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HISTORY OF THE
MEYNELL HOUNDS AND COUNTRY
#i/^*^ JSo-Oi. 9A .
Mr. H. F. Meynell Ingram.
From a paintin|r
by
Sir Francis Grant.
In the possession of the
Hon. Mrs Meynell Ingram
at Hoar Cross.
ii/srIX ih"^ JLy ^Lj ^LJ 4^ J^ u. ^ ^% Jj
1780 TO 1901
^yLa?uAil/.
'^-^^rMM^'
VOLUME I ,
I. Oil (Ion .
Saiiip.soii Low, >hirs1 on and Coiiina n\', Ltd
1{) oi.
DEDICATED
TO
THE HON. MRS. MEYNELL INGRAM
OF HOAR CROSS
With Grateful Thanks
BY
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE
It has frequently been suggested to the present writer
that he should compose a History of the Meynell Hunt,
and these volumes are the outcome of that idea. No doubt
there are many others far more competent to undertake
the work, but time was slipping away, and those who could
throw a light on the days that are gone were one by one
passing from amongst us ; so it was evident that, if the
book was ever to be written, it should be done at once.
Under these circumstances the author has ventured to try
to gather up the threads, and to put together, to the best
of his ability, the records of the Hunt. To all those who
have helped him in a somewhat arduous task he tenders
his most grateful thanks, especially to the Hon. Mrs.
Meynell Ingram, the Misses Bott and Miss Lyon, Lord
Bagot, Lord Berkeley Paget^ Messrs. Bird, Boden, and
Bott, Colonel Chandos-Pole, and Captain Clowes, Messrs.
Henry and Hugh Charrington, Captain Holland, Colonel
the Hon. W. Coke, Captain Dawson, Mr. Buncombe,
Colonel Feilden, Sir Richard FitzHerbert, Bart., Major
and the Rev. R. C. FitzHerbert, Messrs. Fort, Lyon,
Maynard, Newton, Tomlinson, Tinsley, Okeover, Peacock,
Waite, Watts, and Worthington. If the names of any
who have helped have been omitted, the writer trusts that
they will pardon the omission and accept his thanks.
To Lord Waterpark, above all, for the use of his diary,
VOL, I, a 3
viii PREFACE.
without which the book would have been shorn of much
of its interest for local readers, he is most grateful, and
also to the Editors of TJie Sj^orting Magazine, BelVs Life,
TJie Field, Sporting Life, Tlie Derby Mercury, The
Staffordshire Advertiser, and The Burton Chronicle, for
allowing him to quote from their pages, while to an article
in Longman's Magazine he is indebted for a great deal of
information about the old forest of Needwood.
Lastly, it is a duty, as well as a pleasure, to acknow-
ledge the ready help which his wife has given un-
grudgingly from first to last.
J. L. R.
Marchington,
I)ecemler2, 1901.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Account of the State of Things preceding formation of Hoar Cross
Hunt — Verses on Mr. Vernon of Hilton's Wonderful Run in 1770
— Sudbury Hunting Song — "Squire" Osbaldeston — Origin of the
Leedhams — -Synopsis of Events from 1808-1840 — List of Sub-
scribers to the Hon. and Rev. G. Talbot's Hounds — Songs on the
Sudbury Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
CHAPTER II.
Description of the Country — Tradition — The Bradley Wood Fox — Old
Tom Leedham — Hoar Cross Gossip , . . . . . . . . . 20
CHAPTER III.
Meynell Worthies 31
CHAPTER IV.
Needwood Forest — Michael Turnor — Malabar .. 43
CHAPTER V.
Radburne .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 54
CHAPTER VI.
A uld Lang Syne .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 6fi
CHAPTER Vir.
The FitzHerberts 8'2
CHAPTER VIII.
Sport in the Twenties— The Great Run to Ulverscroft Abbey— Sir
Peter Walker, Bart 93
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX.
FAOE
Squire Osbaldeston — Contemporary Opinion — A Kedlestou Day —
Radburne .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 104
CHAPTER X.
Mr. Meynell's Diary 112
CHAPTER XI.
Miscellanea — Mr. Michael Bass, M.P. — Tom Leedham's Last Season —
Good Chartley Run — Sir Matthew Blakiston — Mr. Trevor Yate-s .. 121
CHAPTER XII.
Chartley — Queen Adelaide at Sudbury — The Rev. German Buckston . . 135
CHAPTER iXIII.
Three Men of Mark — Mr. Henry Boden — Mr. Clowes' Diary, 1844-47
— Mr. William Tomlinson . . . . . . . . 145
CHAPTER XIV.
Blithfield— Sport in 1844— The Horn Dance 159
CHAPTER XV.
Mr. G. A. Statham, M.R.C.V.S.— Good Run in the Walton Country
— Great Run from Birchwood Park — Death of Joe Leedham — A
Fast Run 170
CHAPTER XVI.
Lord Berkeley Paget — A Bretby Day— Charles and Lord Southampton
— Day on Cannock Chace— Captain Dawson— Mr. H. F. Meynell
Ingram's Diary — Ashbourne Hall .. .. .. .. .. 182
CHAPTER XVII.
Mr. Walter Boden— Good Run from Dunstall— Kill in Mickleover
Asylum — Byrkley Lodge — Henry Martin .. .. .. .. 198
CHAPTER XVIII.
Snelston— Mr. Harrison — "Cecil "—"Cecil's" Account of the Hounds
—The Great Radburne Run— The Foston Mill Dam .. ..212
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIX.
PAGE
Mr. E. J. Bird— Radbume Day— Run to Moddershall Oaks — Death
of Admiral Meynell .. .. .. .. .. .. ., 225
CHAPTER XX.
Longford — Tlie Hon. E. Coke — A Derbyshire Thursday — A Day of
Misfortunes — Meeting of the Hunt — LuUinarton Gorse .. .. 235
CHAPTER XXI.
Mr. S. W. Clowes, .M.F.H., M. P.— Captain H. A. Clowes— Mr. W.
Boden on Brandy Wine — The Fastest Run with the Meynell —
Harold 24G
CHAPTER XXII.
The Great Radburne Run .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 259
CHAPTER XXIII.
Gems of the Kennel — Great Run from Ravensdale Park— Good Run
from Ednaston Gorse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Old Squire — The Misses Meynell Ingram — Tom Leedham's Broken
Leg — Great Run to Tamworth . . . . . . . . . . • . 282
CHAPTER XXV.
" Charles "—The Rev. Cecil Legard— Mr. C. W. Jervis-Smith— Death
of Miss Meynell Ingram— Elf ord 289
CHAPTER XXVI.
"The Old Order changeth "—Death of Mr. H. F. Meynell Ingram—
Meeting of the Hunt — Tom Leedham — Presentation to Tom Leed-
ham — The Lyon Family . . . . . . . . • . . • 300
CHAPTER XXVII.
The First Meeting of the Hunt — Kennels and Stables — Testimonial to
Tom Leedham—' ' Derby Week " 313
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The New Regime — Lord Waterpark's Diary — First of the Great Loxley
Runs — Second Great Loxley Run- — Good Run from Needwood . . 321
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXIX.
PAGE
The Great Run from Sudbury Coppice to Wootton — The Bullers — Lord
Waterpark's Diary . . . . . . . . . . . . , . 334
CHAPTER XXX.
Lord Waterpark's Diary — "Tom "Smith .. .. .. .. 341
CHAPTER XXXI.
The Kennels — Lord Waterpark's Diary — An Unruly Field — Good Day
from Boylestone— End of the Season, 1873-1874 347
CHAPTER XXXII.
Lord Waterpark's Diary ^ — Mr. Godfrey Meynell — Capital Opening
Week — A Fortnight's Frost — Capital Run to Brailsford Gorse —
Rough Weather— A Bad March 360
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Lord Waterpark's Diary — Potter's — Four Foxes to Ground in One Day
— Sport spoiled at Radburne — Varying Sport — End of the Season 372
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Lord Waterpark's Diary — Great Run from Barton Blount — Run from
Sudbury to Barton Lodge — Good Day from Foremark — Wettest
Day of the Season — Good Gallop from Marston-on-Dove to Rad-
burne— Fast Gallop from Repton Shrubs — Uttoxeter Steeplechases 383
LIST OF PHOTOGRAVURES.
VOL. I.
Mr. H. F. Meynell Ingram
.. Frontispiece
Mk. H. F. Meynell Ingram
On
Title
■page
Mr, Hugo Meynell (The Father of Fox H
unting) Facitig
page
34
Mr. E. S. Chandos-Pole
62
Radbxjrne
64
Hoar Cross Old Hall ..
66
Sir William FitzHerbert, Bart.
88
Sir Richard FitzHerbert, Bart.
90
Colonel FitzHerbert
92
Sir Peter Walker, Bart,
102
The Hoar Cross Hunt ..
128
Joe Leedham
140
Mr. Hen-ry Boden..
148
Mr. W. Tomlinson
156
Blithfield ..
164
Mr. George Statham
170
Lord Berkeley Paget
182
Mr. Walter Boden
198
Mr. Bird's Grey Horse "Badger" ..
226
Admiral Meynell ..
234
Colonel the Hon. W, Coke
236
Mr. S. W, Clowes, M,F.H
246
Mr. a. C. Buncombe
256
Elford and Tom Leedham
298
The Hon. E. K. W. Coke ....
302
The Bullers
336
LIST OF MAPS.
VOL. I.
