 36 marked to ground.

Season 1883-84

Owing to the wet summer, harvest opera-
tions were very late, hardly any corn being
"stouked" by September 1st, consequently hounds
did not begin cubbing quite so soon as in
former years. The season was remarkable for its
nice hunting weather, hounds being stopped but
three days for frost and fog. This fact was all the
more trying for Gillard, who had the misfortune to
break his leg at the end of October and was in
consequence laid by until January 8th, the hounds
being hunted in the meantime by Arthur Wilson,
the first whipper-in. The accident happened as
follows : On October 23rd, after a hard morning's
cub-hunting, Gillard was vanning the hounds home
from Grantham in company with George Champion,
who had come to take the autumn draft from
Belvoir to the Duke of Richmond and Gordon's
kennel at Goodwood. The van full of hounds, with

SEASON 1883-84

173

Frank driving the unicorn team, got as far as
Harston, where the leader was taken off, reducing
the team to a pair of wheelers, one of which was
an untried underbred horse, who when half way
down the hill turned restive, threw himself away
from the pole, upsetting the van by running the
wheel up the bank. Unfor-
tunately, Gillard could not get
clear from the apron which
strapped him on, and the van
falling on his leg fractured it
badly. The two whippers-in
escaped unhurt, George Cham-
pion bruised his arm, but no
damage was fortunately done
to the hounds.

Letters of sympathy came
from all corners of England,
and the concern expressed for
the speedy recovery of the
Duke's huntsman might well
have made an archbishop or a
prime minister turn green with
envy. Amongst this mass of
correspondence we select the
letter of the veteran master of the Bramham
Moor, who wrote : " These accidents come when
we least expect them, and must be borne with
patience." Mr. George Lane Fox then went
on to talk of hounds and hound-breeding, which
must always be interesting, coming from such a
source. " The Duke of Beaufort's Bender 1

Mr. George Lane Fox, M.F.H.

174 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

fancied because I had such stout hard workers
by Lord Portsmouth's Render. But he is not a
stallion hound, too tall and bad about the knees,
though a nice-looking hound in the field. The
young Renders work hard in the field, and some
of them are good-looking. Lord Galway's Clasher
has done pretty well for me. I send you one of
my hound books, you will see how much Belvoir
blood I have. You will observe that my book
begins when Charles Treadwell came to this pack,
when the hounds were in Lord Harewood's pos-
session. He had to begin with a pack bad in
work and appearance, all bred in and in, no lists
kept. Treadwell had a good store of hound know-
ledge in his head, and was a keen man. In my
early days I was advised entirely by him."

Another letter of condolence which caught our
eye as we looked through some fifty of them was
from the Hon. H. H. Molyneux. "I am very
sorry for you — also for ourselves. It is very hard
lines to be knocked out in that way. Confound
that driving unicorn ! ' A cobbler should stick to
his last,' they say, and a huntsman, I suppose, to
his saddle. You must keep yourself patient, and
watch your diet well. Going from jolly hard
exercise to a sick bed for so horrid a long time,
does come a bit unfair on one's stomach."

As might be expected, Frank threw away his
lame leg at the earliest possible moment, and as
soon as ever he could bear a legging on it, ordered
out the easiest horse he had in the stable, old
Sluggard the gray, and hacked gently about for an

SEASON 1883-84 175

hour or two at a time, whilst Arthur Wilson
hunted the pack. On one of these early days of
invalidism, old ]Mr. Vincent took a fall and got
hung up in his saddle. To render first aid and act
the good Samaritan was Gillard's foremost thought,
though he was too much of a cripple to climb
down from his saddle, but the timely help averted
what might have been a terrible accident. Now it
so happened that both were insured in the same
accidental company, and when INIr. Vincent applied
for an allowance during disablement consequent
from the accident, he gave Frank's name as a
witness. The result was the agent of the company
wrote to the good Samaritan, " What brought you
out hunting with a broken leg ? " A satisfactory
explanation was of course forthcoming, for Gillard
was only a spectator and unfit to ride a yard.

Arthur Wilson, in the meantime, was successful
in his efforts to show sport, although he nearly
met his fate through a fall over wire, which sent
him home with hounds by two o'clock, incapacitated
for further work that day. The staff were fortunate
in possessing Harry Bonner as second whipper-in,
and right well he tumbled to the duties of turning
hounds to Arthur. After a season or two with
the Belvoir he went to the Meath, then to carry
the horn for the Tyndale, where he was much
liked, and now he is huntsman to the Meynell.

Amongst those who came to renew old acquaint-
ance with hounds were ]Mr. Merthyr and Lady
Guest from the Blackmore Vale, a hunt which
must always present a striking and pleasing effect

176 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

in the field, from the fact that the whole staff are
mounted on gray horses. The colour is hard to
beat, and where woods abound it is the easiest to
find.

On the authority of Brooksby the season was
"a best on record for sport," and his charming
book under that title, dedicated by permission to
H.R.H. the Prince of AVales, gives us the leading
events with the Leicestershire packs.

On January 12th, when Gillard was once more
in command, the Belvoir were in luck, carrying on
the wave of good sport which marked the opening
months of the year, and they ran nearly to a
standstill in a tremendous gallop backwards and
forwards between their own country and that of
the Quorn. The day deserved a kill after a fast
forty -five minute gallop by moonlight to Asfordby,
for then it would have ranked as one of the best
things of a wonderful season's sport. Those sports-
men who saw the finish were the Duke of
Portland, Captains Boyce, Smith, and Tennant,
JNIessrs. Beaumont, Burdett-Coutts, Crawley, G.
Drummond, Foster, Knowles, E. Lubbock, Praed,
and Pryor.

On January 26th, after meeting at Hose Grange
in the vale of Belvoir, the little pack of seventeen
and a half couple had a rattling scent all day. A
regular flyer was set going from Sherbrooke's
Gorse the second time of asking, and he led
hounds at a terrific pace over the vale to Kinoul-
ton, and when ascending that hill to the left of the
gorse, the Quorn Hunt were seen, having met at

SEASON 1883-84 177

Lodge -on -the -Wolds. The pomt was Roehoe
Wood, but the fox, finding the artificial earths
closed, made an attempt to go to Wynstay Gorse,
till a sheep-dog interfered and drove him back
through the covert which the Quorn had entered.
Mr. Sherbrooke, riding with the Quorn, left that
hunt to see the Belvoir kill the fox they had
brought from his covert. After slow hunting
round the Curate, the fox took a course parallel
with the Smite, and got to ground in a rabbit
hole by Clawson, from which he was ejected, and
being too stiff to run farther, was killed. The
time from the find to Roehoe Wood was twenty-
five minutes, to the finish fifty-five minutes. The
barometer fell during the day, and a southerly
wind freshened up into a gale towards evening.

A curious experience befell a sportsman on one
occasion when hounds met at Waltham, and the
day's operations lay entirely in the Melton district.
When riding the line of fences from Burbidge's
Covert towards Stapleford, a route interwoven
with railway and river, he had occasion to dis-
mount, and his horse thereupon entered the river,
swimming across to join the hounds on the far
side. No sooner had he reached the opposite bank
than a friendly horseman tried to catch him, but
he turned round, entered the water again, and
swam back to his rightful owner. Was not the
latter an unlooked-for act of Providence !

On February 5th, after a good run of an hour
and a half, a curious finish resulted with a railway-
loving Rauceby fox. After running all over the

N

178 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

lordships of Rauceby, Wilsford, and Willoughby,
he Avas picked up on the line by a platelayer,
apparently dead beat. This worthy carried him
on, but seeing hounds coming, turned him down
again, and he ran for three fields before yielding
up his brush.

Another run with a red mark of excellence
against it we find recorded on February 8th from
Folkingham Big Gorse, the pack running very fast
by Birthorpe, Billingboro, Horbling forward for
Swaiton, back by Newton Gorse, Walcott, and
Threekington, to finish near Spanby. A hound
called Dextral, a dark tan little bitch, sighted the
fox, and running into him, killed before her comrades
could come up, after a fine hunt of one hour and
five minutes. The veteran Sir Thomas Whichcote
was so pleased at the performance that he begged
the mask, and he never did so unless it was a run of
great excellence. The leading division were Major
Amcotts, Captain A. Welby, Captain Tennant, and
J. Bellamy. Two days later, in the afternoon,
Captain Alfred Welby, Dragoon Guards, met
with a crushing fall by Keisby Wood through his
horse putting a foot in a rabbit hole.

The Belvoir Ash Wednesday as usual attracted
a large field, representative of at least a dozen
hunts. A find was proclaimed at Sproxton Thorns,
hounds running well to Bescaby Oaks, over the
Sproxton brook and out of scent. The afternoon
fox was set going from Wymondham Mill, and
gave a gallop over a picked line of country worthy
of so historical an occasion. Running by Teigh

SEASON 1883-84

179

village, he came sharp back into Ashwell, where
My. Alec Goodman, who had galloped forward,
viewed him dead beat, and a few minutes later
the " Who whoop " sounded in Stapleford Park
after a quick thirty minutes without a check.
Gillard's remark to the day's sport was, " I never
saw a finer field of horseman ride to hounds." He
had with him the talent of half-a-dozen shires.

The number of hunting days this season was
145, the number of foxes killed 118.

CHAPTER XIII

Season 1884-85

The Hound Gambler desci-ibed, and his Measurements — Canon
Kingsley's Description — The Hound Gameboy — Cub-hunting
Notes — George Carter the Fitzwilliam Huntsman, and the Puppies
by Rubican — Arthur Wilson gets stuck in the Smite — The Belvoir
and Quorn Gallop ; Rivalry and Kill — Tlie Brush of the
Belvoir and Quorn Fox — The Rauceby Pink Wedding — The
Belvoir Hunt Steeplechase Course — A Leicestershire Spin — The
Marquis of Waterford — A critical Field out for the last Day's
Sport.

'HE young entry of this season
was an exceptionally strong
one, with two amongst their
number who are destined to be-
come the most celebrated stud
hounds of their day. The
name of Gambler by the
famous Weathergage ^ —
Gratitude is one known
world wide, for his sons
and daughters went to build up kennels throughout
the United Kingdom and abroad. A hound of great
character and massive appearance, combined with

^ See Weathergage pedigree, Chapter Vli.

Tom Firr.

SEASON 1884-85 181

beautiful colour and outline, he made a king
worthy of such a pack like the Belvoir. His
praises have been sung by all who saw him, his
portrait painted by more than one artist, and his
bones are now set up like those of the great
race-horse Hermit. Gillard could not honour him
too much, regarding him as the most perfect type
of the beautiful Belvoir blood, filling the kennel
with his stock. In all parts of a run he was
perfect, and he possessed a beautiful voice, which
he used freely, resounding through the woods,
giving the keynote to the pack, who would fly to
it. The best of his stock were hounds of great
character, remarkable for their good looks on the
flags, and their good hunting qualities in the field ;
moreover, the breed was everlasting, and never
tired. Gambler was probably the sire of more
hounds than any other of his day, and hved to his
fourteenth season, running with the pack up to a
year of his death, when he had to be drafted for
deafness. Although Belvoir Gamblers cannot be
bred from rule of thumb, the proportions of this
remarkable foxhound as taken by Mr. Basil
Nightingale, who painted his portrait for the Duke
of Rutland, are worth preserving as an example of
what symmetry should be. Standing twenty-three
inches at the shoulder, from the extreme point of
his shapely shoulders to the outer curve of his well-
turned quarters he measured twenty-seven and a
half inches in length, whilst from elbow to ground
his height was only twelve inches. Possessing great
depth of rib and room round the heart, he girthed

182 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

tliirty-one inches, and bis arm below was eigbt
and a quarter incbes round. Below tbe knee be
measured five and a quarter incbes of solid bone,
wbile round tbe tbigb be spanned full nine and a
quarter incbes. Tbe extended neck was ten incbes
from cranium to sboulder, and tbe bead ten incbes
and a balf long. His colour was of tbe ricbest,
displaying all tbe beautiful " Belvoir tan," and bis
bead bad tbat brainy appearance expressive of tbe
bigbest intelligence. Gambler migbt bave inspired
tbat earnest poet Canon Kingsley wben be described
tbe modern foxbound : " Tbe result of nature, not
limited, but developed by bigb civilisation. Next
to an old Greek statue tbere are few sucb com-
binations of grace and strength as in a fine fox-
bound. Majesty is tbe only word ; for if be were
ten feet bigb instead of twenty-tbree incbes, witb
wbat animal on eartb could you contrast bim ? It
is joy to see sucb perfection abve." Gambler s own
brother, Gameboy, was quite as good in bis work,
although be had not quite the same dash and
swagger, being rather shy with strangers wben
showing on the flags. " In tbe field," Gillard said,
"both were hard -running bounds, and I often
pointed out tbe two brothers hunting side by
side as if they were in couples." Gameboy
left some good stock in the Belvoir kennel
like his brother did, and both sired many a
Peterborough winner for other packs, so that
their fame as tbe stout sons of old Weathergage
will never die out.

The tremendous growth of nettles this season

SEASON 1884-85 183

greatly punished the young hounds when covert-
hunting, and drought, with great heat, lasted
right up to the middle of November, destroy-
ing scent, making the ground so hard that
the opening day of the season was delayed until
the 8th of November. Though rising at cock-
crow four mornings a week for cub-hunting, Gillard
found time to go to Quorn to judge the puppies
for Lord Manners, who succeeded Mr. John Coup-
land this season. The best morning's sport with
the cubs was on September 12th, in that good
forest of oak, Ropsley Rice, which always holds
one or two litters. A dense white fog brought
a great scent, and the pack raced in the open for
forty minutes, killing their fox a hundred yards
from Belton Park. Very few saw anything of the
run, the field riding about all over the country
hopelessly lost in the fog, only to learn the interest-
ing details next day. At the end of October there
was quite a gathering at Weaver's Lodge, but the
ground was almost too hard for anything but
covert work. Amongst those present were Lord
and Lady Middleton, who drove to the meet and
hunted on foot, Mr. Rawnsley, master of the South-
wold, Mr. IMansell Richardson, the Rev. Cecil
Legard, and the huntsman from the Brocklesby,
Mr. Preston and Mr. Holliday from Yorkshire,
professedly to see the stallion hounds in their work.
The last-named sportsman used to pay an annual
visit to Bel voir, coming with old JNlr. Hall, a
friend of the late Duke of Rutland's. He was
a fine type of yeoman, belonging to the old school.

184 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

when the price of wheat made it possible to keep
the stable full of hunters.

It was a pleasure to set Gillard going on a good
gossiping scent as he turned to his diary ; and the
mark of excellence against November 15th, at
Hose, revived memories of sport and those who
played their part in it. "I gave a mount to old
George Carter, the famous Fitzwilliam huntsman,
that day, and I think he must have brought us
luck, for we ran for an hour on the grass. He
came to watch the big dog pack in their work,
with the view of a cross for the stout Milton
blood, who were sweeping the board of prizes at
Peterborough Show. Belvoir Rubican — 1870 — did
the FitzwiUiam kennel a lot of good, and one litter
of four bitches and two dogs was especially excellent
in the field and on the flags. I must tell you that
Belvoir Rubican was a first-season hunter when
I came as huntsman, and owing to the lameness
of my predecessor Cooper, the pack had gone to
the bad, and it was impossible to cross a deer
park without their running riot. I had therefore
to rebreak the pack, and Rubican was the biggest
tartar of the lot, determined to hunt whatever he
liked. Patience and five days a week put him
right, for he took to fox, and fox only, and
when he retired to the stud was used everywhere.
In those days 1 was often at Milton by Peter-
borough, for the master, the Hon. George Fitz-
william, knew me very well, and gave me many
a mount ; he was a relation by marriage to the
late Duke of Rutland, having married a niece of

SEASON 1884-85 185

Lord Forester's, so that he came to Belvoir and
spent many an hour at the kennels. When I was
out with the Fitzwilham by Caldecott, I asked
George Carter how my Rubican puppies were
fraiTiing for their work, and he repUed in his usual
dry way, ' Oh, I don't think they are up to much ! '
so I kept my eyes open, and sure enough saw them
dash out, making one or two good hits. ' Well
done, Rubicans ! ' I shouted. ' Well done again,
Rubicans ! ' Old George Carter stared at me and
said, ' I don't know how it is, those Rubicans are
doing all the work to-day ! ' ' Of course they are,'
I replied, ' they know I'm here ! ' "

Three days later hounds had another good spin
with an evening fox from Sparrow Gorse, when the
big field of the morning had melted away and only
the chosen few remained. Hounds were stopped
owing to darkness by Rauceby after fifty minutes
of the very best. All the horses were done to a
turn, but those who struggled to the end were Mr.
Edgar Lubbock, Mr. T. Robarts, Mr. Peregrine
Birch, Mr. Lionel Trower, Mons. Roy, Mr. Richard
Horpsby, and that good sporting farmer and judge
of stock Mr. J. H. Bemrose, who has seen over a
quarter of a century's sport with the Belvoir.

The very pace of the beautiful Belvoir blood
will often cause them to flash over the line, and on
one memorable occasion they crossed the river
Smite when Gillard had evidence that his fox was
back and sinking fast. So keen was Arthur
Wilson to turn the pack to the huntsman that he
attempted to swim his horse over the river. Un

186 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

fortunately for him, it was one of tliose dull sluggish
streams, yards deep in thick black mud. Arthur
would have been no more, but for timely assistance
as he struggled in the holding mud with his
terrified horse. One of those who rode up to
render aid was INIrs. Sloane Stanley, and she
exclaimed, " Oh dear, I am sorry for you ! If Mrs.
Arthur was here now, she would not know you ! "
It made the whip smile even in his awkward phght,
for there was no ]Mrs. Arthur in those days.