Places of Meeting of the Hoar Cross Hunt .. Fachig page 20
* Map illustrating Two Runs from Philips' Gorse on
Nov. 30th, 1872, and Jan. 18th, 1873 .. .. ,, ,, 328
* The Second Great Loxley Run. Jan. 4th, 1873 , . , , , , 330
* Map illustrating the Run from Hilton Gorse,
Nov. 28th, 1872, and the Great Sudbury Run
on Jan. 27th, 1873 ,, „ 334
* These three Maps are drawn from the Sketch Maps iu Lord Waterpark's Diary.
HISTORY OF THE
MEYNELL HOUNDS AND COUNTRY
CHAPTER I.
account of the state of things preceding formation
of hoar cross hunt — verses on mr. vernon of
Hilton's wonderful run in 1770 — sudbury hunt-
ing SONG *' squire" OSBALDESTON ORIGIN OF THE
LEEDHAMS — SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS FROM 1808-1840 —
LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS TO THE HON. AND REV. G.
TALBOT's HOUNDS — SONGS ON THE SUDBURY HUNT.
It seems only right and fitting that a History of the
Meynell Hounds and Country should open with an account
in verse of a wonderful run with Mr. Vernon's hounds.
For Lord Vernon was the ancestor of the Meynell Hunt,
and the Vernons of Hilton are ancestors of his. When
once a Vernon of Hilton was engaged in a lawsuit with
Lord Vernon, counsel asked the former if he did not
belong to Lord Vernon's family, and the answer was,
" No ; Lord Vernon belongs to my family." For aught
that is known to the contrary, the Sudbury hounds, too,
might have been of the same blood as those Vernon
hounds of Hilton. If they were, they claimed a distin-
guished ancestry, for could any hounds be stouter than
those of which the following verses tell ?
This song was made on the subject of the hounds of
VOL. I. B
2 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1770
Mr. Henry Vernon, great-grandson to the famous sports-
man of that name and place, of Hilton, near Wolverhampton,
in Staffordshire. They threw off on Wednesday, February
14th, 1770, at a gorse-cover, near to Bofcobel, when Squire
Vernon, who took his stand near to the Royal Oak, where
King Charles II. secreted himself, talioed the fox when
he broke cover. There were forty horsemen in the field,
and two ladies — Mrs. Giffard and Miss Parry ; the ladies
rode remarkably hard for many miles. At the death there
were present but four, viz. Mr. Henry Vernon, the hunts-
man, William Bird, a servant, and Mr. Emery. The
hounds and horsemen went as hard as they could go the
whole chase, ran through the different covers mentioned
in the song, and many more they did not know. After
running as hard as they could for six hours and ten minutes,
the hounds ran into him in an open field near to the
churchyard at Buildwas.
To the Tune of " Killrundery."
Hark ! hark ! my good lads, to a chase, I'll relate,
Of the hounds of a squire whose goodness is great,
His name it is Vernon, of Hilton Hall seat.
There honesty always a welcome does meet.
By break of the morn he got to the cover, —
" In live minutes' time," cry'd Price, " hark to Trimer ; "
"Talio!" cry'd Vernon, "by G , he is gone,"
The hounds knew his note, and they lay'd them all on,
La, la, la-ral, etc.
By the Royal Oak pass'd, and through the known wood.
That's call'd the Spring Coppy, as hard as they could ;
So to Dunnington Woods on by Weston Park side,
As hard as could go they continued to ride.
Crossed Durant's Canal, and so straight on to Tonge,
From thence quick p]-oceeded, all halloaing along ;
By Kilsal he ran, and so through Gosford Wood,
The horses and hounds went as hard as they could.
La, la, la-ral, etc.
Hatton Covers, Old Forge, and Innington Banks,
He pass'd by these all, but would play them no pranks
By Patty's Mill Rough, Hern Coppice, and Audley,
From thence to Sturchley, and so on to Dawley ;
1770] MR. VERNON'S HUNTING SONG. 3
By the Horse-hay he pass'd as quick as he could,
Quite to Cole Brook-dale went, and back'd through Cock's Wood,
Through Gibbons' Coppice he pass'd like a buck,
And over the Wrekin, in Shropshire, then struck.
La, la, la-ral, etc.
His courage here did not serve him a rush,
Twelve couple and Vernon lay hard at his brush.
Hard by to the Wrekin they run him in view,
Of forty good Horsemen, were here very few :
Back'd through Little Wenlock, he seemed to run strong,
Tho' they'd ran him forty-five miles that were long.
Through Holbrook he pass'd to the Severn, then flew,
And plunged headlong in, tho' he'd broke from their view.
La, la, la-ral, etc.
The hounds, when they came to the river, not one
But flew headlong in, as the fox had just done, —
West Coppice he pass'd through, so on by Tick Wood,
Through the Severn back pass'd, and those followed that could ;
Near to Buildwas Churchyard again had him in view,
" Talio ! " cry'd Will Bird, and the hounds his voice knew ;
Then all gloriously strove which first should lay hold
Of the fox they had followed so nobly bold.
La, la, la-ral, etc.
When Trusty got hold, and he pulled him to ground,
" Who-hoop," cry'd the Huntsman, how great was the sound ;
Squire Vernon, and Emery, and also Will Bird,
And one other, — they all rode nobly I've heard;
At the Death there were in out of forty, these four.
The rest were all tired some hours before, —
Thus ended, at length, this most terrible chase,
Which lasted six hours and ten minutes 'pace.
La, la, la-ral, etc.
They run in the whole, near to sixty good miles ;
Had Diana been there, she had granted her smiles,
The squu-e well deserved them, as well as the hounds,
He is thoroughly staunch, and his goods knew no bounds ;
Thirty miles they got on their road home that eve,
And stopped at a house where they need ask no leave,
The name of the mansion was Chillington Hall,
The squire's name is Giftbrd, whose good's known to all.
La, la, la-ral, etc.
4 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1802
They drunk deep of the stream, and wished a long health
To the man that ne'er varied for pension or pelf ;
Had Nymrod been there, he'd be pleased to have seen
With what energy each expressed where he'd been.
They finished the evening in social delight,
And drank this their toast, for to finish the night —
Let's here " Chase away care which many surrounds,
And see Heaven at last, when we can't see these hounds,"
La, la, la-ral, etc.
Having opened the ball with a song about Mr. Vernon's
hounds, it is very natural that one about Lord Vernon's,
the Sudbury Hounds, should follow.
THE SUDBURY HUNTING SONG.
"Vernon semper virot."
One morning, last winter, to Shirley Park came,
A noble, brave sportsman, George Vernon by name,
Came hunting the fox, for bold Reynard must die.
So they threw out to trail, and began for to try.
'Twas early i' the morning, ere day did them greet,
A great many sportsmen appointed to meet.
To meet with Squire Vernon, of honour and fame.
His hounds they bring glory and praise to his name.
" Hoix ; cross him and wind him," Tom MullLns, he cried,
We're sure to unkennel him by the south side.
Let us draw to the covert, that lies to the south,
Bold Reynard lies there, Trowler doubles his mouth.
Cries, " Lo, hark ! " to Trowler, that ne'er run in vain,
"Do you hear how young Snowball doth challenge the train?"
There's Fowler and Ryall, they're both two brave hounds.
They'll find out bold Reynard if he's above ground.
Then hark, rogues, together, while Juno comes in.
There's Lady and Lambert, likewise little Trim ;
There's Pleasant and Careless, a bitch that runs light,
And besides little Justice, she'll set you all right.
There is Jovial and Frolic, and Vigour beside;
There is Dido, the best bitch that ever was tried ;
There is Tospot and Bumber, and Virgin, I say,
There is fifty-four couple run every day.
1802] SUDBURY HUNTING SONG.
Squire Waller then over the cover did stand,
He hoUo'd most clearly with horn in his hand,
Cries, " Lo, hark, together, we'll turn Reynard's note.
And, if he breaks cover, we'll tear his old coat."
Lo, hark, rogues, together, the scent it lies warm,
Squire Waller, Tom Mullins, blew concert with liorn.
Tantivy, tantivy, their horns did resound,
They alarmed the whole country for above a mile round.
Tom Mullins the huntsman, his whip he did crack.
Cries, " Lo, hark to Careless, she's leading the Pack."'
These words made Jack Woolley, who was whipper in,
To hollo most clearly, "Lo, hark, rogues, hark in."
The hounds they did rally and flourish about,
"Bold Reynard's broke cover," Tom Mullins did shout.
Over Wyersome Common away he did trim.
They so merrily ran him by Tinker's Inn.
Then for Blakely Hall, but the road was stopped there.
Bold Reynard was forced to take Staffordshire.
Then he crossed the fair river, the Dove, I declare.
And straight for Grantwood, for great cover was there.
But the hounds they pursued him so hot in the chase.
Which Reynard perceiving would not take the place ;
But he took Weaver Hill, which was a sweet thing.
To hear the wood echo, the College Hall ring.
Tom Mullins was mounted on a trusty bay.
Over hedges and ditches the devil would play ;
No rocks nor high mountains could baffle his mind.
He cried, " Hark, little Careless, she runs like the wind."
Then for the new buildings away he did steer,
I thought we should run him all round Staffordshire.
But we briskly pursued him with hound and with horn.
And we forced him again back by the Tythe Barn.
Squire Vernon was mounted upon Golden Dun;
He leapt with great courage, like fury did run.
Squire Waller he was on a gelding so free,
He maintained the chase and kept him company.
Squire Vernon's a sportsman, 'tis very well known.
Rode so swiftly all day, you'd have thought he had flown;
Squire Brown rode a gelding, that runs very fleet.