One of the most memorable days' sport in the
annals of the pack occurred on Monday, December
22nd, when the Belvoir and Quorn Hunts met in
the middle of a run, and joining forces, killed their
fox in company. Gillard roused his fox in Harby
Covert and had the pack quickly away, running to
Kaye Wood by Colston Bassett. Hounds were
pressing their fox all the way, and his point was
evidently the Curate's Gorse in Quorn domains,
but the keeper of the covert heading him off, he
made for a small plantation by Widmerpool,
entering it after leading the pack at a good pace
for one hour and twenty minutes. It so happened
the Quorn hounds were in the district, and Tom
Firr was casting about for his fox which was lost
after a spin ; Mr. J. Co upland saw the Belvoir
enter the covert by Widmerpool and told his
huntsman. Whilst Gillard was standing in the
central ride cheering hounds, Tom Firr galloped
up with his hounds just as the fox crossed the ride
behind the Belvoir huntsman's horse without his
viewing him. "Tally-ho!" shouted Firr, "Tally-

SEASON 1884-85 187

ho ! that's my fox ! " " Now, Tom, behave your-
self," rephed Frank, for he saw that it was a critical
moment, and did not mean being second best,
though on Quorn soil. " I shall be very angry
directly, Tom, if you don't let my fox alone, for
you know you had no line into this covert ! " The
two packs settled any further argument by opening
on the line, rattling the fox out of covert as they
went away together. " It was a very lively run, I
can tell you," said Gillard as he brightened up at the
very thought of it ; " and, as you may imagine, there
was a little jealousy between the two hunts, for
everybody meant having the first place. Firr
took a most awful imperial crowner soon after
starting, at a fence with a drop on the landing side,
carrying away liberal tufts of grass on his coat-
tail buttons for the rest of the day. We had to
turn to gap or gate whenever it was possible to do
so, for none of the second horsemen had come up,
and the pace during the first hour of the run had
been sufficient to keep horses galloping along. I
rode a little snaffle - bridled bay horse all day,
name Gameboy, and he made no mistake, en-
abling me to be quickest up at the finish. The
hounds never wanted much help, as they took the
line away for Parsons Thorns to Old Dalby Wood,
leaving Grimston Gorse on the left into Saxelby
Spinney. Here I viewed our fox, a big gray dog,
and not very far in front of hounds, but he was not
done with yet, and struggled gamely on to Welby
Holt or Lord Wilton's plantation, where they
killed him after hunting together for one hour and

188 HUNTLNG REMINISCENCES

five minutes, the Belvoir having run consecutively
for two hours and twenty-five minutes. I could
hear the hounds savaging him in covert, and was
quickly off my horse, knowing there was not a
moment to lose. Hounds had broken up their
fox, but, as luck would have it, they left the brush
and mask lying close together, so I picked them
up before Firr came, putting the brush in my
pocket as I wanted to take it to the Duke, and I
was afraid one of the field might ask for it. As
Firr made no claim, I thought I would not be hard
on him, so said, ' Here you are, Tom, you take the
mask, as your hounds helped to kiU my fox ! ' A
moment later, to my horror, I heard him tally-hoing
and who-whooping in the central ride, with every
hound round him and the field looking on, under
the impression it was his fox. ' By Jove ! ' I said,
• this will never do,' and I slipped out of covert,
ran about fifty yards down the fence, blowing my
horn, waving the brush about. In a moment all the
hounds left Tom and came to me, so I cheered and
hallooed them till I thought he had heard enough
of it, and he said to me, 'Now, Frank, we had
better take the pack to that gate and draw out our
own hounds.' 'All right,' I said, 'let me jump
on my horse first.' No sooner was I in the saddle
and said, 'Come on, my lads!' than every one of
my hounds came to my horse's heels, including one
couple of the Quorn, which I had the pleasure of
returning next day. Mr. J. Coupland came up
and begged very hard for the brush, saying that he
would give anything to possess it as a memento of

SEASON 1884-85 189

so remarkable a run, for we had covered twenty-six
miles of country. I let him have it, but as his
Grace the Duke of Rutland expressed a wish next
day to possess it, I wrote to JMr. Coupland, and he
very kindly returned it, so that I had it set up in a
case and placed in the room at the kennels." The
field who rode this run included JMr. Eurdett-Coutts,
Mr. Edgar Lubbock, Mr. Francis Crawley, Mr.
Ernest Chaplin, Mr. Lionel Trower, Mons. Roy,
and JNIons. Couturie, all from Grantham. Then
there were Mr. J. C. Coupland, IMr. Craig, Captain
Hume, and the Rev. J. P. Seabrooke to represent
Melton ; Mr. Fisher of Orston, Dr. Williams of
Colston Basset, My. John Marriott of Cropwell,
and Mr. Henry Smith. To this day the case may be
seen at the kennels containing the brush of this
memorable fox, and a printed account of the
day's sport, with two other trophies. These latter
belonged to a fox that was killed the day after
Lord Forester's funeral. It was the end of
October, but the pack had been stopped for this
sad event, and Gillard was only giving them an
exercise in the woods round Belvoir. However,
they got glued to the line of an old one, who gave
them an extraordinary hunt, lasting nearly two
hours, before he was rolled over in the cabbage
garden not far from the kennels. The mask was
one of the biggest we have ever seen, and Gillard
always regarded it as one of the family heirlooms
belonging to the pack. The other brush in the
case belonged to a fox killed by Blankney kennels,
December 15th, 1885. Winter and rough weather

190 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

ushered in the January of 1885, but hounds were
out of kennel whenever there was half a chance,
and on the last day before the frost a large and
distinguished gathering were at Croxton Park to
meet them. Amongst those present were the
Duke of Rutland, on wheels, accompanied by Sir
Frederick Leighton, the late President of the
Royal Academy, the IMarquis of Waterford, Lord
John INIanners, and a host of Leicestershire and
Lincolnshire sportsmen.

]Much good sport was enjoyed during February,
and the month was made memorable by the
Lincolnshire pink wedding at Rauceby Hall, on
the 17th, between two of the best-known followers
of the hunt, Major " Fritz " Amcotts, 5th Dragoons,
and Miss Emily Willson. The morning was bright,
though a powdering of snow covered the ground,
a very large field attending the wedding ceremony
and the meet at Rauceby in honour of the occasion.
The bride and bridegroom joined the hunt, and a
fox jumped up off the fallows near to Bully Wells,
showing the way nearly to Sleaford town, then
twisting back to Rauceby, where he was killed by
the Hall, in full view of the wedding party, who
were assembled there. Altogether it was a singular
occurrence befitting the occasion, for the run
lasted one hour and seventeen minutes. It proved
a good scenting day, for the evening fox started
from Sparrow Gorse gave an eight-mile point.

An interesting run is recorded from Keisby
Wood across a fine stretch of Lincolnshire country
in the vale below Lenton, where a course was in

SEASON 1884-85 191

preparation for the Eelvoir Hunt steeplechases,
which were instituted this year by Mr. Burdett-
Coutts, who won the red-coat race riding his own
horse. Twice the Lenton brook came in this
charming run, and it is a classical stream that sets
a hall-mark of approval on the sport of the day.
Of the twenty who rode up to hounds, including
Miss Lucy and Gertrude Heathcote, fifteen took a
fall before the run finished. The point this good
fox hoped to make was Sapperton Wood, but he
was unfortunately headed, and ran a ring back by
Lenton Pastures to Aslackby Wood, where he
beat his pursuers in that big forest.

The month's sport closed with a good day on
the Leicestershire side from Sherbrooke's Covert
in the morning, and Wartnaby stone pits in the
afternoon, hounds being stopped at 6.30 by Kinoul-
ton Gorse.

At the close of the season the Belvoir hold a
meet in the town of IMelton, the Quorn on the
opposite banks of the river which marks the
boundary of the two packs. The hunting metro-
polis is always full this week for the ball, so that
both packs have a good following. This occurred
on March 4th, and the afternoon fox from Coston
Covert gave a remarkably fast spin of twenty
minutes before he was pulled down on Sproxton
Heath. The brush was presented to the Marquis of
Waterford, the mask to Captain King King, whilst
Miss Chaplin and the Hon. H. H. Molyneux took
pads. There were few men who went harder than
the late Marquis of Waterford, or enjoyed their

192

HUNTING REMINISCENCES

sport more thoroughly. When out with the
Belvoir he once jumped a gate on the swing, his
horse catching the top bar, giving his rider a
terrible fall. Some thought that this fall brought
about the serious illness and subsequent paralysis
which ended his life.

On the last day of the season, April 14th, at
JNIarston, in weather that savoured more of June,
we find a characteristic entry in Gillard's diary :
" Rather a nice field were out, there being no less
than three masters of hounds, two ex-masters, and
one huntsman. They were Lord Harrington,
Lord Galway, Mr. C. B. Wright from the Bads-
worth, ]VIr. Richard Ord of the North Durham,
]VIr. Pennington, and Sam JMorgan, huntsman to
the Grove hounds."

The number of hunting days this season was
139, and 121 foxes were killed.

Lord Harrington, M.F.H.

CHAPTER XIV

Seasons 1885-86 and 1886-87

Six Masters of Hounds out Cub-huntiug — Mr. Brockton of Farndon —
The big Day of the Season ending at Blankney — Good Hound
Work — A Day with Lord Lonsdale's Hounds at Blankney — Blood-
ing Lord William Manners — Mr. Basil Cochrane — The hardest Day
of the Season with many Leicestershire Foxes — Home on Foot,
all the Horses beat — Three of the Hunt Horses — Frank Beers the
Grafton Huntsman — A note about the Brocklesby Kennel — Several
good Days — A Run and Kill by the Forty-Foot Drain — A Wedding
Special saves the Pack from Destruction — A good March Gallop
and Kill in an Ash Tree — A Note of Music in Frank's Diary — The
Fowl-House Door opens to the Name of the Duke.

N'

The Stacker's Aet.

O less than six masters
of hounds came to
look at us one morn-
ing during the cubbing
season when we met at Crox-
ton Park. They were ]Mr.
Lort PhiUips from the North
Warwickshire, Mr. Chandos
Pole from the Meynell, Mr.
W. E. Wemyss from the Bur-
ton, Mr. Coupland from the
Quorn, Lord JVIiddleton from
o

194 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Yorkshire, Lord Willoughby de Brooke from
Warwickshire, and Lord Lonsdale from Blankney.
They could not have come on a worse occa-
sion, for it was very stormy all day, foxes ran
short, and we had a poor scent. Late in the
day, when they had all left us, we had a nice
spin," said Frank, referring to his diary. During
the cubbing time hounds did plenty of hard work,
"the fifteen couple of youngsters entering well,
except JNIagic and INIystery by South Notts Mounte-
bank. On September 18th, on a very hot morning,
we were at Rauceby by six o'clock, and in the
saddle twelve hours. Again on the 25th we left
kennels at 4 a.m. and returned 4 v.m. What
with thorn -hunting afterwards, attending to the
lame, and making hounds comfortable for the night,
the whippers-in were in hard condition by the time
the season proper commenced."

The opening day on November 3rd at Leaden-
ham House was wet, and seventeen and a half
couple of the little pack were out, who quickly
accounted for a fox in the Hill-top Covert. The
second run was started from Colonel Willson's
Gorse, and they ran nicely, marking to ground in
WeUingore Gorse, one of the Blankney coverts.
Lord Lonsdale was out, and he offered to bolt the
fox with one of his wire-haired terriers.

A red-letter day resulted from Staunton on 7th.
A fine old fox was roused in Cotham Thorns,
going away by Bennington and Claypole to Stubton,
where the pack divided with a fresh fox in Codding-
ton Plantation, one lot marking to ground, the

SEASON 1885-86 195

others going on to Stapleford Moor, where they
were stopped. No one went better than the
veteran INIr. Brockton and his third daughter riding a
thoroughbred, the three sisters being feather-weights,
and hard to catch over a country. Mr. Brockton
lived at Farndon, on the banks of the Devon, a
sterhng good sportsman who made his mark as a
rider between the flags, besides owning several
horses of note, Victor Chief being a sire of many
winners on the flat and over a country. In the
furtherance of hunting interests his services have
been invaluable. A great fox-preserver himself, he
dehghted to convert those who were not, and
generally won his point with the aid of a present in
the shape of a pig or the use of his stud horse.

The big day of the season came on December
15th, when seventeen couple of the dog pack found
a fox in Lord Bristol's Plantation, and quickly ran
him to ground by Temple Bruer. Speedily ejected
from his hiding-place with the help of a rocket, he
ran past Ashby-de-la-Laund, through the Thorns to
Kirkby Green, where he was headed by plough
teams and turned sharp back. With patient hunt-
ing they followed on by Blankney gardens, and
kiUed him very tired near to the kennels, making a
capital finish to a run of one hour and fifty-five
minutes. Hounds that came in for particular
notice during the run were Fencer and his son
Fenian, Stainless by Fallible, Gainer, Gambler,
Glancer, Flyer, Newsman and Worcester. The
brush of this good fox the Duke had placed in the
glass case at the kennels, containing two other

196 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

trophies of memorable days. The hound Fencer
was much admired by the late INIr. Harvey Bailey,
who, had he Uved, promised him a home in the
RufFord kennel when his hunting days were over.
Stainless, the son of Fallible, was used by Gillson
in the Cottesmore kennel, and he did much for that
pack, siring some beautiful bitches. Flyer was a
hound who left some beautiful stock in the Duke
of Buccleuch's kennel, and his services went in
exchange for strong Scotch foxes off the moors,
sent by old Shaw the huntsman to turn down in
Leicestershire for fresh blood.

On the last day of the year Lord Lonsdale invited
Gillard to Blankney to have a day with his hounds
from Bloxholm, mounting him on a hog-maned
chestnut, which was the favourite colour. Hounds
ran well at starting, after which they did httle good
but drag on after their fox until they came up with
him in Crow Bottom Covert, where they killed.
" With a scent the pack would have done well," was
Frank's opinion, "for they kept their noses down
and were quick in casting, particularly Villager, a
good-looking short-legged hound well off for bone
and very muscular. This hound was used at Belvoir
kennels later with good results."

The new year brought frost, in all a forty days'
stop to hunting, but on January 14th the pack had a
by-day at Goadby, the going in the vale being
possible. Those out were the Hon. Mrs. Penning-
ton, Captain and Mrs. Brocklehurst, Mr. John
Welby, three sportsmen from Melton, and Messrs.
Cecil, Robert, and William Manners. " The latter

SEASON 1885-86 197

I had the honour to enter to hounds, and 1
painted him, as I thought, fairly well, but he ex-
pressed himself disappointed at not being blooded
all over his face," was the remark made in Gillard's
diary after performing the Bapteme de chasse for
" Our Billy of Belvoir," as the late Lord WiUiam
Manners was affectionately termed by his many
hunting friends.

The red mark of excellence stands against the
doings of February 17th, when hounds assembled at
Croxton Park, the day being fine with a keen north-
east wind blowing. " Sport commenced with a
sharp ring from Coston Covert, but the second time
away we ran at a rattling pace by Wymondham
Wind Mill to Rickett's Covert, where we changed.
Our run fox was viewed by ^lajor Candy, going
away with one hound, Niobe, in pursuit. After
slow hunting, and difficulties from fresh foxes
jumping up, we ran very hard by Waltham Thorns,
going round by Goadby, Bullmore, and Harby Hills.
Here I viewed him running along the bank of the
canal, and on reaching Harby he ran a ring to East-
well, and killed by the railway after a good hunt
of one hour and twenty minutes. Those I noticed
going best were Captain Arthur Smith, Lord Hope-
toun, JNIr. Basil Cochrane, the Rev. J. P. Seabrooke
and Mrs. Candy." Of these, Mr. Cochrane hunted
up to within four months of his death, which occurred
at the ripe age of seventy-eight, in April 1896. A
bold determined horseman, he delighted to follow
Tom Firr and Frank Gillard wherever they went,
often telHng them that he preferred this to taking a

198 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

line of his own. His nerve was good up to the last,
although he came in for some awful croppers in his
time, breaking his leg at the age of seventy. By the
rising generation he was looked upon as a golden
link between sport of the past and present, being a
fine specimen of a true Enghsh gentleman and an
officer of the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons. During a
long and varied experience, Mr. Cochrane hunted
with many packs and in many countries, but always
came back to the Belvoir, hunting the best of his
time from Grantham.

The best day's sport of the season, one of the
hardest for horses and hounds in the annals of the
hunt, was on February 20th from Piper Hole.
The morning was frosty and the wind south-east,
scent lying well on the grass. Gillard had twenty-
three and a half couple out, made up from
the middle and small packs. Finding in Melton
Spinney, hounds ran a bee line to Kettleby ; they
changed foxes and raced by Scalford Station back
to Holwell, where he beat them after a forty
minutes' gallop. The second run was from Holwell
Mouth with a fresh fox, and he gave a brilliant
fifty minutes by Clawson Thorns down to Hose
Village, past Sherbrooke's to Little Belvoir. Here
he turned sharp back to his starting-point, and,
unfortunately, hounds changed again at Piper Hole
Gorse. Going away from this covert with a fresh
one, the pack ran hard for one hour and forty
minutes right into the Quorn country, passing
Melton Spinney, marking to ground on the railway
at Asfordby, where some plate-layers viewed him

SEASON 1885-86 199

just in front of them. Out of a very large field
very few remained to see the finish : these were
Lord Hopetoun, Captain Brocklehurst, the Hon.
A. Pennington, and IMr. Pry or, jun. Both the
whip's horses were dead beat, and Arthur Wilson
left his at a farmhouse near Asfordby, whilst

GiLLARD OOT HIS SECOND HORSE AT THE RiOHT MOMENT.

Gillard left his at JNIelton in Mr. Pryor's stables.
The hounds were brought home by train to
Redmile, and the hunt staff footed it with them
late that night from the station to the kennels.

Amongst the best conveyances in the hunt
stables this season were two by Ripponden, a good
hunter sire who stood at Belvoir, and sired Playfair,
a Grand National winner. The mare was White-
foot, a fine jumper, and the horse was Farewell,

200 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

who made a great name for himself, and in his day
jumped the JNIelton brook oftener than any other
liorse in Leicestershire. Another good momit was
Horn Shy, so called because he was very excitable,
and took hold of his bit when he heard the horn.
Over the big doubles in the Leadenham Vale this
horse was not to be beaten, " and never set a foot
wrong."

On April 14th the meet was at Piper Hole, and
it was a regular hound day, with twisting foxes
very sparing of scent. One of those who thoroughly
enjoyed it, regarding it from a professional point of
view, was Frank Beers, the Grafton huntsman, who
returned with the pack to kennels at 9 p.m. The
mention of this fine sportsman's name conjures up
ancient history, for Frank Beers followed his father
as huntsman, but one thing he lacked in comparison,
and that was voice. Old George could ring such a
merry tune as would charm the very foxes from
their earths. Frank was first initiated under his
father with the Oakley, went from there as second
whip to the Brocklesby, then to Russia as huntsman
to Count Branetski, who, in addition to a pack of
foxhounds, had a stud of seven hundred brood
mares, together with some well-known Enghsh
sires. Beers was driven out of the land of the
Tzar by the Crimean War, and found his way to
Grafton to turn hounds to his father. Talking of
the Brocklesby, there is Httle doubt that these
hounds have been kept as a pack in the Pelham
family for quite a hundred and seventy years.
INIoreover, the Smith family hunted them for

SEASON 1886-87 201

almost as long a period, the office descending
from father to son without any intermission,
Nimrod Long following the first break of the
Smiths.

The number of hunting days this season was
121, there being ten weeks' stop for frost. The
pack accounted for 121 foxes, 1 badger, and 1 otter
weighing 26 pounds, killed in Burbidge's Covert,
which was set up in a glass case and put in the
Duke's room at the kennels.

Season 1886-87

It was a late harvest and a luxuriant autumn,
with a wealth of grass and tangle in the ditches
warranted to catch even a third -season hunter.
One of those who fell a victim to the blindness of
the country was Arthur Wilson, who took a very
heavy fall on to his head and was in consequence
laid up for a month. Hounds went out twenty-
seven mornings during the cubbing time, and
accounted for nineteen brace. Taken altogether,
it was a short season owing to frost and hard
going, but excellent sport was enjoyed during
November and the greater part of December,
hounds running well day after day.

The opening day was bright and scentless,
beautiful for agriculture and outdoor exercise, but
too gaudy to hunt. In spite of this, hounds
managed to mop up a brace of fat foxes, and no
doubt the field enjoyed the ride round a charming

202 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

country with the foliage of September still on the
trees.

On November 5th a good day's sport resulted
after meeting at Weaver's Lodge, hounds running
backwards and forwards between Newton Wood
and Dembleby Thorns, unfortunately changing at
critical moments. Rain came down heavily in the
afternoon, and hounds whipped off at five o'clock
just as night was established, having a good fifteen
miles back to kennels. On November 15th another
good day's sport is recorded after meeting at Bottes-
ford Station, and a brace were killed after giving two
smart gallops. A start was made by running a fox
very hard from the Debdales, by Shipman's Planta-
tion and Woolsthorpe Chff", to Casthorpe Covert,
where he dodged the pack for half an hour and
then crawled into a hollow tree, from which hounds
dragged him out and killed. The day ended with
Mr. Earl supplying a brace from his osier bed, and
one was killed after a smart gallop to Harlaxton
Clays.

This particular November was hardly a winter
month with its fine weather, and the going was so
good that horses could gallop and jump aU day on
the top of the ground. To give a brief summary
of a succession of good days which are doubtless
inscribed on the memory of many a man who was
lucky enough to ride them, we may mention that
of November 27th, forty minutes and a kill from
Clawson Thorns with the afternoon fox. December
1st, a good sporting run of one hour and twenty
minutes from Goadby Gorse, ending by marking

SEASON 1886-87 203

to ground at Sysonby, greatly pleasing a stranger
in the field, ]Mr. Edward D. Adams, a banker from
New York. On December 7th a nice gallop from
Marston Platts to Carlton, and a better one in the
afternoon from Jericho Wood to Marston, a brush
coming to hand at the end of each. Under the
ban of foul weather during the second week of
December all the field melted away in a whirling
snowstorm, excepting Messrs. James and Arthur
Hutchinson, who stuck to hounds, and went fox-
catching to Harrowby Gorse with Gillard when the
storm was over.