He may challenge the country to carry his weight.
THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1802
Squire Boothby, of Ashbourne, rode over the plain,
Expecting each minute bold Reynard was slain.
He rode with great courage all the day through,
And well he was mounted upon his True Blue.
Now Waller did hollo, " Now sentence is past,
There is Trowler and Snowball puts up at the last.
Come, gentlemen, ride, for the game is our own.
Now the old hounds are up I find Reynard is blown."
The sportsmen all rode at a desperate rate,
As if they had rode for a thousand pound plate ;
No hedges could turn them, no walls could them set,
For the choicest of sportsmen in England were met.
The hounds they did rally and quickly pursue,
" Do you hear little Careless, she runs him in view."
Fifty miles in four hours it was a great ride,
But in Wooton Old Park, there bold Reynard he died.
Now as for Jack Woolley we'll not him neglect,
He rode with great fury, ne'er fearing his neck.
Nor hedges nor walls could they turn him again.
He came in the same minute that Reynard was slain.
The sportsmen came in every one at the last.
The hounds they ran briskly, not one of them cast ;
So let's ring Reynard's fall with a horn that sounds clear
We've not heard such a holloaing many a year.
'Tis hunting alone can all pastime command.
There's the otter by water, the deer by dry land.
Hare hunting is pleasant, the stag's a fine chase,
But to hunting the fox all the rest should give place.
Come, gentlemen sportsmen, wherever you be,
All you that love hunting, draw near unto me.
The Chase is now ended, you've heard Reynard's fall,
So let's drink to Squire Vernon of Sudbury Hall.
The early annals of what is now known as the Meynell
country seem to deal principally with anarchy and con-
fusion. At the end of the eighteenth century there were
several chieftains clamouring, each one, for their rights, and
chaos reigned, until, as in the case of the Saxon heptarchy,
the separate kingdoms or chieftainships were all merged
1793] THE VERNON HUNT. 7
in one strong, absolute monarchy. And in the case under
consideration the monarch was Hugo Meynell, of Hoar
Cross, Staffordshire, grandson of the great father of fox-
hunting of Quorn renown, who came to the throne, so
to speak, in November, 1816. But, long before this — in
1785, in fact — Lord Talbot had a pack of hounds at
Ingestre. When he gave them up, in 1793, Lord Vernon,
the second baron, the hunting lord, as he is sometimes
termed, bought several couples. Tradition also asserts
that Lord Downshire purchased two couples, which were
sent to Hillsborough, in Ireland, and found their way
back to Ingestre in the course of a few weeks. The Vernon
hounds consisted of about fifty couples, of Talbot and
Meynell blood. Samuel Lawley was huntsman, while his
son William, and Harry Jackson, were the whippers-in.
Lord Vernon, the members of the Hunt, and the servants,
wore coats of bright orange and low-crowned hats. The
colour was adopted as having been the livery of the Vernon
family. All authorities seem to be agreed as to the colour
of the coats ; Cecil, in his hunting tours, going so far as
to say that there was great rivalry between the red and
orange coats when their respective wearers met in the
field. Yet, in the picture of Samuel Lawley at Sudbury,
the coat is the orthodox scarlet, though he wears a low-
crowned hat in lieu of a cap. However, whatever the
colour of the coats may have been, there is no doubt about
the excellence of the hounds as regards hard running and
stoutness. In fact, a cross between the stock of Osbaldes-
ton's Furrier and Lord Vernon's Eocket is said to have
produced the stoutest hounds in the world. They had
need to be stout, too, for, considering the extent of country
in which they hunted, they must have had some desperately
long days. It comprised the district belonging to the late
Mr. Meynell Ingram, including Ingestre, Sandon W^ood,
and Cannock Chase, westward to Hatherton ; that part
of Leicestershire hunted by the Atherstone hounds on
Mondays and Wednesdays, called the Gopsall country,
and, for spring hunting, Brook Hay, Biddle's Field, and
8 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1808
Sutton Park, in what is now the South Staffordshire
country. In 1808, owing to Lord Vernon's failing health,
the Hon. and Rev. George Talbot assumed the management.
He, the Druid states, split on the same rock as Sir Thomas
Mostyn, viz. his dread of tongue. The hounds were a fine
powerful pack, though inclined to be rather upright in the
shoulders. With a good scent, they could split him up
in the best form, but, when they got into difficulties, the
weak points came out. When they were stopped by sheep,
or from any other cause, and the chase hounds held them-
selves on and got on the line, they would not cry the
scent, but whimpered like hedge-sparrows, so that the line
hunters could not hear them, and they were always slipping
one another. This is confirmed by a writer in the Sporting
Magazine, 1820, who says : —
About sixteen years ago I witnessed a very sharp run by Lord Vernon's
hounds. The dogs were uncommonly fleet, but they were almost silent, and, even
when they did open, the cry appeared to me little more than a mere yelp.
Mr. Talbot took a subscription, and, for the first time,
the places of meeting were advertised. The following
letter to Mr. W. Worthington, grandfather of Mr. Albert
Worthington, as showing the date of Mr. Talbot's master-
ship, is interesting : —
February 20th, 1808.
Sir,
Lord Vernon having intrusted me with his hounds, and the gentlemen
of the County having enabled me to undertake the management of them, I hope
to be allowed the liberty of hunting your coverts as heretofore.
T am, Sir,
Your obedient humble servant,
Geo. Talbot.
W. Worthington, Esq.
The coverts alluded to were Gresley Wood, Caldwell,
etc.
Samuel Lawley still carried the horn, but a change
was made in the situation of the kennels. The former
ones at the back of Sudbury Hall were abandoned, new
ones being built at Aston, about a mile distant on the
1808] END OF THE VERNON HUNT. 9
main road leading to Derby. Mr. Talbot lived at Brere-
ton, and, when the hounds were in Leicestershire, was in
the habit of riding over to Gopsall after taking the Sunday-
duty at Ingestre, to be ready for hunting on the following
day. Temporary kennels were arranged in three different
parts of the country, and the hounds hunted alternate
fortnights in Staffordshire and Derbyshire, except in
November and February, when they remained at Gopsall.
The hour of meeting was half-past ten, and they hunted
four days a week from September till April. This arrange-
ment continued till November, 1812, when Mr. Talbot
died in the hunting-field at Sutton Chainell, near Bos-
worth, on the first day of the season. Immediately after
his death, the hounds, about sixty couples, were sold, with
the exception of ten couples which Lord Vernon retained.
Some went to Mi\ Lambton in Durham. Mr. E. M.
Mundy bought five couples for the Derbyshire pack, while
the Hon. Edward Harbord, Lord Vernon's son-in-law, took
fifteen couples, and finished the season at Sudbury with
them and his father-in-law's ten couples, but did not
advertise. Eighteen couples went to Lord Middleton in
Warwickshire, Harry Jackson accompanying them as
huntsman. He is said to have been a rare kennelman, but
slow in the field, and was pensioned off by Lord Middleton,
after being disabled by a bad fall in 1818. Samuel Law-
ley lived on at his farm at Aston to a good old age, and
his descendants are with us still. Like most people, he
was a laudator temporis acti, bemoaning the decadence of
the hounds, and averring that " these Meynell hounds are
bred all for pace. They'll soon get so as no horse can live
with them ; only," he would add, " they'll always be going
over the scent, and the horses '11 get up to them then."
So the Vernon Hunt came to an end, and the old lord
himself passed away in 1813.
Then followed chaos, confusion, and troubles arising
from undefined boundaries. It is even said that matters
nearly culminated in a duel between Sir Henry Every, who
kept a pack at Egginton, which hunted hare and fox
10 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1815
indiscriminately, and Squire Osbaldeston, who attempted
to hunt an enormous extent of country, even larger than
that which Lord Vernon had occupied. However, this did
not come immediately after the death of the latter. Mr.
Harbord kept things going in the Sudbury district for a
year, and Mr. Puleston brought his hounds from Shrop-
shire every other fortnight into Staffordshire. The famous
Colonel Cook, author of " Observations on Fox-hunting,"
started a pack called the Warwickshire Subscription
Hounds, with which he hunted the Leicestershire and
south Staffordshire side, and a portion of the Warwick-
shire Woodlands, including Midclleton, Sutton Park, and
Chelmsley, having kennels at his residence, Cliff, near
Kingsbury. In 1814, the Derby Subscription Hounds,
under the mastership of Messrs. Hall and Arkwright,
hunted the Sudbury district, and also met regularly at
Loxley, Hoar Cross, and Seal Wood. But in 1815, both
the Derby Subscription Hunt and Colonel Cook gave up
their countries in favour of Squire Osbaldeston, who had
previously hunted a part of Nottinghamshire. In addition
to his own hounds he bought Lord Monson's, adding to
them several couples which had belonged to Lord Vernon.
" The Squire " carried the horn himself, Tom Sebright and
Dick Burton whipping-in to him. They both earned
subsequent distinction, the former as huntsman to Lord
Fitzwilliam for forty years, and the latter as huntsman to
Lord Henry Bentinck in Lincolnshire. The hounds were
kennelled at the Flitch of Bacon inn, Wichnor, at
Witherley, and at Barton Turns, and the country extended
from Radburne and Shipley on the north, to Sutton Park
on the south, and included the whole of the Atherstone
country. It was hunted four and five days a week. " In
January, 1816" — I quote from "Kings of the Hunting
Field" — "owing to an unpleasantness with Sir Henry
Every, he removed his establishment, consisting of ninety
couples of hounds and thirty hunters into Derbyshire.