Another good day's sport was enjoyed on
December 15th in very foggy weather with the
country nearly all under water. After drawing
Sproxton Thorns blank, and killing a fox in Coston
Covert, one was bolted from the artificial earths
and took a bee fine away past Crown Point to
Woodwell Head, going through it hke a shot,
passing to the left of Market Overton and Barrow
without checking until Cottesmore was reached.
Changed foxes by Exton Park and made straight
for Greetham Wood, hunting slowly towards
Thistleton, losing all trace in darkness by JNIorkary
Wood. Two days' sport rolled into one, if you
will follow it by the map. Moreover, the greater
part of the journey was over a wild wet country
which carries a scent.

From December 17th to January 21st any num-
ber degrees of frost were registered, and people
skated on the high roads, which were a sheet of
slippery ice. During such hateful periods of in-

204 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

activity the Belvoir woods were very welcome
exercise ground, being nearly always in fair going
condition, old hounds so disliking road exercise
that they have to be coupled to younger ones.

On February 4th a fine day's sport was enjoyed
from Folkingham Big Gorse, a famous fox covert
which has given many a good run. Going away
past Stowe Green, they ran very fast to Horbling,
at the edge of the fen country on the dead level.
By the time Swaiton was reached the hounds had
travelled five miles in twenty minutes, and a check
occurred through the hard-riding field driving them
over the hue. A successful cast hit it off again,
and they sailed away over Helpringham fen and
killed their fox handsomely on the banks of the
old Forty -Foot Drain, after running for one hour
and thirty minutes. In the Middle Ages this
famous drain or canal, which was originally cut by
the Romans, was the means of bringing stone
and materials to build the fine churches which are
dotted about all over the fens, and are so useful
as landmarks in this featureless country. Another
smart scurry with a fox started from Swarby Gorse
finished the day, the pack streaming away by the
Northing Plantation, Kelby, Aswarby, back to Silk
Willoughby, where they killed close to the clergy-
man's pantry -door after a race of fi^e- and -thirty
minutes. The hghts at the Belvoir kennels were
very welcome to the hunt staff when seen that
night about 9 p.m.

JNIelton Mowbray is always full to overflowing
at the spring of the year, and the occasion of a

SEASON 1886-87 205

concert given by the hunting folk in aid of the
Farmers' Benevolent Society brought a very large
field out on February 9th, when hounds met at
the house occupied by Colonel Markham. JNlany
thought that it was too hard to ride, but every
hour the sun dispelled the frost and improved the
going. A find was proclaimed in Burbidge's Covert,
the fox crossing the river, running over the Burton
flats nearly to the Punch Bowl, where he turned
left-handed for Burrough Hill. Scent was good,
and they ran well by Thorpe Sackville, un-
fortunately changing to a fresh one close by Adam's
Gorse, running through Gartree Hill Covert, away
to the railway at Great Dalby. Hounds ran down
on to the line just as the express was due, but
most fortunately the signal was up to stop the
train to pick up a young couple who had been
married that morning, and owing to this fact a
bad accident was averted. Gillard narrates in his
diary that " on the way home we passed through
Great Dalby, and were invited by Mr. Brewitt,
father of the bride, to diink her good health, which
we did in a bumper, most heartily expressing a
hope that the new son-in-law was as good a sports-
man as himself."

An awkward fall in a spin from Sproxton Thorns
placed Gillard for a few days on the shelf, damaging
his ribs and shoulder, but the Ides of INIarch ushered
in rough weather and a stop to sport, for perhaps
fox-hunting of all sports is the most tantahsing,
depending as it does entirely on scent, circum-
stances, and favourable weather. A good day was

206 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

snatched from the frost on IMarch 5th, the meet
being Hose Grange. The turf was in such order
that a horse went as if upon springs, and a scent
vouchsafed in dusty JNIarch, giving a burst over
green Leicestershire, is a little gift from paradise.
A find was proclaimed in Sherbrooke's Covert,
hounds crossing the Smite, making for Hickhng,
inclining towards Old Dalby and Holwell JNIouth,
keeping in the vale until Piper Hole Gorse was
reached. Here a shepherd dog coursed the fox,
and spoilt all further chance of sport, after a
good run lasting one hour and fifteen minutes.
The second gallop from Goadby Gorse was the
better of the two, being a brilhant fifty minutes,
ending with a kill. The Hne taken was past
JNIelton Spinney and Waltham Ashes, up the
Chad well Valley, the brook being jumped three
times in quick succession. Hounds threw up by
the railway, and after casting about they winded
him in an ash tree, quickly puUing him out
of his hiding-place — a fine old dog-fox, with a
well-tagged brush, which was presented to Lady
Gerard. " No check of any importance occurred
throughout this splendid gallop, for when the fox
turned a bit sharp the pack cast themselves before
the field could catch them up, and went running
on. When this fox was roused in Goadby Gorse
it was a quarter past four in the afternoon, so that
only a few remained to see it. Those who went
well were Mr. Leatham, who had a fine stud of
Yorkshire -bred horses, ]Mr. Praed, INIons. Roy,
JNIr. Edgar Lubbock, Mr. Birch, Mr. Saunderson,

t^

SEASON 1886-87

207

Captain King King, INIr. Brocklehurst, Mr. Hat-
field Harter, and Lady Gerard."

With the genial warmth imparted by a good
day's sport still upon him, we can in imagination
see Frank penning the following note of music in
the diary before turning into bed : — " During the
last run in Boothby Wood, it was splendid to hear
the charming cry of hounds ; not that they used
their voices more than they usually do, but the
rarefied atmosphere and still evening brought the
music to our ears sweetly and distinctly."

A capital hunt of forty-five minutes is recorded
on March 30th, when hounds met at Croxton Park,
finding their fox in Newman's Gorse, going over
the Melton brook, round by Melton to within half
a mile of Newport Lodge, where the pack doubled
back and marked their fox in a fowl-house. The
farmer, Mr. Josiah Wood, closed the door in the
face of the hounds, but directly he heard they
belonged to the Duke of Rutland the door flew
open like magic, thus giving the pack the blood
they deserved.

The number of hunting days this season was
115, and 104 foxes were killed, 63 being marked to
ground.

.-■^ '^'^■^., )

Music.

CHAPTER XV

Seasons 1887-88 and 1888-89

Gillard's Family — Frank Gillard, junior, joins the Hunt Staff — A good
Run from Sapperton Wood ; Mr. John Gubbins presented with the
Brush — Mr. Cecil Rudkin goes hard — Hunting till Dark — The
Belvoir and Cottesmore Hounds come together in the Field — The
Hound Cottesmore Prodigal — The Kennels to which Frank went
for Blood — Old Sir Thomas Whichcote's Opinion of the Day, and
his Lettei* — The late Duke of Clarence — Death of Mrs. Willson of
Rauceby — Dangers of a Swallow-Hole — Mr. Otho Paget jumps
locked Railway Gates — Death of the Master, the Sixth Duke
of Rutland — Succession of the Seventh Duke of Rutland — Stud
Hounds, the Entry and Nominal — Good Hound Day by Culver-
thorpe — Aswarby Foxes — An Accident to the Hound Van — Mr.
Jolland wins a Feu-Land Fox's Brush — Count Zhrowski — Lost
Hounds finding their Way back — Ash Wednesday drops out of
the Fixtures — Mr. Richard Fenwick presented with a Brush —
A Lady of eighty-six presented with her first Brush — Captain

Pennell Elmhirst's Tribute to
Gillard's Vigour and Keenness
at the end of his nineteenth
season Huntsman.

W

Gordon, by Gambler, 18S5.

girls and boys of Frank

HAT'S

bred in

the bone

comes out in the

flesh," and, as might

be expected, the

Gillard's numerous

SEASON 1887-88 209

family, reared within sound of the kennel, all
wished to adopt hunting as a profession. Every-
thing was game that walked about their home,
from the breed of fox-terriers, for which Frank was
celebrated, to the fowls, which were as good as it is
possible to get. Very wisely Gillard discouraged
the idea of the family following his footsteps,
knowing the hard work attending the calUng of a
whipper-in, and the keen competition for the higher
berth in these days, when so many gentlemen prefer
to carry the horn themselves, instead of paying a
professional. But the eldest son, Frank, was so
keenly bitten with the sport that he left a business,
and came this season as second whipper-in to his
father ; the other two brothers going to the Royal
Veterinary College of Surgeons, where they com-
pleted a course with distinction. Arthur Wilson
leaving to carry the horn for the York and Ainstry,
was succeeded by Will Jones, so that the new staff
had the geography of a large country to learn.

A big day in the season's sport was December
2nd, when a large field met hounds at Weaver's
Lodge, one of the best fixtures on the Lincolnshire
side of the country. A find was proclaimed in
Sapperton Wood, the pack going screaming away
for Haydour Southings and Dembleby Thorns.
Turning from Newton Wood a check occurred,
but a halloa supplied the missing evidence, and a
man informed Gillard that his fox had gone by
twenty minutes ago. Consequently, it was slow
hunting up to Swarby Gorse. From this covert
hounds got away close at the brush of their fox,

210 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

simply racing for thirty- five minutes, the field
having to ride their hardest to keep them in view,
running a ring by Rauceby, Silk Willoughby,
Aswarby Park, Culverthorpe, ending with a kill in
the open near to the Northing Plantation. The
brush was presented to JNIr. John Gubbins, an ex-
JNI.F.H. from Ireland, driven away by agrarian
agitation to Grantham's gain, for he built stables
and kept a fine stud of hunters. Mr. Gubbins,
who won the Derby of 1897 with Galtee More,
was a heavy weight, hard to beat across country,
pounding the field on several occasions, the Bottes-
ford Beck being one big place which gave him the
coveted ambition of being alone with hounds.
The mask of this good fox went to another very
determined thruster of the farmer division — Mr.
Cecil Rudkin of Sapperton, and custodian of that
reliable covert. During the run he took three
falls, the first being in an attempt to charge
through a great bullfinch black as Erebus, the
thorns wrapping round the horse instead of giving
way, sending him end over end. The second fall
was at a trappy fence with a double dyke, which
caught fifteen riders aU in a row. And the third
was near the finish, when the heavy plough
knocked the wind out of the horses, and each
fence brought them down like ninepins.

The sport we see before Christmas turns is far
better than what falls to our lot after, for we love
the short, dark, dirty days which characterise
November and December. This particular month
was full of good things, and on December 14th we

SEASON 1887-88 211

find recorded that the pack assembled at Croxton
Park, starting a good liunting run from Sproxton
Tliorns, ending by marking to ground in a rabbit
burrow by Stonesby. Tlie second was a very fast
ten-minute burst from Coston Covert, with a mark
to ground in the artificial earths at Sproxton. A
third gallop finished the day, from Bescaby Oaks,
hounds being stopped by darkness at Piper Hole
Gorse. " Though it was late, about thirty horse-
men remained to the finish, though darkness made
it difficult to distinguish who they were," wrote
Gillard ; " but I found Mr. Gubbins, his nephew
(Mr. Dring), the steeplechase rider (Mr. Beasley),
and Mr. James Hutchinson."

" The day the big pack of 21|^ couple met at
Easton Hall, December 19th, is one to be re-
membered, first because we hunted in two inches
of snow, and secondly because we joined with the
Cottesmore. A find was proclaimed in Easton
Wood, and when running to the left of Witham
big wood the cry of the Cottesmore hounds was
heard, each pack running within a field of one
another, coming together in Cabbage Hill Wood,
after which they ran in company to Castle Bytham.
Scent was fair, which enabled them to run hard
at times, and on two or three occasions I pointed
out to Mr. Baird that several Belvoir hounds were
running at the head of the combined pack. Gordon,
General, and Nightdew put the others right when
difficulties arose. In Castle Bytham village much
confusion was caused by villagers who headed us,
and then we were unlucky enough to get on to a

212

HUNTING REMINISCENCES

fresh fox, which took us back to Witham Wood,
where we lost, so there was nothing for it but
to divide the packs. We had no difficulty doing
this, Wilham Neil riding one way and I the other,
our hounds following each of us." On a former
occasion in 1881, when the Belvoir and Cottesmore

llNCOLNSHiKE: MthOV^ of THE HUMT". /336

nearly clashed out hunting, three hounds of the
latter pack joined the Duke's. One of these was
Prodigal, and Gillard saw him do such capital work
that he rode over to Barleythorpe the next non-
hunting day to look at him on the flags, and
arranged for a visit. He was an extraordinarily
good hound, and was bred at the Milton kennel,
being in the sale list when a draft of the Fitz-

SEASON 1887-88 213

william were sold at Peterborough, where Mr. Baird
bought him, to the immense advantage of the
Cottesmore pack, as about half of it traces to
him now. His son Traitor lived to be the oldest
hound at Belvoir, and so his worth can be taken
for granted. Gillard did not go out of his usual
path when he used Prodigal, for he was by a
Grafton sire out of a FitzwiUiam bitch. The
Pytchley Comus of 1876 and Mr. Hammond's
Stormer are perhaps the only two hounds for which
the Belvoir huntsman might be asked for an ex-
planation, for in twenty years Frank Gillard only
used two kennels freely, namely the FitzwiUiam
and the Grafton. In all he did not go to more
than eight, and the number of visiting stallion
hounds were not much over a dozen.

The work of hounds is again noted in the doings
of December 21st, when they ran from Sproxton
Heath Gorse and killed between Wymondham and
Woodwell Head. Gillard remarks : " I never saw
hounds hunt better, old Playmate and Caroline
distinguishing themselves frequently by picking up
the line on the fallows. So did Constant, Toilet,
Forecast, Dashwood, and his son Dominic, all good
hounds who helped to catch many a fox."

Frost ushered in the new year, and a doubtful
day's hunting resulted at Rauceby in a partial
thaw and rain. The diary records "that a move
was made to Aswarby to see if the outlook was
any better there, and of course we had to call at
the Hall and see old Sir Thomas Whichcote, whom
I asked whether he considered it fit to hunt. ' If

214 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

I were a young man I should have said it was fit ! '
he said ; to which I rephed, ' Then we will hunt, to
fancy ourselves young again.' Amongst Gillard's
large correspondence is a letter from the baronet,
dated Aswarby Park, March 1888 : " I have had
a gouty cough. I know myself the cause of the
ailment. The liver has been allowed to get torpid
from not having had a gallop. Directly I can sit
on my cob again, the old clock will begin to tick
and the whole of the works will act as well as ever.
Thank goodness the wind has gone out of the east."

A visit from Prince Albert "V^ictor the late Duke
of Clarence, who was the guest of Lord Brownlow
at Belton Park, causes a red letter to be affixed
to January 16th, when hounds met at Scrimshaw
JNIill. The Prince, who rode a gray horse, was
late in arriving at the meet, but directly hounds
tried the Rectory Covert they started a fox and
ran well in the direction of Elton, taking a ring
back to the starting-point. The line of country is
pronounced by some as hardly fit to ride, so strongly
is it fenced, but the Prince went gallantly.

Hunting was stopped at the end of January,
owing to the death of Mrs. Willson of Rauceby
Hall, who had been one of the keenest followers
of the pack for many years, and left a large family,
who, by preserving foxes, furthering the interests
of the sport, and riding with hounds on every
occasion possible, deserve the gratitude of the whole
hunting community.

In a day's sport during February, Gillard had
thirty couple of hounds to hunt the Easton Coverts.

SEASON 1887-88 215

The day was too warm for scent, until the cool of
the afternoon, when the pack roused a fox in
Burton High Wood, and ran him very hard to a
swallow-hole in Witham Wood. A serious accident
was only just averted by prompt assistance, the
pack crowding down into the bottom of the
deep hole, so that those underneath were nearly
smothered. Three were got out stiff and motion-
less, lying as if dead on the bank, but they came
round in time, joining in the worry breaking up
that fox with a demon-like ferocity.

The big day of the season occurred on February
8th, with a regular flyer in the afternoon who went
away from the west corner of Melton Spinney with
sixteen and a half couple of the middle pack close
at his brush. A hard-riding field were soon stirring
up the mud in the brook, and then the railway
with its locked gates confronted them. These
Mr. Otho Paget boldly charged, got well over the
first, but came an awful cropper at the second.
Before the gates could be opened he was on his
horse and away with a start of the flying squadron,
though hounds were at least three fields in front of
him going like pigeons, not a straggler to be seen.
Before the Melton and Kettleby road was reached,
Mr. Otho Paget came down at a big place and
was put out of the run. Every horse was sent
along at his best pace, but it was of no avail, they
could not live with hounds, who streamed silently
away to Welby Holt, leaving that snug covert
with a point for Grimston Gorse. A mile farther
on they checked, huntsman and field catching them

216 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

after they had been running for twenty minutes
unattended. There was scarcely time for horses
to catch their wind before the hne was cleverly
recovered by a young dog-hound Drastic, who had
been " walked " by Mr. James Rudkin of Hanby.
He was a bit the quickest getting through the
fence, and was half-way across the next field before
his voice was heard. Three fields farther on a
sharp right-hand turn took the hunt to the left of
Cant's Thorns, and then a beaten fox was viewed
only a field ahead of the pack. Unfortunately an
open drain in the bridle -road midway between
Kettleby and Wartnaby saved his brush. Time of
this brilliant gallop, forty-five minutes. Rough
wintry weather stopped hunting operations in
March, but on the 3rd of this month, when fifty
couple were exercising, they met Major Amcotts, Mr.
E. Lubbock, Mr. F. Crawley, the Rev. J. P. Sea-
brooke, and a few more, who declared it was fit to
hunt, and hunt they did, finding in the Rectory
Covert running fast to Jericho where they killed.

A sad sad day for the Belvoir Hunt was Sunday,
March 4th, when the sixth Duke of Rutland passed
peacefully away after holding the mastership for
thirty seasons. The heart was out of the season
after that, and the hunt staff wore crape bands round
their left arms to the finish.

The number of hunting days this season was
109, foxes killed 83, hounds were stopped hunting
40 days for frost, 8 days for death.

SEASON 1888-89

217

Season 1888-89

" The King is dead, long live the King." Lord
John Manners, seventh Duke of Rutland, succeeded
his late brother to the mastership this season, and
sport continued the even tenor of its way on the

The Rev. J. P. Seabrooke on Top-Bak.

same lines with Frank Gillard at the head of affairs.
Cub-hunting was sadly hindered owing to the hot
suns of a St. Martin's little summer baking the
plough lands to the consistency of iron.

Three couple and a half of stallion hounds this
season in the kennel were by Weathergage, namely.

218 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Glancer, Worcester, Gameboy, Gambler, Triumph,
Forecast, and Commodore. It was said of Glancer
tliat he was a tremendous driver, and,likehis ancestor,
the Osbaldeston Furrier, an excitable hound on a
catchy scent, he sired some good-looking daughters
for Lord Galway's kennel. Worcester, the same
age as Glancer, was not so handsome though an
excellent hound, much resembling his sire Weather-
gage in appearance. Gameboy and Gambler were
the choice of all masters and huntsmen. Triumph,
of the same year, was beautifully bred on his dam's
side. Tutoress being by the renowned Fallible.
Then there were younger sires who blossomed out
later into celebrities, namely, Gordon (1885) by
Gambler in his third season, and judged the fastest
hound in the pack ; Talent, another son of Gam-
bler ; Pirate (1885) by Proctor. Two old stallion
hounds by Fallible were General and Garnet, out
of Governess, a Weathergage bitch. Another
Fallible sire was Dash wood — nearly the oldest
hound in the pack — a model as to feet and legs,
and he was used much both at home and else-
where, siring two sons in the entry of 1887, named
Saxon and Shamrock.

Gambler was the favourite sire at Belvoir this
season, and of the young entry the best was his
son Nominal — Needy by Syntax, son of Grafton
Silence, her dam was Needful by Fallible. A grand
young hound — all quality, truly made about his back,
loins, and ribs, with bone right down to his toes,
and straight as a rule. Whipster by Newsman was
the best hound in the pack to carry a line down

SEASON 1888-89 219

a road — his dam Warlock by Founder the son
of Fallible. Narrator by Glancer — Nightwatch
by Founder, her dam Narrative by Saffron son of
Senator. Also a quick young hound was Gay-
lad by the Rufford Galliard — Constant. The
Belvoir bitch entry this season were considered
perfect and of great beauty, the Weathergage blood
being very noticeable. They were Decorous,
Definite, Dipple, Dimple, Goldfinch, Specious, and
Sequel, all daughters of Gambler ; Redcap, Rachel,
Royalty, by Glancer. Three beautiful sisters, Tro-
pical, Tolerance, and Trophy, by Traitor out of
Syren who was by Syntax.

On the first day of hunting, November 7th, good
sport was enjoyed in Culverthorpe coverts, where
hounds ran a fox for three hours and forty-five
minutes, killing him on the north side of Culverthorpe
Hall after meeting on the south side. " The hunt
was never farther than four or five fields from
Dembleby Thorns, and brought out much good
hound work. Pirate in particular made many fine
hits at a time when it looked as if our fox had
beaten us, and this occurred generally on fallows.
His splendid voice came most welcome at those
critical moments. Others of the pack who all did
their share were Spartan by Fallible, Worcester,
Gambler, Gameboy, General, Garnet, old Traitor,
Gordon, and young Nominal, who recovered the
line when it looked hopeless."

During November north-easterly gales prevailed,
the wind attaining a tremendous velocity, for we
read of a poor hansom cabman being blown off his

mo HUNTING REMINISCENCES

perch. It was a credit to our stiff old soil that
any trees were left standing ; but after such a gale
the country always rides better ; for wind and rain
— Nature's hedgers and ditchers — do their work
well.

We waited the arrival of hounds at Aswarby on
November 23rd, for it was most unusual for them
to be after time at a meet. The reason for delay
on this occasion was the breakdown of the hound
van, so that Gillard and his whips came on with
the pack, riding the three horses of the team in
their harness, minus saddles. When business did
commence there was no lack of sport, for the
Aswarby foxes have long been noted for their
stoutness, and Gillard always said of them "that
they were the biggest he ever handled." In the
afternoon a fox was set going from Swarby Gorse,
who took us back in the direction of Aswarby, but
on reaching Osbournby he entered an old woman's
house and went upstairs. Young Frank Gillard,
the second whip, and Bellamy, the well-known
universal horse-provider, got him into a sack and
brought him on horseback to turn do^vn, but he
beat them through an interfering terrier joining in
the chase.

A good run, measuring eleven miles on the
map into the Cottesmore country, was recorded
on December 10th, after meeting at Easton Hall.
Hounds kept going all the way at a nice hunting
pace, threading several large coverts but wearing
their fox down, eventually killing him handsomely
by Exton Park. The Cottesmore had met there

SEASON 1888-89 221

that morning, going over some of the same
ground, but right well did the pack hunt the
line, the newly ploughed land keeping their heads
down, and at the finish every hound was there.

After the break up of the frost in December,
a serious accident happened to Captain Lathom
Cox, for many years the popular adjutant to the
Mihtia at Grantham. His horse slipped upon the
half-frozen snow, when jumping a stone wall, and
falling on his rider's leg, caused a compound frac-
ture, laying him by for the rest of the season.

The morning of December 28th was spent at
Rauceby Hall, scurrying about the home coverts
with a whole litter of foxes afoot, but in the after-
noon the scene was changed to a stiifer country
round Aswarby. Getting away with a fox, who
set his mask for the fen-lands, the field being soon
confronted by the yawning chasm known as the
Burton Padwadine drain, one was found to sacrifice
himself and horse, like Horatius Curtius — Mr.
Jolland of Newark, famous as the owner of that
good horse Clawson, winner of a big stake at
Newmarket, who twice attempted to capture the
Grand National Steeplechase. Riding a wonder-
ful jumping cob, he sent him at the wide drain,
landing as a matter of course in the middle of it,
but luckily getting out the opposite steep bank
with nothing worse than a thorough ducking and
the consolation of being the only one up when
they marked to ground in an earth by the railway
on the south side of Helpringham. The fox was
bolted and speedily killed, the brush being pre-

222 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

sented to the plucky horseman. It was five
o'clock when hounds killed, on a short dark
December afternoon, and kennels were a good
twenty- five miles distant, but the pack trotted
back with their sterns up, and ate their meal when
home was reached at 9.15 as though they had only
been a short exercise.

The big day of the season came off on January
16th, with the afternoon fox roused in Melton
Spinney. His line was by Scalford past Old Hills,
where a shepherd dog joining in, caused him to
change his plans. After a check, hounds recovered
the line and recrossed IVIelton brook, driving along
at a great pace by Abb Kettleby and Wartnaby to
Grimston Gorse — time, fifty minutes from the find.
Here a fresh fox jumping up caused confusion, but
a signalman in his box viewed the hunted one near
the station, and hounds ran on by Thrussington
Grange, marking to ground in the stick heap of a
rabbit warren. Time of this good gallop was one
hour and fifty minutes, distance a nine-mile point.
There was much grief in crossing the brook; Count
Zhrowski, one to have a cut at anything, generally
showing a hard-riding field his back, got into deep
water near Potter Hill.

A long tiring woodland day was January 25th,
when the pack ran a brace of wild foxes through
the big chain of forest stretching from Keisby
to Bourne. Gillard had to whip off at dark, a good
22 miles from kennels, which were reached at ten
o'clock with two and a half couple missing. All
but one found their way back to kennels that night,

SEASON 1888-89

shelter and food always being left out in readiness
for the lost ones on their return.

A new departure this season from old traditions
was the Ash Wednesday hunt dropping out of
the fixtures, due to the refining influence of a
Duchess at Bel voir ; and in a very short time all
other packs of any importance followed suit.

A curious termination to a fine run of one hour
and thirty minutes happened to a fox set going from
Grimstone Gorse. llunning on the Midland Rail-
way near the Curate's Gorse he was cut to pieces
by a passing train.

Another good gallop lasting an hour and fifteen
minutes is recorded on February 4th with an after-
noon fox roused in Croxton Banks, hounds streain-
ing away at a great pace by Shipman's Bogs,
Bescaby Oaks, to Herring's Gorse, where he
wheeled round for Saltby, and the pack had to be
stopped owing to darkness. Those who were with
them at the finish were Mr. Ernest Chaplin, Mons.
Couturie, Mr. Birkbeck, Mrs. Amcotts, JNIajor
LongstafFe, and Lord Robert JNIanners.

On February 26th another capital run occurred
with one of the stout Stubton foxes, who was
roused in Reeves Gorse and headed away for
Fenton, giving the field the river Devon to swim
over. The brush of this good fox was presented
to Mr. Richard Fenwick, hunting with his two
brothers and Miss Fenwick from Grantham. His
name is famous in the annals of sport as the owner
of INIimi, winner of the Oaks in 1891.

The meet at the Lenton cross-roads on JNIarch

224 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

15th brought a good day's sport, a fox bemg roused
in Lentoii pastures, setting his mask for Ingoldsby
Wood, which brought the Lenton brook into the
gallop. The lead over was given by JNIajor Long-
stafFe, but in the valley below Sapperton all trace
of the hunted one vanished. With the afternoon
fox from Folkingham big gorse we had one hour
and thirty minutes of the very best going by Scot
Willoughby, Quarrington, Bully Wells, to the
Northing Plantation where they pulled him down.
Those who saw the best of this fine gallop were
Major LongstafFe, Major Amcotts, Mr. E. Lubbock,
Mr. Fenwick, JNIr. T. Heathcote, INIr. J. Hutchinson,
jNIr. A. Hutchinson, and Miss Carter. The distance
hounds ran was quite 16 miles by the ordnance
map,

A rather singular coincidence happened at the
finish of a good hunting run from Peas Cliff to
Ropsley, where hounds killed their fox in front of
INIrs. Smart's house, a lady eighty-six years of age, a
tenant of the Duke's, who always had a good walk
for a foxhound puppy. Gillard presented her with
the brush, and she then told him that she viewed
in the distance from her house, the day before, the
fox killed after a run from Boothby Wood. This
was wonderful, even in her long fife, and a proud
moment too, even if rather late in the day !

On April 6th a large field were out, including
Captain Pennell Elmhirst, and as " he was the only
rider with a pen behind his ear," we quote him.
"The meet was Three Queens, and until three
o'clock hounds were searchino- the heath for a

SEASON 1888-89 225

rumoured lamb-killer, who was probably curled up
till dark at his master's fireside ! JVIost of JNIelton
had gone to see Donovan win the big prize at
Leicester, but of those out were Lady Augusta
Fane on a mealy bay, Miss Constance Gilchrist on
a gray. Count Zhrowski, who held a pioneer's place
when hounds did run ; JNIr. Knowles, INIr. R. Pryor,
JMr. B. Lubbock, Mr. W. Chaplin, jun., Mr. and
Mrs. James Hornsby, Mrs. R. Ord, Sir Hugh
Cholmeley, Major LongstafFe, Major Pennington,
Mrs. Sloane Stanley, Captain Warner, Mons. Roy,
Mr. Salvin, and the Rev. J. P. Seabrooke.

"Melton Spinney supplied a good fox which
gave a ratthng twenty-five minutes over the brook
by Scalford to HolweU Mouth, where scent failed on
a newly-sown field. The bit of east in the wind
helped them ; there was all the scent they wanted
while near their fox, and on the grass, which rode
to perfection. Was there ever such a hunting
April ? Was there ever a brighter finish to a long
good season ? By Holwell Mouth, Gillard chose
the oxer in preference to the woUy place, and his
good mare Dubhn Lass went gaily over and after-
wards. No sign of age in horse or man yet ! they
might be whipping in to John Musters for vigour
and keenness, and they are about the only couple
who forget to knock hard at the binders, or to
sound the shallow ditch," wrote Brooksby at the
end of Gillard's nineteenth season huntsman.

The season finished on April 20th, with 115
days, 91 foxes were killed, and 17 days hounds
were stopped by weather.

Q

CHAPTER XVI

Seasons 1889-90 and 1890-91

Tlie Demand for Gillard's ^VTiippers-in — Accidents to Hounds in the
Field;, on the Line, and over a Cliff — Tree-climbing Foxes — Mrs.
Edgar Lubbock presented with a Brush — Before Christmas
Sport — A Ride Home on a very dark Night — A Curious Accident
to Mr. Edgar Lubbock's Horse— The Weight of a Fox— The
Election and Fox-hunting Candidates — Gillard's Coming of Age,
Season 1890-91— Lord Edward Manners, M.P., Field-Master— The
Season's Entry and Favourite Sires at Belvoir — Captain " Jim "
Barry presented with the Brush — An awkward
Accident to Mr. Cecil Rudkin — Recovery in Time
to win a Steeplechase — Accident to the Pack cross-
ing a Frozen Canal — A Day at Staunton, Mrs.
Phillips presented with the Brush — A Kill
on a Railway Station Platform, Countess
de Clairemount presented with the Brush
— A fast Spin from Coston Covert — Arthur
Wilson sets a Hound's broken Leg — Fox
up a Chimney — A Fox commits felo de
/ se — Gillard wins the Melton Town
Plate with Gunbj^

N

Down the Chimney.

OT only did masters
of hounds look to

Belvoir as the fountain-
head and home of the
thoroughbred foxhound,

just as Newmarket occupies the premier position

SEASON 1889-90 227

in the racing world, but the first whippers-in
serving in such a good school under Frank
Gillard were in demand to fill the posts of hunts-
men everywhere. Consequently changes in the
hunt staff were of frequent occurrence, and Will
Jones left this season to become huntsman to the
North Pytchley, his place being taken by Kane
Croft from the Hertfordshire, a fine horseinan,
" lang and leet," built on the lines of the iminortal
James Pig. Promotion came for him after a
season or two, to carry the horn, first in the Isle of
Wight and then for the South Dorset hounds.

A series of accidents befell the pack this season.
In Harlaxton Wood a young hound, Chorister, fell
down a dry well, but fortunately used his voice to
some purpose, and was rescued by a woodman
next day. On December 21sc three hounds were
run over by a coal train, Prospect being killed
on the spot, whilst Delight and a second season
hound were badly injured. Another serious railway
accident is recorded on January 14th, when
Governor, always to the front and a naiUng little
hound in his work, own brother to the famous
Gordon, met his fate on the line below Leadenham
hill-top. Gillard tells the sad story of how in his
anxiety he climbed down on to the line, and picked
the hound's head up cut clean off as if done with a
knife, and until he found the body could not
recognise which hound it was. The other serious
accident which befell them was on the last Lincoln-
shire day of the season when hunting a fox in the
Ancaster Quarries. It was after a smart scurry

228 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

from Wilsford Carrs, hounds killing their fox in
Ancaster Quarries on the very edge of a pit from
fifty to sixty feet deep. " I jumped from my horse
and tried to get hold of the fox which hounds were
worrying on the brink of the precipice, but before
it was possible to do so three couples rolled over
and lay on the rough stones as if lifeless. Though
much hurt, all fortunately recovered from this
nasty accident with careful nursing."

Rough weather this season probably caused
many of the varmint to take up their quarters
in hollow trees, though in some districts, such
as Stapleford Park, this climbing propensity is
attributed to the light shelving nature of the soil,
and the fear of being easily scratched out by hounds
or stray dogs. On February 5th, "we went to
the wiUow tree by Wyfordby and for the second
time found Charles on his perch, so comfortable
that he refused at first to be dislodged ; but Mr.
Spreckly, the occupier of the land, at last drove him
off, and away he went in view crossing the
railway. Unfortunately, when roused again a few
days later he ran into the pack, who were out of
sight behind a hedge, and so ended his career."
Another instance is recorded on March 10th, when
hounds raced a fox from Tipping's Gorse, and he
popped into the trunk of an old oak tree at Croxton
Banks. Curiously enough when Bob Knott, who
had succeeded Tom Chambers, climbed up the tree
he poked out a brace.

The opening day of the season was November
4th at Three Queens, the Duke of Rutland and

SEASON 1889-90 229

the Marquis of Granby being two of the large field
out. A fox found in Tipping's Gorse gave a sharp
scurry of fifteen minutes before he surrendered his
brush, which was presented by the noble Master to
Mrs. Edgar Lubbock.

A long ding-dong gallop of over an hour
happened on November 15th, after meeting at
Newton Bar. A fox was chopped in the turnips
by Birthorpe, another going away past Folkingham
Gorse to Osbournby hill-top, where, says Gillard,
" it looked fifty to one on hounds killing him, but
a fresh one jumped up in front of the pack — or
rather ten couples, for seven and a half couple (with
the whips) were left behind at Aswarby, — and they
dashed over Aswarby Park, close at his brush,
running on to Cliff Hill and Rauceby. Here
they had the bad luck to again change, and after
a good dusting on the heath they ran to Braunce-
well, where, finding I had but nine and a half couple,
no whips, and only two sportsmen left, viz. Mr.
Francis Crawley and Mr. Chapman of Frieston,
I stopped these stout hounds. The distance as
the crow flies would be quite 15 miles, and the
fine hounds ran about 25."

A bad day's sport round Elton and Bingham is
summed up as follows : " For want of scent and
better luck, hounds never stuck to the line very
well, and to make more difficulties, our fox crossed
a bad country — nothing but railways, drains, and
the river Smite."

A stop for frost this season came before Christ-
mas, very few days being registered during December,

230 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

and it calls to mind a characteristic story told
of ]Mr. Nicholas Parry, Master of the Puckeridge,
who when on his deathbed was asked, " If you
could live your life over again, what should you
do different from what you have done ? " "I should
put in a few more days before Christmas," was the
reply ; and they are worth all the sport we see after,
say we.

A long woodland day on January 10th ended
up in Bourne Wood. Gillard remarks : "In aU my
experience I never knew such a dark night, for
after leaving Ingoldsby our horses kept getting off
the road ; consequently, we borrowed a candle and
lantern, which proved useful. I kept sounding my
horn to give people warning of our approach, and
we found a horse and carriage quite lost in the
pitchy darkness, not daring to move ! "

A meet at Weaver's Lodge, though of late
years it has appeared to bring frost, at one time of
day always drew a large field from two counties.
On the occasion of January 17th, when hounds
assembled there, a curious accident happened to a
sportsman on wheels. When going down Newton
Hill, the horse that Mr. E. Lubbock was riding
crossed its legs and fell, sprang up again and
galloped away riderless. In its mad career it
cannoned broadside against a pony -cart and up-
set the whole concern with its occupant, though
fortunately doing little damage.

A fine day's sport is mentioned on the last day of
January, after meeting at Bitchfield. " The first
fox was found at Irnham, running nearly to

SEASON 1889-90 231

Grimsthorpe, and killed after a good hunt. In-
goldsby Wood supplied the second, who gave a
capital gallop to Humby, away to the left of
Boothby Hall, where Major Longstaffe gave the
lead over the brook, and kept it till we reached
Stoke Tunnel. Here the good gallop ended, for
we changed to a fresh line, though I saw our
beaten fox cross the middle ride of Stoke Park
Wood, but could not get the hounds back before
he had gone, leaving no scent."

The weight of a fox is often a matter for dis-
cussion, and Gillard records a big mangy dog-fox,
killed by hounds, which turned the scale at 17J
pounds. " That was, I think, one of the biggest 1
ever handled," he remarked, "the Aswarby foxes
being hard to beat for weight."

Amongst good days, that of February 22nd must
take a place, for finding at Melton Spinney, hounds
ran for fifty minutes to Holwell Mouth. Changing
foxes there, they ran for an hour and fifteen minutes
back to Melton Spinney, going on to Thorpe Ashes,
past Chadwell and Goadby Gorse, finishing a hunt
of two hours with all the horses done up, the first
whip having to leave his at Scalford all night.

A damaged leg and frost kept Gillard out of the
saddle for ten days at the end of February, but we
were not without excitement, for the election of the
Stamford division of Lincolnshire was in full swine',
through the promotion of Mr. John Compton
Lawrance to the judge's bench. The two candi-
dates, Mr. Cockayne Cust and Mr. Arthur Priestly,
were both well-known followers of the hunt, it was

232 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

therefore suggested they should ride it off to save
the worry of an election. The poll day was Friday,
jNIarch 8th ; and by common consent a non-hunting
day, for every good fox-hunting Conservative
sported his "pink," and went to see Mr. Cust
returned by a majority of 282 votes. A monster
meet in honour of the occasion took place in April
at Belton House, where Lord and Lady Brownlow,
the uncle and aunt of the successful candidate,
extended a hearty welcome.

On the last day of the season hounds killed
their nineteenth Rauceby fox, their total being 86,
and 49 marked to ground. Number of days, 127.
Stop for frost, 17 days.

Season 1890-91

This season Frank attained his majority as
huntsman to the ducal pack, rode 11 stone 11 lb.,
and had a son Frank junior to turn hounds to him.
For the first time during his tenure of office he
had the assistance of a field-master. Lord Edward
Manners, M.P. for the Melton division of Leicester-
shire, the Duke of Rutland's second son, and late of
the Fourth Battalion Rifle Brigade.

The favourite hound sire at Belvoir this season
was Nominal (1888), a 23-inch hound, with tremen-
dous length of haunch, and his shortness from the
hock to the ground was remarkable. He was just
as level as his sire Gambler, and the same sort
of worker. Old Glancer (1881), by Weathergage,
headed the list of stallion hounds, being in his

SEASON 1890-91

233

eighth season, and much used by other packs,
some of his best progeny going to Lord Galway.
Gambler and Gameboy (1884), in their sixth season,
were bred from more than any hounds of their
day. One of Gambler's first sons, Gordon (1885),
out of Spangle, by Saffron, son of Senator, was
another sire much talked about. He was a grand

The Parson gives the Lead.