The ' Squire ' felt aggrieved at something Sir Henry had
said or done, and wrote for an explanation, but, receiving
1815] SQUIRE OSBALDESTOK 11
no reply, took the silence as an insult, and challenged Sir
Henry to a duel. As Osbaldeston was already, though under
thirty, renowned as the best shot in England, Sir Henry
thought it prudent to apologize. The ' Squire ' accepted
the apology but abruptly took his hounds away."
When it is here stated that he took his hounds into
Derbyshire, Staffordshire is probably meant, for it is
known that in January, 1816, he gave up his kennels at
the Flitch of Bacon (so called from a custom prevailing at
Wichnor, similar to that at Dunmow), and at Barton Turns,
abandoned the Derbyshire side, and confined his operations
to the district round Witherley.
This coincided with that formerly hunted by Colonel
Cook, and became known as the Atherstone territory, the
boundaries of which have never been much altered since.
The part of Staffordshire included within its limits lies
westward of the Thame as far north as Elford and Brook
Hay, Black Slough being for a time a neutral covert.
Part of the Derbyshire district, vacated by Mr.
Osbaldeston, was occupied by Sir Henry Crewe, who
became master of the Derby Subscription Hounds with
his kennels at Breadsall. His limit on the Sudbury side
was Egginton, while, eastward of that, he hunted Bretby
and Eepton Shrubs.
Of the " Squire's " huge country there remained only
Sudbury and its neighbourhood, Needwood Forest, and
the parts southward of it to Black Slough. To hunt this
Mr. Meynell of Hoar Cross came forward, changing the
harriers which he had kept for some years into fox-
hounds. It is not clear if he kept any of the harriers,
but he certainly procured some of Lord Vernon's fox-
hounds, and some from Mr. Heron's, who hunted part of
Cheshire, and these latter were immediately descended
from Mr. Meynell' s Quorn celebrities.
In the register at Bradley there is this entry :
"Baptized November 2nd, 1768, Thomas, son of William
Needham and Ann, his wife." No doubt the N should
have been L, for there was a William Leedham in Mr.
12 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1816
Meynell's employ at tliat time. The boy accompanied
Mr. Meynell to Quorn, probably about the year 1783, so,
from a hunting point of view, the Meynells and the
Leedhams began and ended together, for both races have
now come to an end.
Mr. Meynell had not at that time succeeded to the
Yorkshire estates, and he took a subscription. In 1819
we find him hunting five days a fortnight, meeting at
Teddesley in the early part of the season. Sir Henry
Crewe having given up his hounds, the Hoar Cross Hunt
met for the first time at Kedleston, in February, 1819,
and two days later at Radburne, In the following season
they hunted three days a week, and regularly occupied
the Derbyshire district, and have done so to this day,
though certain outlying portions have been given up.
When Mr. Meynell succeeded to the Ingram estates at
Temple Newsam, in Yorkshire, he returned all the sub-
scriptions for that year and hunted the country at his own
expense.
A synopsis of the events recorded in this chapter,
preserved by the Hon. George Allsopp, and differing*
slightly from the account given above, may prove of
interest. It begins with a letter from the Reverend the
Honourable George Talbot, dated February 10th, 1808.
He writes : —
The liberality of my friends having enabled me to undertake the manage-
ment of Lord Vernon's hounds at the expiration of the present season,! take the
liberty of enclosing you a plan for the hunting of the country from 1st October
next to the end of March, 1809, which I trust will meet with your approbation.
It is to be understood that the hounds will be at the separate kennels on the
days appointed, and that the several countries must take their chance of weather.
I am also advised by my friends to suggest to you that, as the expenses of pro-
viding for the hounds will at the outset be heavy, one half of the subscription for
1808 should be paid on the 25th of March next, and the other half on the 29th
September. Your acceding to the proposal and paying your subscription in to
Messrs. Drummond, Bankers, London, on my account will much oblige.
Yours very sincerely,
(Rev.'i George T.\xbot.
Thos Hall,
Holly bush.
* The authority for a great deal of the above is a pamphlet, " Fox-hunting in
Staifordshire," by Captain Paul Webster.
1808]
THE REV. AND HON. GEORGE TALBOT.
13
List of Subscribers. £ s. d.
Lord Vernon 210 0 0
Lord Anson 105 0 0
Lord Talbot 105 0 0
Lord Grey 105 0 0
Lord Bagot 100 0 0
Lord Paget 100 0 0
Mr, Mundy, Shipley 100 0 0
Mr. Newdigate 100 0 0
Mr. B. W. P. Curzon 105 0 0
Lord Lewisham ... ... 52 10 0
Hon. T.Talbot 52 10 0
Mr. F. Lawley 52 10 0
Mr. B. Lawley 52 10 0
Mr. Dugdale 52 10 0
Mr. Case 52 10 0
Mr. Hall 52 10 0
Mr. Boultbee 52 10 0
Mr. Newdigate 52 10 0
Mr. S.H. Every 50 0 0
Mr. Ince 50 0 0
Mr. Arkwright 50 0 0
Mr. Levett 50 0 0
Mr. Simpson 50 0 0
£1752 10 0
Plax for Lord Vernox'.s Hunting from October 1st, 1808, to the end
OF M.\rch, 1809.
October 1st to 14th ... ... ... ... Derbyshire.
„ 1 6th to 30th Staffordshire.
October 30th to November 27th ... ... ... Leicestershire.
November 27th to December 18th ... ... Derbyshire.
December 18th to January 1st, 1809 Staffordsliire.
January 1st to 15th ... ... ... ... Derbyshire.
„ 15th to 29th Staffordshire.
„ 29th to Feb. 26th Leicestershire.
February 26th to March 12th Staffordshire.
March 12th to the end ... ... Derbyshire.
Leicestershire to have added to it Seal Woods, Croxall, and Drakelowe.
Staffordshire to comprehend Chartley, Blithfield, Ingestre, Black Slougli, and
Canrock Chase. Derbyshire (to include) Derbyshire and Needwood Forest.
1798. — Lord Vernon at this time hunted all the Sudbury country from
Canrock Chase to the Weaver Hills, Kedleston, Shipley, Foremark, Bretby,
and Fisherwick to Hop was Hayes, Black Slough, etc., four days a week, the
hounds for the months of November and February going into the Bosworth
country, Leicestershire, Lord Curzon granting the use of the kennels at Gopsal
during Lord Howe's minority, and Lord Stamford, then Lord Grey, keeping
a most hospital mansion at Atherstone Hall.
1801 . — Samuel Lawley, whom few huntsmen have equalled in the field and
in the kennel, was placed at the head of the pack, having under him Harry
14 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1S02-1841
Jackson (afterwards in the service of Mr. Talbot and Lord Middleton) and his
son Wilham, active and clever whips.
1802. — The beautiful forest of Needwood, as well as Charnwood, at this
time unenclosed, offered every opportunity for early and late hunting, especially
in stooping the young hounds to scent in April and May with hare, from which
they were made steady in autumn.
1803-4. — The veteran, Mr. Meynell, occupying, with his hounds from
Quarndon, the kennels at Bradley during the summer, and occasionally upon his
return into Leicestershire, drawing the covers at Bradley, Longford, and Shirley
Park, which he afterwards relinquished to Lord Vernon.
1805. — About this period Lord Vernon, who had hitherto kept the whole
establishment at his sole expense, gave it up and the hounds, which were con-
tinued in his name, with a handsome subscription, under Mr. Talbot's manage-
ment, an additional kennel being erected at Brereton.
1812. — The death of Mr. Talbot at the commencement of the season brought
the hounds and horses to sale and broke up the whole concern, with the excep-
tion of a small pack of select hounds reserved by Mr. Harbord, Lord Vernon's
son-in-law, for hunting the immediate Sudbury country during winter.
1813. — Lord Vernon's death following that of Mr. Talbot, this year the
reserved pack also was offered for sale and purchased by Mr. Arkwright and a
few neighbouring gentlemen to keep in the country until some favourable
opportunity might occur for reuniting the whole or hunting the Sudbury part
of it. Small kennels were erected at Aston, a subscription entered into, Mr.
Arkwright taking the management, with W. Lawley as huntsman, and J.
Kichards under him, old Sam Lawley giving occasional assistance in the field
and advice in the kennel.
From September, 1814, to April, 1815, thirty-six foxes were killed and
fourteen nm to ground.
1815. — The (so-called) Derbyshire hounds in these two seasons had many
excellent runs, and at the close of 1815, Sir John Broughton, then occupying
Drakelowe Hall in the minority of Sir R. Gresley, made proposals to purchase
the pack for five hundred guineas and hunt the country on a subscription of
eight hundred guineas. A subsequent offer being made by Mr. Osbaldeston to
take the hounds at that sum and re-unite the Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and
Leicestershire countries, hunting four days a week, without any but a kennel
subscription, a meeting was called at Lichfield and his offer accepted.
August, 1815. — Mr. Osbaldeston commenced the season with a very full
pack, entered under his own management, and a handsome stud of hunters, but
very soon fell out with the Sudbury portion of his countr3\
1816 to 1841, — Various circumstances occurred to augment this ill feeling
during the wintei*. Another meeting was called in the spring at Sudbury, when
the gentlemen present requested Mr. Osbaldeston to discontinue drawing their
covers. Those of the Atherstone district took a different part. Mr. Osbaldeston
continued to hunt this division, and it has since remained a separate country
under him. Sir B. Graham, Lord Lichfield, and Mr. Applewhaite. In the
autumn of the year, Mr. Meynell, then a member of the Pytchley Hunt, and
occasionally resident at Hoar Cross, where he kept a pack of full-sized harriers,
bred from the best foxhound blood of Quarndon, very liberally offered to take
the vacant country, which he has since, for a quarter of a century, held, and in
which it is to be hoped he, with his excellent brother and son, may long continue
to enjoy the pleasures of the chase and afford to his numerous friends sport, not
inferior to that which he has this year shown them.
1797]
SUDBURY HUNT VERSES. 15
VERSES BY LORD CURZON UPON SUDBURY HUNT,
1797.
Domino Vernoni ct Vcnatoribus suis
Hoc in lionore pone.
Videre canes ; en Laneus ardens,
Talbotus et Vernon; velox cum Patre Levitus ;
FitzHerbertque sagax ; et acuta voce Laleus ;
Curzonusque inter postremos, ultimus ille ;
Quosque referre mora est ; ea turba cupidine prcedoe
Qua via difficilis, quaque est via nulla sequuntur.
A HUNTING SONG.
By Lord Vernon. — 1797.
Time — " A hunting we will go."
Let's celebrate our noble chace,
Our jovial sportsmen all ;
Long may we thus ourselves solace,
And never get a fall.
Chorus — And a hunting, etc.
Bold Baron Curzon salies (sic) forth
On Quaker or North Star ;
And having of their sense no doubt,
Takes many a fence and bar.
Chorus — And a hunting, etc.
His son when free from law and Pitt,
At Christmas time comes down;
And will (if Vickars * will permit)
Ride either bay or brown.
Chorus— And a hunting, etc.
The Reverend Talbot, sportsman true.
And ever calm and steady ;
The chace with judgement does pursue ;
In drafting ever ready.
Chorus — And a hunting, etc.
The parent of our hunt, old Dick f
We'll greet with cordial glee ;
Tho' now he chiefly makes a nick
That he more sport may see.
Chorus— And a huntiug, etc.
Governor of Hagley. t Dick FitzHerbert.
16 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [179^
Squire Anson, well supports the chace,
The hounds and horses too ;
You'll always find him in his place,
AVhen reynard is in view.
Chorus — And a hunting, ete.
With hunters too he does supply
Each bold and warlike brother ;
When one steed's lame, and must lay by,
He kindly lends another.
Chorus — And a hunting, etc.
Tho' absent, let us Tenant praise ;
He's forward, keen and hearty :
His friendship well deserves our lays,
So cordial to the party.
Chorus — And a hunting, etc.
What tho' our learned Nimrod Lane,
Has oft' been on his back ;
The chace with glee he joins again.
And reaches soon the pack.
Chorus — And a hunting, etc.
The peer * who o'er the hunt presides.
Should have a stanza too ;
For tho' now cautiously he rides,
He often gets a view.
CJiorus — And a hunting, etc.
The gallant Sam f let's not forget,
True vermin as his sire ;
His eagerness at ev'ry hit
The sportsmen will admire.
Chorus — And a hunting, etc.
But were I to recite each name
That joins the jovial chace ;
And try to celebrate their fame,
And give each man his place,
A hunting we should never go.
* Lord Vernon. t ^am Lawley, huntsman.
1797] SUDBURY VERSES. 17
VERSES BY LORD CURZON.
Thanks to my Friend the Worthy Baroa of Sudbury for his excellent
Hunting Song.
Your verse, my dear lord, is complete and refined,
A volume of mirth t'each well disposed mind :
The characters touched with such delicate art,
That few could suggest what your lines do impart :
The morals of hunting you nicely describe,
And shew that we gallop to keep wit alive.
No vulgar profession you make the swift chace,
But pursue it to strengthen the old British race.
On Dryden's advice * we may safely depend,
Not trying to alter, not wishing to mend ;
But in fields and field sports we will follow the sage,
To strengthen the nerves both of youth and old age :
And shew that a gallant and well-trained steed.
Is the only physician we mortals can need.
Hagley, 1797. (Curzon.)
A HUNTING SONG.
By the Rev. G. Talbot, Feb. 2nd, 1797.
'Twas just at the time of the year
When foxes could run and were stout ;
At Sudbury Hall did appear
Of hunters a jovial rout.
II.
The moon it was fair for the chace,
The hounds and the horses were ready ;
The peer he was set in his place,
And Sam he was mounted on Steady.
III.
To the cover he walk'd a foot's pace.
Where the company all did attend ;
Each anxious to join in the chace ;
Each forward to welcome each friend.
* " The -wise, for health on exercise dcpeml,
God never made his work for man to mend."
VOL. 1.
18 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1797
IV.
The fox in the gorse was soon found,
He gallantly sported away ;
And eager was every hound
To distinguish himself on this day.
V.
For an hour and more they pursued
With an ardor becoming their birth ;
Which reynard most sorely had rued,
Had he not taken shelter in earth.
VI.
To the coppice we after drew back.
Another fine fellow to find ;
Not there, but from Maretield, the pack
Coursed a capital fox down the wind.
VII.
Thro' the gorse o'er the park he did hie.
By Broughton and Foston did steer ;
O'er the fine park of Barton did fly,
Where the burst it was very severe.
VIII.
Near the small Car of Longford a check
Gave to reynard relief for an hour :
In the hounds it occasioned no speck.
Nor ever diminished their power.
IX.
From thence by the towns in the note,*
Great care with good hunting combined;
No skirting, no babbling of throat ;
No pushing, no lagging behind.
Near Clifton the fox did then stay :
Dick Fitz,t with an eye that is keen,
Hallow'd Castor, who viewed him away.
And hurried him over the green.
* Yeavely, Edlaston, Clifton. t Richard FitzHerbert, Eaq.
1797] A HUNTING SONG. U
XI.
The pack made their play and did run
Above Ashburn to Bradley old moor ;
Indeed it was very good fun ;
Tho' the horses they thought it a bore.
XII.
O'er the brook, o'er the hills the hounds sped,
By Kniveton to Bradburu they went :
" Old reynard take care of thy head,
For thy stoutness is nearly all spent."
XIII.
For Brassington town then he flew.
But e'er Brassington town he could reach,
They ran out of scent into view.
And fairly laid hold of his breech.
XIV.
Who hoop ! Sam Lawley he cries,
Dick Fitz he did stand in amaze ;
And the company owned with surprise
Such a chace they ne'er saw in their days.
XV.
Then sing not of chaces of old ;
Of your Shirley Park run. Nonsense ! Pish !
And let me (if I may be so bold)
Conclude this poor song with a wish.
XVI.
May the peer remain free from his gout.
May his huntsman and horses be willing ;
May his friends be both active and stout.
And his hounds never miss in their killing.
20 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
CHAPTER 11.
DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY — TRADITION — THE BRADLEY
WOOD FOX — OLD TOM LEEDHAM— HOAR CROSS GOSSIP.
Having traced the course of events in those parts of
Derbyshire and Staffordshire, which practically form what
is now known as the Meynell country, to the time when
Mr. Meynell of Hoar Cross began to hunt it, it seems
fitting to describe the country and its limits. The
accompanying map gives the places of meeting and the
boundaries in 1860, but it is clear that even then its
extent was being curtailed, while at the present time
(1901), hounds no longer go to Black Slough, Beaudesert,
nor Teddesley, on the extreme south and south-west.
Before the South Staffordshire Hunt, as it is now known,
was formed by Lord Henry Paget in 1868, the Meynell
country was bounded on the south-west by a line drawn
from Teddesley through Beaudesert on the south to Black
Slough, a covert three miles north of Lichfield, proceeding
north-east through Catton Hall, Gresley Wood, Swarkeston
Bridge, to Elvaston.
The boundaries of the Meynell country in 1901 are
practically as follows : Between the North Staffordshire
and Meynell territories follow the road from Weston
station nearly to Milwich. Thence follow Uttoxeter and
Stone Turnpike as far as Coton Hayes, include Birchwood
Park (neutral), and still follow turnpike as far as Uttoxeter.
Thence the Dove is the boundary to Ashbourne. On the
north there is now no limit. East of the Derwent the
line follows that river from Shottle to Derby ; thence to
PLACES OF MEETING
OF THE
HOAR-CROSS
1 Catton Hall.
2 Drakelow Hall.
3 Gresley Wood.
4 Bretby Park.
5 Ingleby.
6 Kedleston Inn.
7 Radburn Hall.
8 Spread Eagle.
0 Swarkestone Bridge.
10 Langley.
1 1 Ednaston Lodge.
11a Brailsford Village.
12 Shirley Park.
13 Bradley.
14 Snelston.
15 Cubley Toll Bar.
16 Sudbury Coppice.
17 Eaton Wood.
17a Doveridge.
18 Foston.
19 Longford Hall.
20 Chartley Park.
21 Loxley.
22 Blithfeld.
22a Shugborough.
22b Wolseley Bridge.
23 Bagot's Park.
23a Draycott ClifT
24 Blitlibury.
24a Brereton.
25 Black Slough.
25a Beaudesert.
26 Orgreave.
27 WIchnor Park
27a Yoxall Lodge.
28 Holly Bush HaJI.
28a New Lodge or Need wood.
29 Needwood House.
30 Rangemore House.
30a Ounstall Hall.
31 Henhurst.
32 Rolleston.
33 Egginton.
33a Elvaston Castle.