1. The Rev. J. P. Seabrooke. 2. Lord Edward Maimers, M.P. 3. Mr. Horace Peacock.

4. General the Hon. H. H. Mostyn. 5. Mrs. E. Lubbock.

foxhound, with the shoulders of a Leicestershire
hunter, and bone right down to his very toes. His
son, Sampson (1889), was considered the crack
hound at Quorn, he won at Peterborough, and Tom
Firr swore by him in the field. Pirate of the same
yearwas another favourite, considered by some as the
best stallion hound in England. He was a red tan,
a good-bodied hound, deep in ribs, and wide in loin.

234 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

standing on capital feet and legs. He had but one
fault, and that was he never hked to leave off hunt-
ing, on more than one occasion giving consider-
able trouble to the hunt staff to stop him at the
end of the day from hunting a fox in the dark on
his own responsibility. When the order was given
for home, Pirate was at once coupled to another
hound, much to his indignation. His two sons,
Prodigal and Painter (1890), did much good to the
kennel. Shiner by Lord Portsmouth's Sailor out
of Gamestress was used with great success by the
Cottesmore, also Sapphire by Stainless out of
Gertrude, and Dominic by Dashwood, son of
Founder, by FaUible out of Ruin.

In the breeding of the entry this season, Gillard
kept very close to the two hounds he considers the
best he ever saw on the line of a fox, namely,
Weathergage and Fallible ; and it was through the
grandsire of the former — Wonder, sire of Warrior —
that he got more tongue into the pack, with this
advantage to other kennels, that all the descendants
of Weathergage are good workers, and say plenty
about it, no matter how hard they are running.
In an entry of seventeen couple, a beautiful litter
was that by Shamrock (1887) out of Constant, by
Weathergage, her dam Countess by Fallible, they
were Columbine and four dogs. Cruiser, Counsellor,
Cardinal, and Chancellor, all of whom grew into
stud hounds of note. The brothers were beauti-
ful in colour, dark Belvoir tans, much reminding
us of Stainless. The two brothers, Pompey and
Pilot by Pirate (1885) out of Sunshine, were

SEASON 1890-91 235

different hounds to look over. Valiant and
Vengeance, by Gameboy the son of Weathergage
out of A^anity by the Blankney A^illager, were
perhaps the pick of the entry. The young dog
measured 24 ins., an inch over regulation height,
and his sister had size enough for the big pack, but
with all the quality of a 21 -inch bitch. Her neck
and shoulders were beautiful, and her turn of loin,
quarter, length of haunch, perfect legs and feet were
all in harmony. Another good litter by Gambler
out of Dimple were Duplicate, Dainty, and Dimity.
By old Glancer in his eighth season, out of Nicety,
were Symphony and Sohtude, and two other
daughters out of Tolerance were Traitress and
Trifle, his best daughter being Silrety out of
Special, a long, low one, with a rare lot of stuff
and bone. The visiting sires were " Grafton "
Deputy, Finder, Duncan, and " Grove " Harkaway,
two couple of their get being put on.

The ground during cubbing time was as hard as
that of 1870, and many hounds were lamed in con-
sequence. In Gillard's opinion this was one of the
worst seasons on record for sport, owing to a con-
tinued stop for frost from December 13th to
January 25th.

A good day's sport is recorded from Harby
Covert on November 15th over the cream of the
Belvoir V^ale. Amongst those out were the field-
Master, Lord Edward Manners, Lord Robert
JNIanners, Lord AV. Bentinck, Captain J. Barry,
Captain King King, INIr. and INIrs. John Charlton,
Lady Augusta Fane, Mrs. Sloane Stanley, Major

236 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Amcotts, INIr. J. Fullerton, INIr. V. Hemery, Mr.
T. Robarts, the Rev. J. P. Seabrooke. Running
by Hose Gorse and Sherbrooke's, hounds passed to
the left of both coverts, and on approaching
Broughton Bridge got close at their fox, who made
a point for Holwell JNIouth, but being very hard
pressed he turned very sharply and crossed the
Smite, hounds killing him close to Nether
Broughton. Gillard goes on to remark : " Hounds
deserved great praise for the way in which they
stuck to the line, considering scent was not very
good. The fox was turned first one way and then
another by work-people, and twice coursed by
sheep-dogs, so that he was a very difficult customer
to hunt. Time of this run, an hour and two minutes,
Captain ' Jim ' Barry being presented with the
brush."

During a run from Swarby Gorse, on the after-
noon of November 21st, Gillard took two heavv
falls, his old mare Black Bess breaking some rails,
coming down heavily, damaging her rider's ribs ;
but he pluckily stuck to his post, and saw the
run out until Abney Wood was reached, when
Kane Croft handled the pack, and he rode off to
be patched up by Dr. Willson of Grantham.
Talking of falls brings to mind a serious accident
which happened to a hard-riding farmer this par-
ticular week — JNIr. Cecil Rudkin. After a day on
the Leicestershire side, he was steering a course
for home some twenty miles distant, at Sapperton,
on the Lincolnshire side. To cut a corner he
jumped a few small fences, and his horse, being

SEASON 1890-91 237

probably tired, blundered and put him down,
breaking his rider's leg. His first idea was to
crawl from the lonely spot to a farmhouse, but
he soon found out the pain was too great, and
there was nothing for it but to sit still. By a
providential dispensation the horse galloped on,
and finding a line of gates open, turned into the
stack-yard at the farm, where the men, who had
just fhiished a day's thrashing, saw him, and what
is still more wonderful, followed for the best part
of a mile the track of his footmarks back to the
hedgerow where Rudkin sat. Making them put
him in the saddle, he very pluckily rode back to
Grantham and got it set, going home the other
10 miles that night on wheels. For weeks he lay
in bed mending, getting well just in time for the
chases which wound up the season ; there he rode
this same horse Billy which had given him the
accident, and received a tremendous ovation on
winning the heavy-weight farmers' steeplechase.
Subsequently the horse was sold to Sir John
Lawrance, and hunted by his daughter, who with
her mother were ardent followers of the chase
when not too busily engaged with Primrose League
work.

Winter and rough weather made many days a
very doubtful matter hunting, and one of these
was December 1st, when hounds were busy running
in the neighbourhood of Woolsthorpe. The fox
crossed the frozen canal, the ice being strong
enough to bear him ; but when the pack attempted
to follow, some ten couple became submerged, and

238 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

as they fought smashing at the broken ice, it was
with great difficulty that all were landed safely,
and the neighbourhood was promptly given a wide
berth. The next day a complimentary meet was
held at Fulbeck Hall in honour of Colonel Francis
Fane's return from Canada on Government business.
The day's sport resulted in three nice gallops, the
second run being five-and-twenty minutes of the
very best, over the cream of the Leadenham lord-
ship, the brush of this good fox being presented to
an American visitor.

Owing to the heath country being frozen and
unfit for hounds' feet on December 8th, they trotted
down into the vale, and drew Normanton Thorns,
where they found, and ran well for half an hour,
ending by marking to ground in JMr. Philhps'
artificial earth at Staunton. The second fox was
bolted from an earth in Cotham Thorns, giving a
capital gallop of thirty-five minutes to Elston in
the South Notts country, where hounds caught
him. Very few got to the end of this second run,
but amongst these were Lord Edward JManners,
Lord Robert Manners, IMr. and Mrs. C. J. Philhps,
who was presented with the brush, ]Mr. Stevens,
Mr. Campbell Dick, Mons. Roy, INIr. E. Lubbock,
the Rev. J. P. Seabrooke, and the Hon. Bernard
Petres who took a bad fall.

The first day's hunting in the new year, owing
to frost, was January 26th, when hounds met at
Bottesford Station. A good beginning was made
by Bob Knott viewing an old gray customer from
Normanton Thorns, and he led the pack at a great

SEASON 1890-91 239

pace over the stifFest line of Belvoir country, nearly to
Foston. Swinging round, a return was made to the
starting-point, and this time they ran at a great pace
to the Debdales, turning before entering this covert,
going away straight for Elton. Just skirting these
coverts he took a sharp left-hand wheel, reaching the
Rectory Covert in forty-five minutes from the second
time of leaving the Thorns. For some ten minutes a
very tired fox puzzled hounds in covert, then he was
viewed by Mr. Fisher stealing away towards Redmile
Station, and hounds rolled him over on the platform
after a briUiant gallop of fifty-five minutes. The
number of dirty coats and crushed hats testified to
the severity of the gallop, and amongst the fortunate
few with hounds were Mr. James Hutchinson, Mr.
F. Crawley, and Mons. Couturie. The Rev. J. P.
Seabrooke, cutting out the work on his well-known
gray Top-Bar, took a fall over timber, Mr. Arthur
Hutchinson ruined a hat, Major Amcotts fell at stiff
timber, whilst the Countess de Clairemount,in taking
a fall, parted with her safety skirt for a time, but got
to the finish, and was presented with the brush.

Against the doings of February 4th, Gillard
remarks, " One of the most brilliant gallops I ever
saw from the famous Coston Covert. Instead of
putting the pack into covert, 1 blew my horn,
moved an old dog-fox who broke the S.E. corner,
and clapping hounds on his line, we went at a
tremendous pace, leaving Wymondham on the left,
turning sharp right-handed, running to the left of the
Rickett's, wheeling round and passing to the right
of Saxby, nearly reaching Freeby Wood, where the

240 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

pack crowned their smart gallop by racing up to
their fox, kilhng him by the keeper's lodge, in
twenty-three minutes from the start." Reviving
his riding recollection of this fine burst, Frank
remarked : " On jumping out of the Sproxton and
Wymondham road, I got the lead on old Farewell
and kept it too, though Mr. Alfred Brocklehurst
drew up to me once or twice, but near the finish, as
we were both riding for a gate out of the field, I saw
some cattle running up to it, and turning quickly,
had the fence whilst he got penned at the gate."

A curious accident happened to a hound called
Student in a day's hunting round Leadenham ;
jumping off the parapet of the railway bridge, he fell
a distance of forty feet, fortunately landing on some
grass, and beyond being shaken was little the worse.
On another occasion, when a hound Garnet did a
similar thing he broke his leg, which was immediately
set with a piece of stick by Arthur Wilson the first
whip ; and so well was it done that it mended, being
difficult to see next season that it had ever been
broken.

A memorable day's sport occurred on February
13th, when hounds found a fox in Aswarby Coverts,
and raced him so hard that he was glad to seek the
shelter of an open cottage door at Swarby. A baby
lay on the hearth-rug, over which the fox jumped
and went up the chimney, the mother of the child
fortunately being just in time to slam the door in
the face of the pack. We then had the curious
sight of Kane Croft climbing on to the roof of the
cottage, peering down the chimney-pot at the fox.

SEASON 1890-91 241

who was secured by " Gentleman " Cox below,
carried out into the open black as a sweep, given a
start, but speedily rolled over. The evening fox
from Sapperton Wood gave a charming hunting run
over a grand country to Grimsthorpe, where he
coinmitted Jelo-de-se down a well. This was a really
good point of one hour and ten minutes, being nearly
a straight hne on the map. It was 5.30 before the
run ended, and hounds did not reach kennels that
night until 10 p.m.

A special village meet for Kirkby Underwood was
arranged, which drew all the natives out of the
fens as spectators. " A wretched day : scarcity of
foxes, absence of scent, and fourteen perambulators
counted at covert side," remarked Gillard.

During March two nice days' sport worthy of
mention resulted, a gallop of thirty-five minutes
from Melton Spinney ending with a kill at Sysonby ;
and a merry thirty-five minutes' spin with a Stubton
fox.

At the end of the season Kane Croft left to go
as huntsman to the Isle of Wight foxhounds, and
Frank Gillard, junior, went as huntsman to a pack
in Pennsylvania, taking with him a large draft of
Belvoir hounds.

The winner of the Melton Town Plate this
season was found in Frank Gillard's good-looking
bay horse Gunby, son of the Cottesmore Hunt horse
INIuleteer. Quite an ovation was given Frank when
the horse returned to weigh in, and he credited his
owner with three chases before being sold to Mr.
Flowers. Subsequently he was sent up to Tatter-

R

242

HUNTING REMINISCENCES

sail's with the stud, and was bought by Miss Mar-
garet Tennant, now Mrs. Asquith, who hunted him
a season or two, and he passed on to Mrs. de
Winton.

Though the season was a short one, there were
more than an average number of historical runs.
The number of hunting days was 110, stopped
by frost 33 days, whilst 80 foxes were killed, and
62 marked to ground, — the latter large number
being explained by the dryness of the drains, the
shortness of the cubbing season, and the scarcity of
foxes in the home district.

Up the Chimney.

CHAPTER XVII

Seasons 1891-92 and 1892-93

Reduced to a Four-day-a-week Pack — An exceptionally good Lot of
young Hounds by Belvoir Pirate and RufFord Dancer — Lord
Willougliby de Brooke's opinion of Fallible — Boys and Girls
entered to Hounds — Visit of H.R.H. Princess Beatrice of Batten-
berg — Death of Sir Thomas Whichcote and Mourning for H.R.H.
the Duke of Clarence — A Burst from Coston Covert — Old Farewell
gives Frank a Fall — Lord Lonsdale saves Mr. Pidcock's Life —
Father O'Flynn^the Grand National Steeplechase Winner — Vigilant
wins a Chase for Gillard at Melton — Funeral of Mr. J. Nicholas
Charlton — The young Hound Tapster and his End — Good Gallops
in November, one voted the best seen in three years — A Record
Stop for Frost — A Hunt in Freeby Church for a Fox — A Nine-Mile
Point in the Fog from Aslackby to Weaver's Lodge — A Race from
Staunton Thorns to Normanton Covert — The best Run Gillard ever
saw — The Rain Register in a dry March — Lenton Brook — Two
Runs into Haconby Fen 1865 and 1893,

^O the regi'et of
all sportsmen, the
noble master of
the Belvoh' found it
necessary to hunt his
hounds four instead of
five days a week. As
the saying is, " Needs must when the devil drives " ;
and the devils to drive this stage were the de-

The Hunt Special.

244 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

preciation in value of the ancestral acres owing to
agricultural depression. The noble owners of
Belvoir had hunted a vast country in the most
liberal way for so long a time, and maintaining
the prestige of the Belvoir, benefited every hunt
in England through what may be termed a national
pack. The strength of the kennel remained the
same, being still three packs, made up of sixty-two
couple.

A capital hunting song was composed and sung
by a local sportsman, marking the change in the
number of hunting days, the following being a
couple of verses.

Let us stroll to the kennels that lie in the grounds

Of good old Belvoir.
To talk with Frank Gillard and look at his hounds —

The good old Belvoir.
How deep is each che'st, how strong is each thigh,
How broad is each muzzle, how gentle each eye ;
But see them from Sherbrooke's across the vale fly, —

Good old Belvoir.

Then, hey, tally-ho ! a-hunting we'll go, but not Monday

next week ;
On Saturday, too, you may ride the vale thro"*, but

Gillard in vain you'll seek ;
From South Notts to Cottesmore, from Lincoln to Quorn,
You my hearken in vain for the sound of the horn.
Each fortnight from Friday till Tuesday's morn.
The hounds grow sleek.

That Gillard thought the world of Gambler
and also of old Glancer, sons of Weathergage, is

SEASON 1891-92 245

proved by the fact that there were three stalhon
hounds by Glancer, namely Rupert, Narrator, and
Nobleman. Six by Gambler in the following : —
Nominal, Galloper, Dryden, Graphic, Grasper, and
Gordon. Glancer himself was drafted, but old
Gambler was still in office with sixty consorts sent
to him in this his eighth season.

The entry numbered seventeen couple, seven
and a half of dogs to nine and a half of bitches, and
good judges pronounced them the best "put on"
in the last five years. Of these Gambler was the
sire of five couple, namely, Buxom, Brave, Damper,
Dalesman, Guardsman, Galloper, Gracious, Guile-
some, Regulus, and Racquet. Pirate, in great
demand for other kennels, had three couple "put
on " — Careless, Prodigal, Plaintiff, Painter, Rocket,
and Daphne. The beautiful Shamrock came out
strong, and a great sort he was, being by Dash-
wood son of Founder son of FaUible, who was
the son of Fitzwilliam Furrier. Of FaUible, Lord
Willoughby de Brooke said in a letter to Gillard,
dated from Warwick, IVIarch 20th, 1888, " I think
Fallible the best dog in England, and I have been
to nearly every kennel. He is far superior to
Melton Spanker. I am in the position of one, as
it were, forming a new pack. I find I can get
quahty nowhere except from you and Brocklesby."
Others who subscribed to Fallible's work were the
Duke of Grafton, who sent Frank Beers to try and
buy him, the price mentioned being £500. Old
George Carter, when he came to look at Fallible,
the son of his champion dog Furrier, said, " If you

246 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

will let me have the young dog I will walk all the
way back to Peterborough with him ; I won't risk
taking him by train."

The dam of Shamrock was Symbol by Traitor,
son of Cottesmore Prodigal, whom we have men-
tioned in a previous chapter. The dam of Symbol
was Speedwell, by Woodman brother of Warrior
the sire of Weathergage. The young Shamrocks
this season out of Diligent the daughter of Grafton
Dancer and Gamestress by Weathergage were
Druid, Daphne, Dahlia, and Dowager. All the
entry were by home sires excepting two and a half
couple by Rufford Dancer, who was poor Mr,
Harvey Bayley's Cup puppy during his last season,
and he was by Galliard, who had Belvoir blood in
his veins. Their dam was Specious the daughter
of Fallible and Special. Special was the daughter
of Spinster, a sterling good bitch who worked in
the kennels until she was twelve years old. She
was the daughter of Syren, who belonged to Mr.
George Lane Fox, who said that " Syren ran at
the head of my pack until she was thirteen ; the
breed is everlasting and never tires." With such
blood in their veins it was not to be wondered that
the litter by RufFord Dancer and Specious were an
exceptional lot, their names being Dancer, Dolphin,
Donovan, Danger, and Durity. Gillard used to
say of them, " They are a most valuable new strain,
and perfect in their work. On more than one
occasion I saw Donovan, Dolphin, and Dancer all
together at the head of the pack, and all speaking
to the line on cold scenting plough. Donovan was

SEASON 1891-92 247

the hardest runner and best jumper in the pack — he
would sweep over everythhig in chase ; such a
driver too, with beautiful nose and voice, both of
which he used to the best advantage."

The two new whips this season were Bob
Cotesworth and Fred Powell from the north of
England. A whole batch of young people were
duly blooded by Gillard, and entered to hounds
during the cubbing time ; they were the Master
Amcotts, two little fellows wearing scarlet frocks
made from their father's old pink coat ; the Hon.
Brownlow Cecil, home for the hohdays, now the
Marquis of Exeter ; also the daughter of Captain
Thorold of Boothby, Miss Marguerite, now the
Hon. Mrs. Maurice Gilford ; INIiss K. Hodgson ;
and INIiss Victoria Heathcote, the youngest of a
sporting quintette of sisters who all hunted together
from Newton Hall.

On December 9th a large field assembled at
Croxton Park to welcome H.E..H. the Princess
Beatrice of Battenberg, who drove in an open
carriage with the Duchess of Rutland, and Gillard,
mounted on old Farewell, had the pleasure of point-
ing out the hounds to her.

During the season sport was stopped twenty-
four days for frost and death, another link being
severed with the past when Sir Thomas Whichcote,
the seventh baronet and mighty hunter, went to
his long rest. The untimely death, also, of the
Duke of Clarence and Avondale cast a gloom over
the season, for the sight of a Leicestershire field of
some three hundred horsemen all clad in black

248 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

struck a chill to the heart of all who rode with
hounds. Such skeletons at our feasts are a whole-
some reminder that our scene on the stage of life
is but a short one.