34 Castle Hayes.
35 Hanbury Village.
36 New Inn on the Forest.
37 Byrkley Lodge.
38 Teddesley.
London: Sainp.son Low, Marston & Co ,V^
AS L.OMOON
DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. 21
the junction of the Trent and Derwent at Shardlow ;
thence to Swarkeston Bridge along the Trent ; thence to
Stanton village, following the road leading to Ashby-de-la-
Zouch as far as Pistern Hill ; thence the road to Wooden
Box ; and then the road to Gresley station, along Seal
Brook to the Mease. This river is then the boundary to
its junction with the Trent, which in its turn bounds
the country by Wichnor to Mavesyn Ridware, on to
Great Haywood to the river So we, which must then be
followed to include Ingestre, and so back to Weston
station.
In Baily's Hunting Directory for 1900 it is thus
described —
" The country, which lies in Derbyshire and Staflfordshire, extends some
twenty-two miles from north to south by thirty miles from east to west. On the
north it adjoins Mr. Chandos-Pole's new country,* lent him by the Meynell ; on
the west the North Staffordshire and Albrighton; on the south the South
Staffordshire and the Atherstone ; and on the east the Quorn.
" The Meynell is for the most part a country of flying fences, and chiefly
consists of grass. The large woods are Bagot's Woods and Forest Banks, on the
Staffordshire side. There is not much wire. Where possible it is taken down,
and, where left up, it is marked with red boards. A well-bred, handy horse
that can jump water is required."
The above is a fairly accurate description. In it you
have denotation, but not connotation, as logicians say.
It tells you what the Meynell country is, to a very
limited extent, but it leaves very much untold. For is it
not, not only " chiefly grass," but the grass-iest country in
England — a delectable hunting ground, where you may
ride all day and never cross a ploughed field, where the
turf is so sound that a horse is seldom distressed, and
where, with a bold heart under your waistcoat and a good
horse between your knees, you may romp over the fences
in the wake of hounds, and lay even money that they will
not get away from you ? What a country, then, must it
have been in the days of that first Hoar Cross Hugo
Meynell, before it was cut up with railways and blemished
* A portion of the hill country near DufSeld, which has not been really hunted
by the Meynell for years.
22 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
with wire ! and when he hunted from Teddesley on the
south to Shipley on the north. In some ways, no doubt,
it was better. Foxes were wilder, probably, for one thing,
but against that must be set the fact that the greater
part of Staffordshire was under the plough. Charles
Leedham was fond of telling how Mr. Michael Bass said
to Mr. Meynell, as all three were jogging along together
one day, " We may not, but Charles will live to see all
this plough laid down to grass." The fences, too, in
Derbyshire were, many of them, great, rough, untrimmed,
bull-finches, the remnants of which may be seen standing
in the fields to this day, no longer as fences, but for shade
and shelter. Through a kind of magnified smeuse in
these, Mr. John FitzHerbert used to tell us that their
ponies would creep, and pound horses, which could neither
jump over nor crawl through. Not but what such men
as the Squire of Radburne of that day, his brother the
Rev. Reginald Chandos-Pole, planter of Parson's gorse, the
Rev. G. Buckston of Sutton, and his brother of the
cloth, the Rev. F. W. Spilsbury of Willington — known
respectively as the creeping and the flying parson — or Sir
Matthew Blakiston, could and did go where the hounds
went. If the country has a fault, it is that it is small —
small in extent, and small as to its enclosures — and it
may be an advantage or the contrary, according to how
you look at it, that the fences, nowadays, are not large,
though what they lack in size they make up in multitude.
It is, as some one said, a case of all jumps and no fields.
You are always in the air, and, if a man does not like
jumping, he had better not come to Derbyshire. In
Staffordshire the enclosures are larger, and the number of
people out much smaller, so there is a sensation of having
much more room. "A handy horse that can jump water
is required." No truer sentence ever was penned. To
enjoy yourself with the Meynell hounds you must have
a horse which you can twist, turn, and stop, and ask to
jump at the shortest notice, and, in Derbyshire especially,
he must be willing to face water. The brooks are not
DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. 23
very large, as a rule — in fact, in the Guards' Point-to-point,
the Sutton brook, one of the widest, was the last obstacle
in the race, and not a horse failed to jump it — but, in the
Radburn country especially, they are always getting in
the way. One peculiarity is that your horse has almost
always to jump either up or down, through the hedges
being mostly set on low banks or cops, and on account of
the undulating surface of the land. The ditches, too,
though not over wide, are ill-defined, so that, altogether,
he fares best who rides slowly at his fences. We always
flattered ourselves that the Meltonians, who used to come
by special train years ago, tumbled about more than we
did through neglect of this precaution. In these halcyon
days such men as Mr. Chaplin, Sir Frederick Johnstone,
Captain Tempest, and others, were wont to do battle for
pride of place with Lords Stanhope, Alexander, and
Berkeley Paget, the redoubtable FitzHerbert family, Mr.
Clowes, the Messrs. Buller and Boden, and many more,
and it is related, that, at the end of a capital burst from
Radburn, when hounds had been ridden clean off the line,
Mr. Meynell Ingram murmured that " all went well till
white-headed Bob " — a familiar sobriquet for that fine
horseman, Captain Tempest — " sat down to race the
leading hound."
When it has been mentioned that the country is
seamed with innumerable lanes into which it is often
diflicult to jump, and out of which it is not seldom
impossible to do so ; when attention has been drawn to
the fact, unluckily too true, that there are hardly any
landowners or farmers who come out with the hounds,
in this year of grace 1901, nothing is left to be urged
against one of the most charming districts possible. A
captious critic, indeed, might complain that there are too
many foxes. Yet, what says Beckford, when his corre-
spondent cavilled at this same thing? "Believe me, it
is a good fault. I should as soon have expected to have
heard your old acquaintance. Jack R., complain of having
too much money." But foxes could never have been quite
24 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
as numerous in Beckford's time as they have been in this
country for the last three seasons. " However, it is not
without a remedy," he continues ; " hunt the same covers
constantly, and you will soon disperse them. If your
pack be strong enough, divide it ; hunt every day, and
you will catch many tired foxes."
To return, however, to the geography of the Meynell
Hunt, it may be interesting to mention that the hill
country near Duffield, which is described as having been
lent to Mr. Chandos-Pole, and as having not been hunted
for many years, was what was once known as the Doning-
ton country, and which included all the Derbyshire
part of the South Notts country. It is most difficult
to find out when it was hunted by Mr. Meynell, or when
abandoned. In the Annals of Sporting, 1826, occur these
words : —
On Thursday, January 5th, these hounds (Mr. Meynell's) met at Coxbench,
and, after a very excellent run of one hour and a few minutes, killed their fox
handsomely.
Mr. Sitwell, of Stainsby, writes on April 31st,
1901 :—
I know that our country was originally hunted by Mr. Meynell, of Hoar
Cross, but it is not within my recollection, and I am seventy-five. My earliest
recollection is when the Marquis of Hastings hunted the country about sixty
years ago, or thereabouts ; but I believe previous to that the country was hunted
for a time by the celebrated Jack Musters. On the death of the Marquis of
Hastings, the Donington Hunt was formed — Sir Seymour Blain and Mr. Story
of Lockington being joint masters. After this there was an interregnum, when
the country was taken up by the late Mr. Musters, who hunted it up to the cattle
plague year (1865-66), when, in consequence of the objections raised by the
farmers to the hunting, he gave it up. I never heard of a run from Hayes Wood
into Leicestershire, but believe there were several from Horsley Car to Atlow,
which must have been in Mr. Meynell's days.
In looking over the old meeting-places of Mr. Meynell's
Hunt from the years 1823-1831, Little Eaton Toll Bar,
Duffield Bridge, Morley Turnpike, Shipley, Chaddesden,
Stainsby, Horsley Park, and Coxbench frequently
occur.
When Mr. Musters gave up in the above-mentioned
year, most of the foxes were destroyed, and this part of
TRADITION. 25
the world was not enlivened with the sound of hound and
horn till about the year 1878, when Mr. P. H. Cooper and
Mr. Rolleston were Masters of the South Notts. They had
a bye-day one Saturday in Horsley Car, and found a fox,
which they ran over Breadsall Moor and lost at Smalley.
After that, owing to Mr. Sitwell, of Stainsby, and the
exertions of the Masters of the South Notts, ably backed
by the Messrs. Feilden, of Horsley, the coverts were re-
stocked with foxes, and the country has been regularly
hunted ever since. Will those who once saw him ever
forget Mr. Robert Feilden's famous horse, the Robber?
He was a great, plain, bay horse, with a fiail-like tail,
which he carried very high, and was a rare fencer and an
astonishingly stout horse, as may be gathered from the
fact that he always did two days a week except when he
did three. Mr. Feilden had an instinctive notion of the
run of a fox, besides knowing every gate and gap. It was
amusing to see him followed by a gang of timid riders,
and to note their dismay, when, at length, the old horse
lobbed over the inevitable boundary fence, and left them
pounded and flabbergasted, as in Leech's famous picture
of the squire's second horseman.
But this refers to comparatively modern times, in the
seventies, and it is necessary to put the clock back some
fifty years, to the time when Mr. Hugo Charles Meynell,
in 1816, with twenty-eight and a half couples of hounds,
kenneled at Hoar Cross, took the field with Thomas Leed-
ham the first as huntsman, and his son Joe as whipper-
in, and, apparently, but a short stud to carry them.