The best day of the season was February 10th,
after meeting at Croxton Park, a regular Bel voir
burst resulting from Coston Covert. "According
to our usual plan, I sounded my horn instead of
putting hounds in covert, thus rousing a fine fox,
who went away, bold as a Uon, to Bob Knott's
musical halloa. Clapping the pack on his line,
they ran with a rattle to the left of Woodwell
Head, past Crown Point, and forward to Gunby
Gorse, which was reached in twelve minutes. We
were not very long here before hounds showed us
a line away, and ran at a reduced pace to Gunby
Warren, where they marked to ground in a stone
quarry — time, twenty-five minutes in all. We had
a monster field, who meant riding hard ; but I
never saw hounds make such an example of them,
for they always had the lead, and I never saw so
many dirty coats at the finish — my own included.
The good horse I was riding, old Farewell by
Ripponden, was trapped in one of those deep,
narrow Gunby ditches completely hidden by silvery
grass, which grows rankly in this district. Poor
fellow, he fell on his head, all but breaking his
neck, which was twisted for many a day after-
wards ! JVIajor Amcotts was nearest to me until
he fell near the finish when jumping into a muddy
lane. Amongst others who had the best of this
fine gallop were Lord Lonsdale, Lord Drumlanrig,

SEASON 1891-92 249

Colonel the Hon. H. H. Forester, Captain Blair,
Captain Lee Barber, and the Rev. J. P. Seabrooke."
A trappy fence caught JNIr. Pidcock, lying in
great peril under his horse, who threatened any
moment to kick his brains out. Lord Lonsdale
averted a bad accident by promptly whipping his
own saddle off, putting it round the head of the
prostrate rider, whose struggling horse at once
cut the panels to pieces with his iron heels, show-
ing how near a miss for a fatal accident it had
been. The mended saddle Lord Lonsdale after-
wards sent as a present to Mr. Pidcock ! In this
good gallop the veteran of the hunt. Colonel the
Hon. H. H. Forester, was amongst those who
registered a fall.

During the season two or three unlucky falls
laid Gillard by, and in his absence Bob Cotesworth
was successful in showing sport, learning much
that was useful to him when he subsequently
became huntsman to a pack of hounds in Hertford-
shire.

JNluch more of the lion than the lamb character-
ised the debut of INIarch, the scene being semi-
Siberian, and the atmosphere almost Arctic ; but
in spite of this a good forty minutes was scored in
the Vale of Belvoir on the 3rd. On the following
Saturday, when hounds met at Piper Hole and
snow fell at intervals, a rare good fox left Sher-
brooke's Covert, and raced without a check to
Little Belvoir in fourteen minutes, from there
giving a ten-mile point all down wind to Cossing-
ton Gorse in the Quorn country, the distance

250 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

being covered in seventy minutes, a sufficient
tribute to the pace and dash of the beautiful Bel-
voir blood. Those who saw the best of this gallop
were Lord Edward Manners, Major Amcotts, Mr.
de Winton, INIr. V. Hemery, and the Rev. J. P.
Seabrooke.

The result of the Grand National Steeplechase
this year came as a distinct honour to Leicester-
shire, for Father O'Flynn was trained at INIelton
INIowbray, and his owner, Mr. Gordon Wilson, was
one of the foremost of the fox-catching division.
Whilst talking of steeplechasing, which always
usurps hunting interests in the spring of the year,
we are reminded that Gillard won for the second
year in succession a good chase at JNIelton with
Vigilant. A speedy mare bought for hunting, she
had a trick of putting her rider down the moment
a leg was thrown across the saddle, so her attention
was turned to chasing, where her fine turn of speed
won a few nice stakes for the Belvoir huntsman.

The sport seen during April savoured of straw
hats, white waistcoats, cloudless skies, dusty fallows,
and intense heat, but the season finished at Stathern
Point on the 17th in a whirling snowstorm.

The number of hunting days was 86, the number
of foxes killed 87, with 44 marked to ground.

Season 1892-93

It fell to Frank Gillard's lot to attend the
funerals of many members of the hunt as a last
mark of respect. His greeting as he joined the sad

col

^O

1^ ^

/.

55
O

H

o

SEASON 1892-93 253

procession was characteristic, " This is a sorry meet,
sir ! " On one occasion only, and that in the
summer of '92, did he attend such a ceremony in
scarlet, the funeral of Mr. Nicolas John Charlton,
of Chilwell Hall, Notts. It will be remembered
by those who were there as one of the most
picturesque and touching sights they ever witnessed.
The coffin, covered with a scarlet cloth, was con-
veyed in a farm waggon drawn by a white horse,
the sides of the vehicle being decked with blooming
gorse. Upon the coffin, which bore a large number
of wreaths made of flowers and gorse, the deceased's
hunting-whip and spurs were placed, and he was
carried to his last resting-place in the green and
leafy churchyard of Attenborough by fifteen hunt
servants in scarlet, representative of the Belvoir,
Quorn, Rufford, South Notts, and Badsworth
kennels.

Mange was an evil that had to be reckoned with
this season, as many as five litters of cubs being
destroyed in the home coverts. The best of the
entry this season were Harlequin, Noble, Phillis,
Sensitive, Skilful, Tapster, Trueman, and Tempest.
Perhaps of these, the hound that eventually did
the pack most good was Tapster by Pirate —
Twinkle. He greatly pleased Will Dale, who came
with Lord Yarborough from Brocklesby to enjoy
a morning's cub-hunting, and was not slow to note
Tapster in his work. Poor fellow, he met his fate
in 1897, being run over on the hue at Ancaster
Station, where he had returned to meet "the
special," which was then an institution.

254 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Two good days' sport occurred on November
9th and 10th, the first being from Brentingby
Spinney, commencing at hunting pace but ending
with a race down to Melton brook. During the
run much disaster occurred, Lord Lonsdale and
Lord William IManners getting in the brook, whilst
JNlrs. Sloane Stanley was dragged out of the saddle
through her habit catching on a fence. The pace
was fast by Scalford round to Old HiUs, ending
with slow hunting to Piper Hole Gorse, where the
late hour made it necessary to whip off. One of
the few who remained to the finish was Mrs.
Hildyard of lawn tennis fame.

The next day an excellent hunting run started
from Boothby Little Wood over a fine line of country
by Ingoldsby, Osgodby, and Irnham, as if the point
was Aslackby forest. This good fox then twisted
back down the valley to Lenton, where hounds
unfortunately got off the line, and were stopped at
dusk in a meadow known as Paradise by Ingoldsby.
Those to the front in this fine run were the Rev.
J. P. Seabrooke, IMr. E. Long, Mr. James Rudkin ;
and the ladies who stayed to the finish were Mrs.
E. Lubbock, Mrs. C. J. Philhps, the four Miss
Heathcotes, and Miss K. Carter. The run fox was
viewed by INIr. James Hoyes as he rode home-
wards, and he opinioned, " he was so tired he had
only five minutes more run left in him."

Capital sport was enjoyed during November, a
good finale to a nice hunt of an hour from Newton
Gorse to Folkingham Little Covert being the
presentation of two brushes to two young ladies

SEASON 1892-93 255

wearing their hair down, and riding ponies, Miss K.
Hodgson and IVIiss Victoria Heathcote.

A run voted the " best seen in three seasons," a
nine-mile point from Harby to Staunton, came off
on the 14th of December. The cream of the
gallop was up to Jericho, which was reached in
twenty minutes, the full time to the finish at
AUington being one hour and a half. The leading
division were Mr. W. de Winton, Mr. James
Hutchinson, IMr. V. Hemery, Mr. E. Lubbock, Mr.
Noel Fenwick, IMr. Basil Cochrane, Mr. Gordon
Wilson, JNIr. T. Hutchinson and Mr. J. Brewster,
whilst Mr. Grey Fullerton and Bob Cotesworth
fell at wire. The plough lands by Jericho were
very deep after the frost, so that a check was wel-
comed, for the little Belvoir bitches had the foot
of horses all the way. When Bob Knott signalled
the fox away on the Staunton side, those who kept
closest to hounds were Lord Lonsdale, the Hon.
L. Lowther, Captain Burns, and Mr. Gardner
Muir, many opinioning this to be the best run seen
in three years.

A cloudy sky and a mild moist air gave promise
of a scent lying on December 17th, when hounds
met at Three Queens, and they went away on the
back of their evening fox from Coston Covert with
a point for Wymondham. The pioneers of the
gallop were Captain Lee Barber riding a gray, JVIr.
Arthur Hutchinson, on his well -know cream-
coloured, with Gillard on old Farewell. Quickly
flew the golden minutes of pleasure as hounds
streaked across a sea of grass, and on reaching the

256 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

valley Gillard was laid low, INIiss K. Hodgson hav-
ing the pleasure of giving the lead over. The point
this good fox evidently intended was Sproxton
Thorns, but being headed he turned back to Coston,
and up to Waltham it was but slow hunting.
Reynard had evidently rested, for scent suddenly
became breast-high as hounds skimmed away over
the turf towards Chadwell, and it was a stern chase
for the field up to Goadby BuUmore, where a sheep
dog joined in and spoilt the finish. Time, seventy-
five minutes, and it only wanted a kill to make it
first-class.

A stop for frost of thirty-two days, beginning
December 24th, pretty well established a record
which no hunting man wishes to see beaten, but
when hounds started again on the 26th of January
they tapped a good vein of sport. A very large
crowd assembled at Croxton Park, and Ne^vman's
Gorse supplied the first fox, who ran by Waltham
Thorns to Freeby with the two visiting masters of
the day, Lord Lonsdale and Mr. Fernie, in close
attendance. The inevitable pastoral scourge, the
sporting sheep-dog, caused compUcations near to
Freeby, all trace of the hunted one vanishing in the
churchyard, so that the whipper-in entered the
sacred edifice in search of the fox. The evening
gallop from Melton Spinney was a regular steeple-
chase across a stiff hne of country to Bescaby Oaks,
with Lord Lonsdale, Lord Edward INIanners, Mr.
V. Hemery, and Mr. J. FuUerton riding as if between
the flags. On reaching the covert, hounds turned
their attention to a badger, which they killed.

SEASON 1892-93 257

A remarkable red - letter day resulted with
a straight-necked fox from Aslackby Wood on
February 3rd, who made a nine-mile point in one
hour and ten minutes before he surrendered his
brush by Weaver's Lodge. The day was very
foggy, so that only a fortunate half-dozen who got
away with hounds saw anything of this fine gallop,
the rest of the field, riding about for two hours,
were completely lost. The line hounds ran was by
Lenton to the left, away by Humby for Ropsley
nearly to the Hurn, turning to the right over
Haceby hollow, killing their fox handsomely on the
roadside by Weaver's Lodge. The fortunate few
who rode to them were JNIr. James Hutchinson,
Mr. Edgar Lubbock, INIr. F. A. Soames, Mr. T.
Heathcote, Miss Lucy Heath cote. Miss K. Carter,
Mons. Roy, Messrs. Casswell, and Messrs. Grum-
mitt. The brush of this good fox was presented to
Miss Carter, and a pad to Miss Heathcote.

A regular Belvoir burst occurred next day with
the third fox from Staunton Thorns, one of JNIr.
C. J. Phillips' coverts. Getting a good start, the
pack raced for a couple of miles across a stiff bit of
country to Normanton Little Covert. JNIr. E.
Lubbock, Mr. S. K. Marsland, JNIr. C. Hodgson,
and Mr. Brockton rode a regular steeplechase to
keep within touch of hounds, but Frank Gillard
managed to arrive at the covert fu-st, winning with
very httle to spare, and possibly the distance has
never been compassed in shorter time, or offered
anything more exciting whilst it lasted.

" I think the best of all the good gallops I ever

s

258 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

rode was on February 25tli this season," said Frank
Gillard. '' We went from Harby Covert to the
edge of Dalby Wood in forty-five minutes, eleven
miles — 1 measured on the map afterwards the way
hounds took." A fox was well found at Harby
Covert, and for fifteen minutes the pack raced as if
glued to his brush, taking a beautiful fine of country
by Hose Thorns and Sherbrooke's Covert. The
fences are big and strong, but the sound turf offers
the best take off, and the Rev. J. P. Seabrooke,
with Captain Barry, acted as excellent pilots up to
Holwell Mouth. As they galloped at topmost
pace down into the vale, the reverend gentleman
took a most awful cropper, and up the hill to Dalby
Wood the gray horse Macnab, who carried Gillard,
turned a complete somersault over a tall unyielding
fence. " Confound those lawyers," said Frank, as
he scrambled to his feet again, " I always call those
briery fences lawyers because they cling to you so ! "
Amongst the second division pegging along in this
brilliant gallop was Mr. Brockton and his daughter,
the latter going gallantly on an own brother to St.
Gatien, INIrs. Cook, riding a gray, INIr. C. Hodgson,
and Mr. Serecole. Being headed by a labourer,
this o'ood fox turned for Six Hills road, enter-

o

ing Saxelby Spinney, and here occurred the first
check in a gallop of forty minutes. Hunting care-
fully on to Grimstone Gorse, they turned back to
Saxelby Spinney with all the dash and vigour of
the start, and racing past Shoby, rolled their fox
over in the middle of a grass field near to Hoby in
Quorn domains. The field were the wrong side of

SEASON 1892-93 259

a big unjumpable drain at the finish, watching a
beaten fox die gamely, and so fierce were the pack
for blood after running one hour and forty minutes,
that they worried the brush and mask before any
one could get to them. Gillard remarked in his
diary, " I never saw hounds run more freely or fast
over a fine line of country with such unchecked,
unaltered pace."

During March the rain register was 0*63, none
falhng for a period of twenty days, comparing with
the ISlarch of 1878, 1880, and 1885. On the 10th
a nice spin resulted with an outlier viewed by
Humby Wood, and he went by Humby and
Ropsley, turning back to a well-known fox drain
made by JNIr. " Banker "' Hardy near to Ingoldsby.
Being ejected from his hiding-place, he made straight
for Lenton brook, and the first over was the top
weight, Mr. Joseph Wilders, riding a powerful bay
horse. Others who jumped the brook successfully
were Mr. E. Lubbock, the four Miss Heathcotes, Mr.
Measures, IMr. A. Pick, and INIr. Bernard Casswell.
Those who were unfortunate to get in were Mr.
T. Heathcote, Mr. S. K. Marsland, and the Rev.
J. P. Seabrooke, but there was plenty of time to
get out again, for the hunted one sought the refuge
of a rabbit warren on the opposite bank.

The experiences of March 17th, after meeting at
Keisby, revived the memories of a similar day's
sport, thirty years previous, when Cooper was
huntsman. The run on both occasions was down
to Haconby Fen, and Gillard had never followed a
fox there since the days he turned hounds to

260 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Cooper. Two gentlemen of the hunt who rode
both runs were Captain Cecil Thorold, who as a
boy remembered taking a fall, and Mr. James
Hutchinson, whose horse died four days afterwards
from the severity of the run. After marking to
ground we returned to Dunsby Wood, and there
encountered two garrulous old woodmen who had
a vivid recollection of the great run in December
1865, "and the sight of 'osses as never got 'ome
after it, though the gents dried the only public-
house by givin' their mounts an alarmin' sight of
beer." The distance of that great run was 17 miles
from point to point, the time being two hours and
forty-five minutes at a good holding pace without
much of a check. This stout fox was roused in
Ancaster Gorse, and ran by Welby Hazels, Ropsley,
Lenton, Laughton, crossing the London and Lincoln
road at the 103 mile -stone. Passing through
Rippingale, the father of Sir John Lawrance, Q.C.,
viewed him going for Haconby Fen. Cooper the
huntsman remarked that every hound but one was
up at the finish, including five couple of that year's
entry. Returning to the present, Frank fulfilled
the traditions of the past by whipping off at
Osgodby Coppice when it was dusk.

The number of hunting days this season was 100,
and 86 foxes and a badger killed, with .50 marks to
ground.

CHAPTER XVIII

Seasons 1893-94 and 1894-95

T~)ATES of commencing Cub -Hunting —
~ Hay — The Hounds Old Gambler,

Skylark^ the Daughter of Druid
— Too many Foxes killed in a
Morning — Sir George Whichcote
— The Hunt Honorary Secretary-
ship— Lord Lonsdale takes the
Mastership of the Quorn — Frank
Gillard's Contemporary Tom Firr
— The Old Hunt Horse
Oscar carries Miss Robinson
— Mr. Arthur Hutchinson,
Mayor of Grantham, and
^-^ ~At' *^® Meet at the Guild Hall

^ — The Fifteen-mile Stubton

The Heathcote Patent Safety. t, h^t ot-^at i j

Run, Mr. S. K. Marsland

presented with the Brush at the end of it — Mr. and Mrs. C. J.

Phillips' Coverts at Staunton — The Three Shire Bush — Mrs. Bend,

the Wife of the Earth-stopper, presented with a Brush— Two good

Days before the Frost — A good Run from Heathcote's Covert with

a Bobtail — Miss Gertrude Heathcote wins the Belvoir Hunt Red

Coat Race— The Heathcote Patent Safety Habit— The Entry 1894

— Mr. W. Theobald Maud on Canvas and in the Field — Death of

the Hound Nominal — The Revival of the Folkingham Meet and

a great Day's Sport — Lord Willoughby de Eresby presented with

the Brush — Pulpit Allusions — Bad Falls — Harry Maiden hunts

the Pack — The Duke of Rutland's seventy-sixth Birthday — The

long Frost — A good Run and Kill at Newton Hall — Another good

Run and Kill at Lenton Vicarage — The Melton Contingent.

262 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

An extract from Frank Gillard's diary gives the
dates he commenced cubbing from August 1870.
The autumn of 1874 was the earhest start on
record, after a blazing hot summer, and a conse-
quently early harvest, hounds commencing on the
12th of August. This season under consideration
was the second earhest, bracketed with 1884, as in
both years hounds commenced on August 21st.
During seven years from 1886 to 1892, which were
wet, the dates were respectively September 13th,
5th, 19th, 5th, 4th, 11th, and 8th, which clearly
proves how closely the interests of sport and agri-
culture are allied.

The drought and heat this year were excessive,
so that the hay crop entirely failed, and our hunters
were asked to eat a foreign importation from
America and Russia. As an example of the price
of Enghsh -grown hay for hunters, the order for the
Quorn stable was one hundred tons, for which one
thousand pounds was paid by Lord Lonsdale.
Hounds also suffered much from heat and thirst
when drawing thick covert, all the ponds and dykes
being dry or choked with black mud. The grass
land, too, was brown as the road, and of the same
consistency, so that stock were unusually trouble-
some in breaking fence, and cub-hunting operations
practically confined to walking exercise.

This season Fred Powell was promoted to first
whipper-in, the new hand being Harry Maiden from
the Linlithgow and Stirling — quick to turn hounds
and cheery as a blackbird. Old Gambler, the king
of the pack, in his twelfth year, stone deaf, otherwise

SEASON 1893-94 263

sound, received an honourable pension to roam about
the kennel precincts, enjoying a day's sport when the
fixtures were near home, and not in big woods.
Of the young hounds Gillard pointed with pride on
a cubbing morning to Skylark, walking at his horse's
heels carrying a cub's mask. She was the daughter
of that promising stud hound Druid (1890) the son
of Shamrock and Dihgent, pronounced by Mr.
Henry Chaplin, the Squire of Blankney, to be worth
£1000. What a grand fellow he was — symmetrical,
deep of girth, remarkable in neck and shoulders, even
in Belvoir kennel, nippy as a kitten, and good as
he looked. Unfortunately Druid died of inflamma-
tion this year, but he left five couple which were aU
considered good enough to " put on," viz. Captive,
Costly, Dinah, Gainer, Guidance, Monarch, Render,
Romeo, Regal, and Skylark.

A useful morning's work resulted at Leadenham,
though Frank remarked in his diary, " we killed too
many foxes, two and a half brace." The late duke
would always grumble when he heard of more than
a leash being killed in any one day's work, and
Gillard stood true to old precedent. A brace were
first killed in Leadenham Hill -top Covert, and
another in California Covert, the fourth being a fine
old dog-fox quite eight years of age, and the last a
green cub started from Tiger Holt. Strange to say,
in his hurry to bolt through the first fence, he ran
his nose against a big flat stone with such force that
his neck was broken, and hounds had only to eat
him up.

At Aswarby this season a new squire reigned.

264 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Sir George A^^hiehcote, nephew to the late Sir
Thomas Whichcote, "a father of the hunt"; and
the young baronet, true to his breeding, showed that
" fox-hunting was the foremost passion of his heart."
A change too came in the Honorary Secretaryship of
the Hunt, which had been so ably undertaken for
many seasons by Mr. James Hutchinson, who re-
tired, and was succeeded by Mr. Charles Parker, the
grandson of Mr. " Banker " Hardy, who in his time
acted in the same capacity to the hunt. Amongst
changes with the neighbouring packs, the most
important was the appointment of Lord Lonsdale
to the mastership of the Quorn, Gillard and a strong
Belvoir contingent throwing in their lot at Kirby
Gate on the opening day. Tom Firr carried the
horn and started his twenty-third season huntsman
to the Quorn, Gillard exceeding him by one year
with the Belvoir.

Certainly the season 1893-94 was ushered in at
Kirby Gate by a splendid pageant, and the eyes of
the whole fox-hunting world were centred upon it.
The occasion was Frank's first visit to Kirby Gate
since he carried the horn for the Quorn in 1869 ;
but they did not carry silver whistles and hunting
hatchets in those days !

December 20th was the wettest day of the
season, but the small field that met hounds at
Croxton Park scored quite a nice hunt. IVIelton
Spinney, the first draw, responded to the call,
hounds getting away with a fox down wind to the
Scalford Brook. The lead over was given by
Gillard, riding Farewell, who took it in his stride

SEASON 1893-94 ^65

regularly every Wednesday during the season. Mr.
V. Hemery on King Charles was next, followed by
JMiss Miriam Barlow on her clever black cob, Mr.
Ernest Long on a bay, and his wife riding that
wonderful performer Game Cock. Then the stream
as usual was quickly dammed by strugghng horses
and riders.

Talking of horses brought to mind a sharp little
bay, with always a leg to spare, named Oscar, who
carried Gillard well for many seasons, and when he
was drafted from the hunt stables, went to carry
one of our accomplished lady riders. "Miss
Robinson learnt to go to hounds on Oscar," said
Frank ; " directly I blew my horn the old horse
knew me ; he would collar his bit and come close
after me, so that several times I had to ride hard
to escape being jumped on."

A memorable meet this season was that of
December 26th, at the Guild Hall, Grantham, on
Boxing Day, by special invitation from the fox-
hunting mayor, Mr. Arthur Hutchinson. To
Lord John JVIanners, the present Duke of Rutland,
belongs the credit of being the first to plead for
the establishment of national holidays, anticipating
Sir John Lubbock in this respect, so that it was
only to be expected that his superb pack of
hounds should accept the invitation to give a
Bank Holiday crowd so healthy and inspiriting a
spectacle. A fox quickly roused in Harrowby
Gorse gave a nice spin to Abney Wood, in full
view of the assembled crowd, and it was remarked
that thirty -eight falls were registered, including

^66 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

one taken by his Worshipful the JNIayor off the
gray mare.

A long spell of ill luck in the Lincolnshire vale
was broken on January 23rd, when hounds scored
the red-letter day of the season after meeting at
Caythorpe. The air was crisp, with a sharp catch
of frost, and the ground did not really ride until
midday. A visit was first paid to the Beacon,
from which covert Mr. R. Bemrose viewed a fox
away which gave a nice hunting run to Hough
Gorse ; but the run which put into the shade all
other performances was that of the afternoon. By
consulting the map it will be seen that it took
the form of a big loop, measuring 15 miles from
Stubton Rookery nearly to Brandon, out round
Brant Broughton, the farthest point, back by
Beeckingham to Stubton Coverts, where they
marked to ground, bolted, and killed him. It is
a big country to ride, and the pace too that hounds
travelled was sufficient to try the best horses in
this run of one hour and twenty -five minutes.
Gillard, on a clever old roan mare, piloted the
way, whilst in the vanguard Mr. and Mrs. Edgar
Lubbock, Lord Edward Manners, Mr. F. A.
Soames, Mr. F. Worsley, INIr. S. K. Marsland,
My. J. Hutchinson, Mr. A. Hutchinson, Mr. F.
Parker, the three brothers Rudkin, and Mr. R.
Dowse with Powell were conspicuous. Grief and
disaster there was all along the line, the river
Brant coming twice into the run, but at the finish
Lord Edward Manners presented the brush to Mr.
INIarsland, who well deserved the honour, having

SEASON 1893-94

267

gone gallantly on the old chestnut Alabaster. It
was a great hound performance, for they never
wanted touching the whole time, and there was
only one sUght check at Brandon, where the fox
had run the road.

The coverts round Staunton Hall were a great

KiRBY Gate, 1893.
1. Frank Gillard. 2. Tom FiiT. 3. The Hon. Mrs. L. liOwther. 4. The Hon. L.

Lowther. 5. Capt. T. Boyce. 6. Mr. A. V. Pryor. 7. Lord Lonsdale, M.F.H.
8 and 9. Mr. and Mrs. James Hornsby.

stronghold this season under the guardianship of
Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Philhps. Sir Walter Scott has
immortalised Staunton Hall, the old fifteenth
century house, in his novel The Heart of
Midlothian, when he makes Jeanie Deans come
there after leaving the shelter of Jericho Covert —
the latter is good fox ground on the arch of the
Great Northern Railway tunnel. A very interest-

268 HUNTING REIMINISCENCES

ing covert, too, is Cottam Thorns, marked on the
map as the Three Shire Bush, because the three
shires of Nottingham, Leicester, and Lincohi meet
there. Half a century ago the spot was the scene
of many a prize-fight, and the shire drain hard by
is a deep sepulchral trench dug by the ancients to
map out the border of the two counties. The
custodian, too, of the neighbouring Normanton
Coverts was quite a character, Mrs. Bend, the wife of
the earth-stopper, who also combined rat-catching
as a profession. This good lady was a keen
follower of the chase, driving about in a pony-cart,
delighting to give a shrill view halloa when she
viewed a fox away. Gillard took the opportunity
to blood her with the brush one day when up at
the finish. " I could not make her face much
prettier, for she carried a good colour," Frank
gallantly remarked.

Two good days' sport preceded the stop that
came for frost in February. The first of these was
on Wednesday, 14th, after assembling at Croxton
Park. A fox set going from Coston Covert headed
for Wymondham over a grand line of country, and
those nearest to hounds were Mr. V. Hemery, the
Duke of Marlborough, Captain Standish, INIr. A.
Brocklehurst, the Rev. J. P. Seabrooke and JMr.
F. Crawley, the two latter registering heavy falls
during the run. With a good holding scent
hounds raced their fox to Stapleford, where he was
hallooed by navvies who turned him. A forward
cast by Garthorpe recovered the line across to
Freeby Wood, and getting on better terms again,

SEASON 1893-94 269

hounds raced their hardest to Waltham Thorns,
where they effected a kill. The afternoon gallop
of forty-five minutes was even better, the line from
Brentingby Wood to the Waltliam Spire being a
most inviting one. Those nearest to hounds were
Lord and Lady Henry Bentinck, the Duke of Marl-
borough, Mr. W. Lawson, ^Ir. JMuir, Mrs. Lubbock,
Miss Parker, JMr. Holland, and JNIr. Fenwick.

On the 16th a nice run is recorded on the
Lincolnshire side, the best part of it being by
Lenton Pastures, with Mr. Edgar Lubbock, Mr. F.
Crawley, and Mrs. Royds leading. Leaving Lenton
village on the left hand, the pack swung down the
line of grass fields to the brook, Mr. F. Soames
being first over with Snowflake, followed by JNIiss
Emily Heathcote, who got the right side with a
fall. Others followed, more left it alone, and some
got in, including Gillard, who parted company with
his horse.

A capital day's sport was enjoyed in March with
a bob-tailed fox started from Folkingham Little
Gorse, the Heathcote family fox covert ; hounds
rattling along over a charming country out by
Birthorpe and Sempringham, finally kilhng by
Aslackby after a pretty gallop of fifty minutes.
The brush, which was no bigger than a sheep's tail,
was presented to Mrs. E. Long, and the mask,
covered with old scars won in marauding and
courting excursions, went to Mr. Frank Heathcote,
who had gone gallantly on a hireling.

The name of Heathcote was to the fore, as well
it might be with a family of seven hunting from

270 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Newton Hall. At the finish of the season Miss
Gertrude revived the memories of old Sir Gilbert
Heathcote's colours by winning the Belvoir Hunt
Red Coat Race with her good horse "Bob,"
ridden by IMr. V. Hemery. Her eldest sister Miss
Lucy invented and patented a safety skirt which is
called "the Heathcote Patent Safety," and being
the outcome of much experience across country, it
has proved its worth.

Taken altogether, it was not a good scenting
season, though an open one, hunting only being
prevented on 13 days. The number of hunting
days was 120. Foxes killed, 101 ; marked to
ground, 49.

Season 1894-95

This season's entry was fourteen couple, and by
experts the young dog hounds were pronounced
the best seen in the famous kennel for twenty years.
The entry was entirely made up by home sires, as
follows : two couple by Gambler, the same number
by Druid (1891), and two and a half by Wonder
(1890), three couple by Donovan (1891) son of
RufFord Dancer, one and a half couple by his
brother Dolphin (1888), two couple by Hermit
(1890) son of Grove Harkaway, and by Nominal,
Prodigal (1890), and Valiant (1890), each a single
hound. Hermit's one family from Vanquish, a
daughter of Nominal, were the best of a good lot
containing two dogs Vanquisher and Vaulter, two
ladies Vigilant and Varnish, the Belvoir tan showing
richly on their shapely forms. Another beautiful

SEASON 1894-95 271

family was that of Donovan's, from Royalty a
daughter of Glancer, viz. Rebel, Regent, and
Rueful, and by those whose judgment is never
much at fault Rebel was considered one of the
truest -shaped dogs ever seen. Two very strik-
ing young dogs, almost unbroken in colouring,
were the couple by Shamrock from Diligent by
Grafton Dancer, by name Donegal and Deemster,
another couple by the same sire from Rampish by
Gameboy were Rusticus and Ransack. Those by
Wonder were Welbeck and Wrestler. Of the
ladies perhaps the best was Novehst by Nominal ;
she stood magnificently, and had a strong sym-
metrical frame. Druid was represented by Dulcimer
and Density, Wonder had a daughter Decimal,
Gambler a couple of daughters Gravity and
Gossamer.

The hunt was immortalised by a large picture
of a meet at Rauceby Hall, painted by ]\Ir. W.
Theobald Maud, the distinguished war correspondent
and artist to the Chmpkic. Lincolnshire bred and
born, he was one of the keenest bitten for sport,
thrusting along after hounds, taking falls with the
greatest equanimity.

On a morning in October, wlien a rich pea-soup
fog enshrouded London, nothing worse than a
white mist hung about the Harby Hills waiting for
the sun to melt it away. Hounds, after rousing
the echoes in Piper Hole Gorse, were marking
to ground, with old Nominal leading the pack as
usual. Tumbling over one another in their eager-
ness to get hold of the cub, they jammed

272 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Nominal in the earth, and a quarrelsome hound
seizing him was the signal for all to worry before
help could arrive. Poor Nominal was sent home
by train with a whipper-in, but died in kennels that
night, and the culprit was drafted to the United
States of America.

A capital day's sport was enjoyed after meeting
at Hose Grange on November 17th, and GiUard
remarks : " I never knew hounds run better."
After finding in Hose Thorns the pack went away
over Penn Hill, turning to Sherbrooke's Covert,
running a ring back, making a good finish by
killing their fox handsomely. Over the Smite
Mr. Cecil Grenfell gave the lead, and but very few
struggled to the end — these including Mr. Edgar
Lubbock, riding that good mare Carlton, ]Mr.
Guy Fenwick, Mr. V. Hemery, Mr. de Winton.
Another really good hunt of over two hours was
that on the 21st, from Burbidge's Covert, a fox
running into Cottesmore country. After slow
hunting, a return was made to Burbidge's Covert,
and hounds getting on quick-scenting grass, fairly
raced over the flats by Burton, away for Great
Dalby and Ashby Pastures in Quorndom, where a
good fox saved his brush by getting to ground.
Those who saw the best of this fine gallop were
Lord Edward Manners, Mrs. E. Lubbock, Count
Zhrowski, Rev. J. P. Seabrooke, and Mr. W. Gale.

A meet in the market square of Folkingham on
23rd was a revival this season of an old fixture in
1805, when Shaw was huntsman, and Sir Gilbert
Heathcote lord of the manor of Folkingham.

SEASON 1894-95 273

Hounds assembled opposite the house of the
squire and his wife, Mrs. Thomas A. R. Heath-
cote, the day being a red-letter one for sport.
A summary of it is as follows : a nice hunting
run of an hour with the morning fox, a quick
dart middle day with fox No. 2, in the evening
forty minutes at racing pace and a kill in
the open. Sapperton Wood had been in great
form this season, and on this occasion supplied
the evening fox, who took the desired line of
country, first with a point for Hanby, then away
over the grass and Lenton brook to Ingoldsby
Wood. The brook, as usual, sifted out the field.
Mr. F. A. Soames on his chestnut horse Kedar
gave the lead, which was followed by Mr. E.
Lubbock, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, and the
Hon. Claude Willoughby de Eresby, the latter
losing his hat, finishing the run bareheaded. Mr.
T. A. Rudkin, the hard -riding vet., was one of
those who nicked in, and though encumbered with
a bag on his saddle full of blister bottles and lotion,
he rode at the brook and got the right side with a
fall, breaking all his bottles. Before this good fox
could reach his goal, Ingoldsby Wood, hounds
pulled him down in a stack-yard close by, after
giving forty minutes of the very best. To Lord
Willoughby the brush was presented by Gillard,
and to Miss Lucy and Emily Heathcote, each a
pad, the mask going to Mr. T. A. Rudkin. The
day did not end there, for the following Sunday
the vicar of Folkingham took for his text, " Evil
shall hunt the wicked," knowing that his congrega-

T

274 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

tion were red-hot on the subject of fox-huntmg,
cleverly bringing home a telling parable.

A good spin of something over an hour from
Buckminster, and a ring out to Gunby Gorse, was
attended with much disaster. Those nearest to
the pack up to Crown Point were Lord Edward
Manners, Lord Lonsdale, Major Charles Thorold,
Mrs. E. Lubbock, Mr. Gordon Wood, Mr. J.
Brewster, and Mr. Bowman. A heavy fall in-
capacitated Gillard during the run, though he
pluckily remounted and finished ; the Rev. J. P.
Seabrooke and Harry Maiden also came to grief in
the run. The next day Maiden had to hunt the
hounds, and he was so badly served by his horse
that he took two falls in seven minutes ; however,
he had the satisfaction of slaying a brace of foxes,
besides marking one to ground. The brush of one
of these, an old gray fox, was presented to Sir G.
Whichcote, who went well on his big gray horse.

On December 12th the Duke of Rutland cele-
brated his seventy-sixth birthday by joining the
larffe field that met hounds at Croxton Park, and
a good day's sport was experienced after a heavy
night's rain, which had filled the brooks and rivers
bank high. The first fox led the field gallantly,
and finished his career by drowning in the
river by Egerton Lodge, after he had sought
refuge in a greenhouse. Amongst those who had
the best of the good things the line of country had
to offer were Lord Edward Manners, Mr. G. P.
Evans (Master of the Cambridgeshire), Mr. Alfred
Brocklehurst, Mr. H. T. Barclay, Mr. V. Hemery,

SEASON 1894-95 275

Mr. C. Hodgson, Mr. Ricardo, Mr. R. Fenwick,
Mr. Foxhall Keene, Captain Rennie, and Mr. W.
Gale. The fox of the afternoon did his best to
drown the field, swimming the river Whissendine,
which had a flood tide. Three yomig subalterns,
who had evidently been practising swimming
their chargers, plunged boldly into the stream.
The horses got out of their depth or got caught
by a hidden wire, for all bobbed under and parted
company with their riders. Harry Maiden was
one of those not to be headed by cold water, and
it was bad luck for this band of hardy divers that
hounds checked on the opposite bank.

The fates were very unkind to the hunt staff,
for just before Christmas turned Gillard was again
incapacitated by a heavy fall, and Harry Maiden,
his first lieutenant, hunted hounds, though himself
sore and crippled, being credited with twenty-five
falls up to that time. The second whip, Fred
South, had extinguished his chances early in the
season by jumping into a stone-pit, so that Bob
Knott was looked to as the mainstay of the pack,
until he was knocked out of the saddle in a gate-
way.

Harry Maiden had the luck to score a gallop of
great excellence from Coston Covert to Gunby
Gorse on December 19th, the time being twenty-
five minutes. The line was about the best that
could possibly have been taken, and so quickly
were hounds away with their huntsman, that only
six lucky men got with them — Mr. Foxhall Keene,
Mr. Ricardo, Mr. V. Hemery, Mr. Tom Rudkin,

276 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

and My. W. Gale, whilst Mrs. W. Lawson was
the foremost lady.

During January and the whole of February we
experienced a frost of such duration and intensity
as had never been seen in this country since the
season 1860-61. Only four very doubtful days'
hunting were registered between December 30th
and March 1st. The first day out, hounds met at
Newton Bar, and two first-class hunting runs
resulted. After an uneventful morning a fox was
set going from Culverthorpe domains, giving a
good chase of fifty minutes to Newton Hall,
where he was killed on the lawn, and the brush
presented by Lord Edward Manners to Mrs.
Heathcote. The second gallop was from Sapper-
ton Wood with the evening fox, who again took
us the desirable line by Hanby, turning for the
grass down to Lenton brook. Mr. V. Hemery
gave the lead over on Shining River by Tiber,
followed by Mr. James Hutchinson, Mr. Soames,
and Mr. Cecil Rudkin — the bulk of field finding
an easier place by halving it at the ford. After
crossing the brook, we turned sharp to the left and
ran parallel with it below Lenton, where the pack
divided, some running into the Vicarage garden,
where they killed. Gillard with the others cast on
over the brook up to Osgodby, where they checked,
and it was a curious sight to see Ben Baxter, the
shoeing smith, riding up with the dead fox over
his shoulder, and the six couple who had effected
the kill at the vicarage. It was a good thirty -five
minutes and an excellent ride.

SEASON 1894-95

277

March this season was one of the wettest and
dirtiest months on record. Melton, as usual, was
very full for the wind up and the Leicestershire
chases. Amongst those who had house parties for
the occasion were Prince and Princess Henry of
Pless, the Duke of Marlborough, Mr. and Mrs.
W. Lawson, Captain and Mrs. Burns Hartopp,
Mr. and Mrs. de Winton, Mr. and Lady Augusta
Fane, Colonel and Mrs. Baldock, Mr. and Mrs.
Alfred Brocklehurst. At Croxton Park chases,
Gillard was the only one of the hunt staff off the
sick list able to keep the course and wear a tall hat.

The season, which finished on April 23rd, was a
short one of 87 days, and 98 foxes were killed ; 48
marked to ground.

/W»&W»«> Afr^rfy*/" /H-Uftrluticit M- f A, S.^

CHAPTER XIX

Season 1895-96

Stud Hounds at Belvoir Kennel — Gillard relating the Merits of each
Hound — The Families of Gambler^ Shamrock^ and Pirate com-
pared— Hard Ground — The Fox-hunter's Wedding — Opening Day
— The Buckminster to Edmonthorpe Gallop — Record Time — The
Pack and Huntsman's Horse — Another Buckminster to Woodwell
Head Gallop — Continued good Sport in Leicestershire and Lincoln-
shire during January — Retirement of the Duke of Rutland — The
Meeting of the Hunt in Grantham — The Hunt Committee — Frank
Gillard's last Leicestershire Day a brilliant one — A Kill in Ranks-
boro Gorse — The Horse Farewell — The number of Foxes killed

in twenty-six Seasons — Tlie new
Master, Sir Gilbert Greenall — A
Tribute to Gillard's Care of the
Pack — The Testimonial to the
retiring Huntsman — Sir William
E. Welby Gregory's Speech —
F'rank Gillard's Farewell.