Tradition has it that Mr. Meynell started with a pack of
foot-beagles, and that Tom Leedham, being then in the
stables, became his right-hand man in everything connected
with the hounds. Later on the beagles developed into
harriers, their followers were mounted, and Leedham,
having been advanced to coachman, now added to that the
role of huntsman, and so by degrees was evolved the Hoar
Cross Hunt of 1816. The squire, though a great hounds-
man, was not addicted to hard riding ; but it must have
26 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
been from lack of inclination more than from want of
determination, for a more determined-looking man never
lived. He had a trick of catching hold of the cantle
of his saddle when jumping a fence. His brother, the
admiral, a tall man, like his elder brother, and a remark-
ably handsome one to boot, was equally devoted to hunting.
He spent the winter at Hoar Cross, and the village people
say that, on his arrival, his first visit was to the coalyard,
and, if there were not seventy tons of coal in it, off he
would go again, exclaiming, "Do they want to freeze us
to death ? "
The Leedhams were always an outspoken race, and
between old Tom the first and the squire there seemed to
be the sort of feeling which so often exists between the
faithful old family servant and the young master, whom
he has taught to ride and so on, and cannot help looking
upon as a boy. Thus, old men say that once, when the
squire went poking at a fence, till his horse stopped, old
Tom roared out that he would spoil every horse in the
stable. Next morning Mr. Meynell said, " You shall ride
this horse to-day, Tom ; " and the latter replied, " I'll ride
the devil." And ride him he did, waking him up with such
refreshers down the shoulder at the first few fences as
fairly astonished him, and he jumped as he had never
done before.
There are so few alive now, who know aught of those
old days, that recourse must be had to what scanty
chronicles there are. The " Druid," in his rambles, tells us
how he unearthed old Tom AVingfield, somewhere between
Ashbourne and Kedleston, and how the veteran, still hale
and hearty at eighty-four, late in the fifties, told him how
" he quite remembered the Meynell family keeping harriers
and following them with poles." He had heard, too, of
the Bradley Wood fox, in the first Mr. Hugo Meynell's
time, and with this one he expressed the very deepest
sympathy. " It was his wont to break instantly at the end
of the wood, towards Ashburne, and they as regularly lost
him at the end of a mile. At last they discovered that he
THE BRADLEY WOOD FOX. 27
ran the top of a hedge, and Mr. Meynell had five couples
of hounds posted at that point. He accordingly went
away the next time straight for the Peak of Derbyshire,
and was lost near Hopton. Mr. Meynell had gone home
early, and, as Kaven brought the hounds back to the
kennel about four o'clock, he opened his dressing-room
window, and ordered him to throw them into Bradley
Wood once more, as he had just seen the hunted fox steal
back." As to " the country people's story about a fox
crossing the road before the hearse, as they brought him
from London," he didn't believe a word of it. But this
he did know, that " Mr. Meynell never killed a fox
unhandsome, only that once."
In his second ramble the " Druid " again brings us a
step nearer our own time. Discoursing pleasantly as he
always does, in his inimitable style, of Mr. Meynell
Ingram's hounds, grandson of the Mr. Meynell mentioned
above, " Mr. Heron," he tells us, " was always very fond
of Mr. Meynell's hounds, and it was through him that Mr.
Meynell Ingram got a good deal of his grandfather's blood "
(of which Lord Vernon had so much at Sudbury) " back to
Hoar Cross. . . . When he succeeded to the Hoar Cross
country, with old Leedham as huntsman, Fallacy of the
Cheshire Bluecap and Nelly of the Meynell Stormer
blood were given to him by Mr. Heron, but both of them
were so ill with distemper that they were hardly fit to
bring. He lost Fallacy out cub-hunting on Needwood
Forest Banks ; and she went home again, and entered so
well, that Mr. Heron felt it much more of a duty than a
pleasure to write and inform his friend of her return.
Nathan,* who had become a very popular stallion, was by
Pytchley Abelard from Nelly, one of whose daughters,
Nightshade, had a great litter by Belvoir Easselas, which
produced three good stallion hounds, Rummager, Reveller,
and Roman, all black tan. Reveller was a very clever
hound, but unfortunately got poisoned, and Mr. Meynell
* The " Dniid" makes a slight mistake here. Nathan was by Bertram, who was
by Pytchley Abelard.
28 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
Ingram bred a good deal from Roman, whose best daughter
was Hyacinth. But we must not forget old Agnes
by the Hoar Cross Abelard from Ringlet by Belvoir
Governor. She is fourteen years old, and, as her Alaric
and Adeline are right able proxies, she wanders about like
a fat Mrs. Armitage of the kennel, along with Hostile by
Sir Watkin's Admiral, who was making most peaceful
overtures to the haymakers for a share of their supper
when we caught sight of the pair. Agnes had well earned
her ease, as she never did wrong, and would pick out the
scent at four cross roads, when nothing else could do any-
thing, and even when she was eleven and quite deaf, she
could hunt the line by herself."
A lucky chance brought the author into contact with
James Gamble, who had been for thirty-six years in the
stables and kennels at Hoar Cross, and who was able
to remember old Tom Leedham the first as a very old
man, coming out hunting on a grey pony. He described
him as "a very rude man," and very possibly he was
so to a small boy of twelve years old. " Joe Leedham was
a fine horseman, and his brothers, Jack and Tom, whipped
in to him. They had three horses apiece, and Joe's
favourites were Wimbush and Morrison. Then, later on,
there was Vanguard, a great, upstanding chestnut, with a
blaze face. Tom rode him. The young squire was very
fond of Aaron, bred at Willowbridge, and Alderman ; but
there was nothing better than the bay blood horse, Don-
caster. The young squire rode him at the Sudbury Park
palings, coming from Mackley. The gates were all locked
in those days. He, with Mr. John Mynors of Eaton Wood,
charged them all abreast, and carried the panel clean
away. Why, no horse could have cleared them. At last
Doncaster went a roarer, and Charles rode him in the first
part of the great run in '68. But Jack Leedham was
the best horseman of the lot, whatever he rode had to go
somewhere, either over or through. He used to ride Mr.
Michael Bass's new horses a lot, just to find out what they
were like. Yes, Mr. Bass had a standing bet of half a
HOAR CROSS GOSSIP. 29
sovereign that, whenever they found in Blithfield Gorse,
Jack would be first man over the brook. Then he fell ill,
poor fellow, and the young squire took him to Scotland to
see if the change would do him any good. They were like
that, the Meynells, always kind and thoughtful to those
about them ; a rare house it was, too — never was a better.
Why, not even a dog could come there but he must
have clean straw, and bite and sup. But the change
never did Jack no good, and he had to give up hunting
and turn bailiff. Fred Cottrell, who was in the stables,
took his place. Whose place did Charles take ? Why,
young Tom's, his eldest brother's. Poor fellow, I remem-
ber, we went to Kedleston with the hounds, and Tom had
to come home from huntino^, he was that sick and bad. I
used to drive over from Hoar Cross with the luggage and
clothing to Kedleston inn, and I drove the poor lad home
again to Hoar Cross, and they were going to operate on
him, but whether they did or no I don't remember. But
anyhow he died, and he only nineteen, poor lad. And
then Charles came from Lord Southampton. What was
his favourite horse ? Oh, a four-year old. Daddy Longlegs.
They bred him. He'd jump anything. Tom and the
young squire both rode him afterwards. He had a very
easy, careless sort of seat, the young squire. Would ride
along, paying no attention much to his horse, with his
reins all jingling, jangling. That was how he had his
accident. I don't know if he was throwed or not, but he
starts out from Kedleston inn, and the horse was mad
fresh. Then, just as we'd got our meal ready, back he
comes and walks into the room, with his face white as
death, and he says, ' Don't disturb yourselves,' — he was
always pleasant-like — ' but I'm badly hurt.' And so he
was, for he never came out again. He went shooting in
the Birchwood once after that. Ah, I recollect once how
pleased the old squire was when they broke up a fox just
outside the Hall door, and he came hobbling out in his
white cord trousers to see it. Do I remember the hounds ?
Of course I do. I was in the kennels almost as much as
30 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
the stables. There was Adamant. He was Tom's
favourite " — this dog is twin brother to the famous Agnes,
mentioned by the " Druid." " Then there was Nigel, a big,
strong dog, roundheaded-like ; he was the only one that
could carry the scent across Kedleston Park one evening
in the spring, and they killed their fox at Allestree at six
o'clock, and came on home to Hoar Cross. I remember it
well."
( 31 )
CHAPTER III.
MEYNELL WORTHIES.
SONGS OF THE CHACE.
This morning at work, sowing out of my hopper,
Troth, who should come by but Dick the earth-stopper !
" Now, hark ye," says he, "I think these be hounds,
'Ods bobs, they be Meynell's ; I hear his word ' Zounds ! '
Chorus — With my Ballinamonarna,
The hounds of Quarndon for me.
II.
"If we head him he'll damn us. A view? Tally-ho!
"Whilst the hounds ring the scent from the valley below ;
All carrying a head, sir, like pigeons in flight.
And beating the red coats a'most out of sight."
III.
From Billesdon they come and to Enderby go.
Then, let us observe who rides over them now.
And I think, my dear squire, you may cease your alarm.
For, by Gosh, there's no rider could do them much harm.
IV.
The first in the burst, see yonder, comes Maynard,
Taking all in his stroke, yet obliged to strain hard ;
And next him on Marquis, there's dashing Charles Wyndham,
At a mortal great stride, leaving hundreds behind him.
32 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
See, funking his soul out, Sir Featherstonhaugh,
Tho' thin as a thread and as light as a straw ;
And, screwing behind him, there's Fitz-Herbert Dick,
His horse half-done-up, looking sharp for a nick.
VI.