THE concluding
chapter, like a
beautiful sunset,
necessarily has a tinge
of sadness, because it
brings us to the first
break in the mastership

Portrait of a Lady.

SEASON 1895-96 279

of the house of Manners, whose family pack the Bel-
voir had been smce its institution. Though the sun
certainly set and a new day began for the Belvoir, it
was full of reflected glory, " for when Frank Gillard
retired with his noble master the Duke of Rutland,
he left behind such a number of superb stud hounds
as has probably seldom if ever before been
assembled in this famous kennel. Some few —
very few — kennels in England may show you six
stallion hounds worthy of the title. Belvoir can
show you twenty." We are quoting the outside
opinion of so high an authority as Brooksby, who
goes on to say : " The wherewithal to strengthen a
pack, to maintain its bone, to improve the type of
its brood bitches, is to be found in quantity and
variety. It merely remains to ask yourself which
lines of blood you prefer. For instance, if that of
Weathergage and of Lord Henry Bentinck's Dori-
mont attract you, and it is an object to get in-
creased substance, how can you do better than
appeal to the massive and successful Valiant (1889) ?
If, again, you are not averse to that of Rufford
Dancer, how can you leave the notable brotherhood
of Dancer, Dolphin, and Donovan (1891) ? All
three have made their mark in many a kennel, but
the greatest of these is Donovan, who has worked
such wonders for the Grafton. If, again, you have
a fancy for the great Proctor— Struggler — Ruler —
Nelson family all are well proven, and their names
are respectively Prodigal, Painter, Pensioner, and
Tapster (1886). Prodigal has been most used at
home, but Tapster, a year younger, is, to the

280 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

ordinary observer, one of the most desirable and
magnificent stud hounds in the kennel. He should,
with proper opportunity and luck, be able almost
to build up a kennel of himself. Or would you aim
at breeding a second Dexter (1894), you will take
Watchman (1892), to give you the blood of
Weathergage and INIilton Solomon ; while to
obtain that of the Grove Harkaway upon that of
Fallible and Weathergage, you may turn to Harle-
quin (1891). Then there is Resolute (1894), a
third-season dog, a son of Dolphin (1891), and quite
one of the most beautiful hounds at Belvoir, his
dam being a daughter of Pirate ; Resolute should,
indeed, set any kennel on its legs. Donegal (1893),
a son of Shamrock (1887), being noticeable among
other good points for his immense depth of brisket.
Others that might do credit to any kennel are
Vanquisher (1893), by Hermit, Welbeck, and
Wrestler (1893), by Wonder. From such hounds
as Valiant, Donovan, Tapster, and Resolute I
should expect to lay in a store of brood bitches
such as might last for a decade to come ! "

One advantage breeders had when using Belvoir
sires was Gillard's way of relating the merit of
every particular hound — whether they drove, used
their tongues freely, or were good road hunters.
He had particular families in each line of duty, and
he recommended the Weathergages for both tongue
and drive, as he specially bred for the former quality
when he came to Belvoir and used Wonder
(1865), a hound with a beautiful note, and he was
the sire of Warrior (1870), the sire of Weathergage

SEASON 1895-96 281

(1876). The Belvoir kennel is one family bred out
into branches that are by no means remote from
the parent tree, and the Gamblers come first for
consideration. Apart from the well-known colours,
far-famed legs and feet, they have remarkable sub-
stance, power, and weight in proportion to their
height, and their ribs have a tendency to be deep
rather than round. All the Gambler stock are
rather a long hound, low and level, with immense
muscular development and bone, brainy -looking
heads, whilst in the field their characteristics are
thorough trustworthiness, pace, and extreme stout-
ness ; they can hunt as well as gallop. A pack of
hounds like the Belvoir, which have been bred for
nose and sterling hunting qualities, will cover more
ground in less time than the most galloping lot
without it. The Shamrocks, 1887, a family largely
used with the Gamblers, give us another type of
hound, all throwing strong family likeness into
their get. A very gay family this, with punishing-
looking heads, rare necks and shoulders, depth of
girth, with not quite the power of the Gamblers
behind. Their depth of girth makes them appear
a trifle light in their back ribs, till you see the
cause of the deception. Rare hounds all of them
are in their work ! and two grand matrons of the
sort are Dahlia and Daphne (1891).

Another group were the Pirates (1885). They
had not quite the Shamrock's length of neck or
quite the muscular development of the Gamblers,
but were a slashing powerful family, and fox-
catchers every inch of them. Prodigal and Painter

282 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

(1890) were two sons of Pirate. Gillard said,
'• Prodigal was a remarkable hound when a fox ran
the road, often setting the pack right on these
occasions."

This season, 1895-96, owing to the hard state of
the ground, which retained all its August con-
sistency right into the month of November, it was
found impossible to start in the shires until
IVIonday, November 11th. When we say that
scarcely a drain-pipe ran since the snows of the
previous spring melted, it is easy to realise how
hard the ground was, and how low was the stock
of surface water in ponds and dykes. Consequently
cubbing work was delayed, and one of the worst
for damage to hounds' feet. A pad of the first cub
killed, Gillard had mounted as a paper-knife, and
gracefully presented it to Miss Lucy Heathcote
on her marriage, September 12th, with the writer
of these pages. The wedding was from Newton
Hall, where a representative Belvoir following,
including the chaplain of the hunt, the Rev. J. P.
Seabrooke, and the huntsman, assisted at the cere-
mony. My. W. T. Maud being best man.

On the opening day, November 12th, good sport
was enjoyed from Fulbeck, for after a welcome
rain the plough lands in the vale carried a holding
scent, and hounds made the best use of it. The
little square covert. Parson's Thorns, held a fox of
the right sort, leading the way over the Leadenham
and Wellingore Vale to within a field of the famous
gorse. Then wheeling round past Broughton, he
crossed the river and made straight for Leadenham,

SEASON 1895-96 283

where he sought the shelter of a drain. A fox-
terrier bred by Gilkird, and the property of Mr.
J. Reeve, bolted, a kill being speedily effected after
a good hunt of fifty minutes.

By the last week in November most of the
forward division with hounds had registered a fall,
the greasy state of the going being held responsible
for so much tumbling about. Scent was very
moderate until December 2nd, when the ground
had somewhat settled, and hounds scored a fine
day's sport after meeting at Bottesford. "Unfor-
tunately," Gillard remarks in the diary, "it was
our first visit to Normanton little covert, for during
the cubbing time the ground was so hard it was
not safe to take hounds there. Consequently the
cubs clung to ' home, sweet home,' but after a lot
of ringing about we got one away over the river
Devon, and ended by marking to ground near
Orston. After that, Normanton big covert supplied
a fox which gave one of the fastest fifteen minutes
on record, ending with a mark to ground and kill
by Staunton. The Duke of Rutland was one of
the field on this occasion, riding his gray cob."

A red-letter day resulted after meeting at
Buckminster Hall on December 18th, and few
things are more enjoyable in life than to be with
the Belvoir when they run over the closely-fenced
meadows of their Melton country. A fox was
quickly on the move by the Hall, and ran straight
for Coston Covert, going hard all the way to save
his brush. Fortune and a quick look-out enabled
seven good men to get away with them, the rest

284 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

of the field having a stern chase. Nearest to
hounds, tliough never within half a field of them,
was William Gale, so well known between the
flags. Lord Charles Bentinck, Mr. de Winton, the
Rev. J. P. Seabrooke, Mr. Edgar Lubbock, Mr.
V. Hemery, Mr. H. T. Barclay, with Gillard and
his two lieutenants, Harry Maiden and Sam
Gillson. Hounds did not falter for a moment
as they streamed by Wymondham, but nearing
Woodwell Head they checked slightly, and gave
the crowd the first opportunity to catch their
leaders. The pack were soon away again in the
valley below Market Overton and Teigh, but at
Edmondthorpe the gallop was over. The time from
Buckminster Park to Woodwell Head was twenty-
three minutes, with another seventeen minutes to
the check at Edmondthorpe ; " the record " from
the first two points named is seventeen minutes,
which is pretty good proof of the excellence of the
gallop under consideration. The pack for the day
was 18 J couple of the big dog hounds, and the
horse that carried Gillard so well up to them was
" the Miner," a bay with always a leg to spare, a
big, bold jumper, but one who was "a bit nappy"
to ride. At the end of the season, when all the
hunt horses were sold, the Miner only fetched 12
guineas !

The next day we had a pretty bit of cross-
country work across by Irnham and Ingoldsby,
the gallop being led by Mr. Soames and Mr. E.
Lubbock, whilst of the lady division INIiss M.
Heathcote was to the front for the Belvoir, and

SEASON 1895-96 287

Lady Mary Willoughby, well carried by her good
gray, upholding the honours for the Cottesmore.
At the end of the day hounds killed a fox in a
barrel drain under the North Road by Stoke.
Nearly the whole pack followed and broke him up
in the drain, one hound afterwards bringing out
the mask and another the brush.

To start the new year with a red-letter day
augured well, and this was the luck of the Belvoir
after meeting at Croxton Park. The run was
nothing less than a repetition of the famous gallop
of December 18th from Buckminster. A hard-
riding field had as good a country as the heart
of man could wish, with the big dog pack again
streaming away over quick -scenting grass to
Woodwell Head. Only a small band of riders
were with them, and these included Lord Edward
Manners, the Rev. J. P. Seabrooke, Mr. and
Miss Musters, Mrs. Cecil Chaplin, Mr. and Miss
Hodgson, Mr. F. Worseley, Mons. Roy, Mr. Held-
mann, Captain Rennie, Mr. James Hutchinson, and
W. Gale.

Accounts agreed from all parts of the kingdom
in pronouncing the month of January this season a
good one for scent, so that long and straight runs
were the order of the day. The mercury stood for
an exceptionally long period phenomenally high,
frost did not interfere, and rain came latterly. In
the diary Gillard placed the mark of excellence
against the doings of the 1st, 10th, 11th, 14th,
15th, 17th, 20th, 25th, and 31st.

Referring to the incidents of the 11th, we find

288 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

that after meeting at Piper Hole it was the last
gallop from Old Hills which crowned the day. A
good fox led the field at a great pace nearly to
Scalford, turning to Melton Spinney, following the
brook to AVelby osier beds, where he got to ground
with fifteen couple up out of a pack of eighteen
and a half. This gallop of about an hour was very
fast, and tailed off the field, only Mr. Gordon
Canning and Mr. Chaplin, jun., being up at the
finish. Gillard lost both his whippers-in, and rode
back to kennels in the dark with only seven and
a half couple of hounds, but all the rest found
their way back to kennels during the night.

On the 17th the scene of the morning was
pounding across the vasty deep of fen plough-land
country, which carried a good holding scent, a fox
leading us from Aswarby domains round by Sem-
pringham and Helpringham, where he got to
ground, but, when bolted, gave another ring over
much the same country, beating us at the finish,
after a hunt of one hour and forty minutes. The
leaders of this fen -land hunt were two sturdy
yeomen, products of Lincolnshire soil — Mr. Dickens,
riding his wonderful yellow cob, and Mr. Cecil
Rudkin. The run of the evening, from Spanby
Corse, by Folkingham and Walcott, a fine line
of hunting country, to Newton, finishing at
Osbournby, was a far better performance, and
offered an excellent ride. Those of the lady
division who enjoyed this fine gallop were Mrs.
Cuthbert Bradley, the four Miss Heathcotes, and
INIiss Laura Wilson. It will always stand out as

SEASON 1895-96 289

one of the finest and truest days of hound work,
the big dog pack hunting most persistently with
only a moderate scent, although they were the
same hounds which had scored the fastest gallops
over Leicestershire. It was moonlight when they
whipped off, and the distance back to kennels was
eighteen miles.

On the last day of the month a fine hunting
run in the shape of the figure 8 was started
from Sapperton Wood, making Ingoldsby Wood
the centre and Grimsthorpe Park the farthest
point. The line was chiefly on grass, and measured
fourteen miles, with the far-famed Lenton brook
coming in the outward journey. Those who had
the best of this fine gallop were Lord Edward
Manners, Mr. J. E. Piatt, Mr. C. Hodgson, Mr.
V. Hemery, Mr. F. A. Soames, the Miss Heath-
cotes, IMr. F. Sell wind, Mr. Gibson, and Mr.
H. Timson.

The all-absorbing event of this season, and one
which claimed the attention of the whole hunting
world, was the retirement of the seventh Duke of
Rutland from the mastership of his family pack.
It is said, " Happy is the nation that has no history,"
and this also applies to the fox-hunting community,
for the fewer the changes the greater the chance
of success. The Belvoir had been most fortunate
both in masters and huntsmen, the house of
Manners providing sport for over two centuries to
the dwellers of Leicestershire and Lincolnshire,
with only seven huntsmen in their service from
1790 to 1896. The retirement, therefore, of the

u

290 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

Duke of Rutland meant a disruption of associations
which existed since fox-hunting commenced. Up
to this time it was a remnant of that powerful
splendour which enabled the old feudal lords to
carry into battle their own followers, and to keep
a troop of armed cavaliers always ready under
their own roof. When the necessity for this
ceased, fox-hunting sprang into life, ancient history
recording that in the reign of James I. the owners
of Belvoir Castle displayed sporting proclivities,
amusing the merry monarch. The earliest hounds
at Belvoir are supposed to have been kept to
hunt deer in the forests around, and a painting
still exists of them hunting a stag in the year 1689,
in the time of the tenth earl, the first Duke of
Rutland. Foxhound lists and pedigrees were first
kept at the kennels about 1750.

A meeting was called in Grantham on February
27th by Lord Brownlow, Lord -Lieutenant of
Lincolnshire, to express regret at the retirement
of the Duke of Rutland from the Mastership, and
consider how the country could best avail itself of
his Grace's offer to lend the hounds and kennel.
The following committee was formed, representative
of the good sportsmen, covert-owners, and farmers
who resided in his Grace's kingdom, to consider
the offers of candidates for the mastership : —
Colonel Mildmay Willson, C.B., Mr. Edgar Lub-
bock, Mr. Montague Thorold, Lord Willoughy de
Eresby, M.P., Mr. Thomas A. R. Heathcote,
Lord Edward Manners, M.P., Mr. John Welby,
Mr. A. V. Pry or, Major Paynter, Mr. Charles

SEASON 1895-96 291

Welby, Major W. Longstaffe, Sir George Which-
cote, Colonel Forester, Sir Hugh Cholmeley, Mr.
T. Hutchinson, JNIr. H. B. Minta, Mr. Cecil Rud-
kin, Mr. T. Hack, Mr. J. Hoyes, and the lion, sec,
Mr. Charles Parker.

Except for this one sad incident, the season,
being wonderfully open, was excellent for sport,
bringing more than an average number of red-
letter days. All the Leicestershire packs wound
up their season unusually early, not one of them
hunting an April fox, owing to the hard season's
work and early spring. It would be difficult to
find the record of a more brilliant gallop than that
which fell to the lot of the Belvoir on March 25th,
being a run of one hour and twenty minutes from
Burbidge's Covert, ending with a kill in Ranksboro
Gorse. By all it was acknowledged a fine per-
formance on the part of hounds and huntsman,
and the field on this occasion was a most distin-
guished one, including Lord Edward Manners,
M.P., in command. Lord Lonsdale, Master of the
Quorn, Mr. W. Baird, Master of the Cottesmore,
Mr. Austin Mackenzie, Master of the Woodland
Pytchley, Mr. Gordon Canning, late Master of the
Ledbury, The Hon. Lancelot Lowther, Lord Cecil
Manners, Lord Robert Manners, Sir Gilbert
Greenall, Mr. Cyril Greenall, Captain Richard
Ellison, the Rev. J. P. Seabrooke, and Tom Firr.
This was the last occasion that Frank Gillard
hunted hounds in Leicestershire, 18|^ couple of
the big dog hounds being the pack for the day.
" At a critical moment the young hound Tapster

292 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

hit off the line of the fox, and carrying it through
a narrow planting, his splendid voice quickly-
brought his comrades together, and their music
put life and dash in the whole thing again," is a
remark we take from Gillard's diary for the day.

Two more days' sport went to finish the season,
which ended at Staunton with the big pack on the
28th, and singularly enough the last horse that
carried Frank Gillard as huntsman was old Fare-
well. When the whole stud was sent up for sale
at Leicester at the end of the season, the Duke of
Rutland made Frank Gillard a present of Farewell,
the son of Ripponden, and half-brother to Playfair,
winner of the Grand National Steeplechase, the
old horse winning a good steeplechase at Col wick
Park for his new owner.

The number of foxes killed this season was 79,
making the grand total of 2709 from 1870 to 1896.

An embaiv^as de richesse of substantial offers
to hunt the country were placed before the com-
mittee, their choice being Sir Gilbert Greenall from
Cheshire ; and Frank Gillard decided to retire at
the same time with the house of INIanners. Letters
of regret and sympathy were addressed to him from
all parts of the kingdom, all striking the same
note ; the following, from a master of hounds,
being a specimen of many others. " It is sad news
the Duke of Rutland giving up the Mastership of
the Belvoir, and I can well realise what you must
feel at the change that is coming after being such
a long time with the Belvoir. I quite think that
it is a national calamity. There is one satisfaction

SEASON 1895-96 293

that you will have, and that is that at a time when
all hounds have improved very rapidly, and are
considered to have made more progress than any-
thing else in the last twelve years, the Belvoir are
still standing quite alone in appearance, and doing
every kennel good that goes to them."

A testimonial befitting the occasion was set on
foot by Mr. James Hutchinson, nearly £1300
being subscribed by Frank Gillard's admirers, in
addition to a silver ink-stand presented by the
ladies of the hunt. The presentation was made
at the Grantham Show during the summer by Sir
William E. Welby Gregory, "the father of the
hunt," who, in a sympathetic speech, awakened
many memories of a glorious past. He said :
"Frank Gillard, the hunt is grateful to you for your
untiring and successful efforts to show them sport,
to consult their convenience, and to meet their
wishes in every way. They are proud of the way
in which you have kept up the reputation of the
pack, and maintained the traditions that have been
handed down to you from the days of Newman,
Shaw, Goosey, Goodall, and Cooper, under whom
you began your career. Of the personal qualities
which you have brought to bear on the execution
of your duties, the best testimony lies in the con-
tinuance of that cordial spirit and kindly feeling
towards fox-hunting which has existed so univer-
sally throughout the Belvoir country for so long.
This testimonial, which I am about to present to
you, is only one of innumerable proofs of the extent
of that cordial and kind feeling, and of the great

294 HUNTING REMINISCENCES

personal share which you have had in the mainte-
nance of it."

In replying to the presentation speech, after a
spontaneous outburst of enthusiasm from the as-
sembled crowd, Gillard said : "It is gratifying to
feel that I have so many kind and true friends,
not only in the Belvoir Hunt, but also in many
others far and near. I have participated in the
sport for many years, and had the honour of hunt-
ing the noble Duke of Rutland's famous pack for
the long period of twenty-six seasons. It seems but
yesterday, though forty years ago, that I started
a long career in my native country — sweet Devon-
shire— first with the harriers, and then with the
foxhounds. During this long period I have served
under five masters, of whom I have the most
pleasant memories, viz. Captain Willett, the Hon.
Mark Rolle, Mr. John Chaworth Musters, the
late and the present Dukes of Rutland. You may
therefore conclude that I have had a long and
most enjoyable innings, and I assure you that I
greatly feel my severance from the Belvoir Hunt."

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