Next, Dick Knight and Smith Assheton we spy in the van
Riding hard as two furies at Catch-who-catch-can.
" Now, Egmont," says Assheton, " Now, Contract," says Dick,
" By George, then these Quornites shall now see the trick."
VII.
Look, smack at a yawner rides Winchelsea's peer,
So sure to be thrown upon Pyramid's ear.
And at the same place jumps Charles Smith Loraine ;
" He's off." " No, he's not." " He hangs by the mane."
VIII.
There's Villiers, Bligh Forester, Cholmondley and all.
Get stopped by Loraine, and in they all fall,
And Steady Morant, that red-headed bitch,
With Glyn, Peyton, and Foley, are left in the ditch.
IX.
Then, see the Prince Orleans, whose a la distance,
Soon without his thick head which is freedom in France.
Alas ! long before they reached Enderby Hill,
Monsieur blew his 'orse to a von-total-stand-still.
X.
Now, sobbing on Monarch, comes jolly Tom Blower,
Spurred from shoulder to flank, going slower and slower.
"Your servant. Great Prince, dead beat, lost a shoe.
Thank God, I'm not last, see, see, parlez-voiis."
XI.
Next, half up the hill stops heavy Debrew,
His horse taking root and himself in a stew ;
And further behind still, stops Whitbread, the brewer
Who, lost from the first, has made the Grand Tour.
MEYNELL WORTHIES. 33
XII.
Tom Grosvenor and Bob now most desperately flao^,
And Somerset Charles on his new staring nag,
Which tho' he's so done that a foot he can't wag,
Yet of him to-morrow Lord Charlie will bras:.
XIII.
Next, vaulting Tom Graham, on a horse-taking whim.
Is plunging and prancing like the George at an Inn,
Comes spark through the hedge with a thundering crush,
And leaves half his brogues and shirt on the bush.
XIV.
See next, with a star on, there's Bassedon Gordon,
Who wears on his shoulder a fine, flaming cordon ;
And, raving against him, behold Master Stair,
Why, old Nicky himself never saw such a pair.
XV.
Then, whence those three goose-drivers all in a row,
Who are leading their nags on ten furlongs below,
'Tis Cranberry, George, and St. le Heage, from Grantham,
Who always get dosed to a sufficit quantum.
XVI.
Then, far in the rear, observe Savile forlorn,
All legs, laps, and lappets, brisk, sobbing on roan;
How he sticks in the mud, whilst Rutland's great Duke
With Brummel the Beau are in Sysonby brook.
XVII.
Next a tickle-heel sportsman, called Heynife the Black,
We descry in the Vale, half a mile from the pack ;
And further behind him see Heyrick the White,
A sportsman by system who never rides right.
XVIII.
The last in the cluster see Worcester and Muster;
Now Wors-ter sets Muster, and Muster sets Wors-ter,
Now Muster seems burst, sir, and Wors-ter gets first, sir,
Such fumblers as these are not worth a crust, sir.
VOL. I.
B
34 , THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
XIX.
But Bob Lee, where's he, with wond-fisted Cox?
They'll tell you they stopped, having viewed the run fox.
Now with, '"Ware poison, 'Ware poison," hear Conyers Jack,
Both rating and whooping to stop the staunch pack.
{Tune changes to "Duke of York's March.")
XX.
Now, cheering all Nature, Squire Meynell we spy.
And thrilling each heart with his "Hark to the cry."
Look how he caps them on ; hear how he screams.
And makes the whole world glow in raptures extreme.
Chorus — See, see, them all spread.
Lord ! what a noble head !
Tally-ho ! the hounds in full view. Tally ho !
Now, how the scent they drive.
No horses can with them live.
Hark away ! hark away ! they to Enderby go.
Then as we trudge home we pass Master Swaddle,
Whipping Pastime before him and carrying the saddle.
"Good people," says he, "I'm afraid she will die,
Tho' I've bled her myself in her mouth and her thigh."
" Now, let's to the alehouse," says Dick, " for a while.
And drink our old Master in cups of the mild.
And as we sit boozing it over the fire,
Toast happiness, health, and good sport to the squire."
These doggerel verses, though possessing no poetical
merit whatever, are of interest as preserving for us the
names and peculiarities of the leading men with Mr.
Meynell's hounds. The greatest, the oldest, and most
famous of these must, of course, be Hugo Meynell the
First, the Father of Fox-hunting. AVhen we say " the
First," we mean from a hunting point of view, for doubt-
less there were many previous Hugo's ; in fact, Baron
de Grente Mesnil, the bosom friend of the Conqueror,
from whom he was descended, was Hugh or Hugo.
The Hugo the First with whom, however, we are con-
cerned, was born in 1735, at Bradley Hall, near Ash-
bourne, which had been purchased in 1655, from Sir
The Famous Hugo Meynell.
Generally known as the Father of Fox=hunting.
From a painting:
by
Sir Joshua Reynolds.
In the possession of the
Hon. Mrs. Meynell Ingram
at Hoar Cross.
.llan^sM osuH aoomB^ arlT
..jiciilnuri-xoT to lariifiT oriJ «b nuonA ^llBTanaD
.>;bIonx3J^ BurlaoL nicl
t>riJ io noia83K8oq aril ril
rnin- r»I Ildn^^aM .&nM .noH
. .«otD "iboH Jb
K'^-Zc/^Jli^ai i'A Jc
MEYNELL WORTHIES. 35
Andrew Kniveton, by Alderman Francis Meynell. In
1753, being only eighteen years of age, he bought 'Lord
Ferrers' hounds, and commenced his career as M.F.H.
at Langton Hall, on the borders of Leicestershire and
Northamptonshire. Mr. Boothby, "Prince" Boothby,
as he was called, lived with him, and he, with Lord
R. Cavendish, contributed towards the expenses of
hunting the country. For forty-seven years was JNIr.
Meynell staunch to his first love. It was only natural
that such devotion should have great results. The out-
come of it is the modern system of foxhunting. This
he achieved by hunting later in the day than his pre-
decessors, so that his fox was fit to run through having
by that time digested his supper. To meet this advan-
tage to the fox, he paid such attention to breeding hounds
for nose, stoutness, and speed, and was so successful in the
attempt, that his pack became the fountain-head from
which flowed the best blood in every kennel. He paid
the greatest attention to feeding and conditioning, always
attending to the former personally, and was very careful
about walks for his puppies. Hard riding was not in his
line, and it is said that the modern style of crossing a
country introduced by the Flying Cliilde of Kinlet, by no
means met with his approval. Yet he gave a lot of
money for his horses, and contrived, as a rule, to be witli
hounds, being as anxious to secure a good start as any
thruster of to-day at Ranksboro' Gorse.
They tell a story of a wonderful run, from some-
where in what was once known as the Donington country,
ending with a kill on Leicester racecourse, and of how,
towards the end, a Leedham, who was riding the second
horse, parallel with an impervious bullfinch, remarked
to his companion, " We shan't see the old squire
again ! " When the Master's voice from the other side
of the bullfinch exclaimed sarcastically, " Won't you,
though ? "
Everybody has written of his teacupful of veal for
breakfast ; of the tincture of rhubarb in his flask ; of his
36 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
giving Farmer Jack a quarter of an hour's law before
throwing off ; and of his recognizing Concord's voice when
that hound gave tongue in a small gorse, after Lord
Sefton had taken over the hounds. These are the only
anecdotes which have been preserved of a man about
whom there must have been a hundred better ones to tell.
He was the first to establish order and discipline in the
hunting-field, though before his day it is doubtful if any
was necessary.
" Ere Bluecap and Wanton taught foxhounds to scurry,
With music in plenty, oh, where was the hurry?"
There was probably not much emulation in riding in
the times " when each nag wore a crupper, each squire
a pigtail," and rode his snaffle-bridled horse over timber
at a stand, or led over, as the case might be, and a
neighbouring squire, the parson, the doctor, and a farmer
or two watched with intelligent interest the doinojs of
'&'
" Invincible Tom and invincible Towler,
Invincible Jack and invincible Jowler,"
as they went towling along, never off the line of their fox,
throwing their tongues like very bloodhounds, and, in
all probability, killing him in the end if he kept above
ground and daylight lasted. Very good fun it must
have been, too, but Mr. Childe, above mentioned. Lords
Villiers, Forester, Cholmondeley, Foley, Sir Henry Peyton,
Sir Stephen Glynne, Messrs. Loraine Smith, Ealph Lamb-
ton, John Lockley, George Germaine, John Hawkes, and
the like, altered all that, and laid a burden grievous to be
borne on the shoulders of M.F.H.'s yet to be. They, in
their turn, might take a lesson from the Arch-Master of
their craft, who kept his field in order more by his good-
humoured pleasantry than by the assumption or exercise
of any authority over others. When two young and
dashing riders had headed the hounds, he remarked, " The
hounds were following the gentlemen, who had very
kindly gone forward to see what the fox was about." Or
MEYNELL WORTHIES. 37
again, " The fox came out of the gorse close to my horse's
heels, then came Cecil Forester, then my hounds ! "
The diary of Thomas Jones, who was his first
whipper-in, in 1790 and subsequent years, was printed
and published. Though it is now extremely rare, there
are at least two copies in this country, one at Norbury
and the other at Byrkley. The following extracts, which
deal with days in the Meynell country, are interesting as
being the first printed records of fox-hunting within its
boundaries : —
August 2Stk, 1791.— Bradley Plantations, Two brace. Found in Shirley
Park ; ran hard at times, and killed at Mayfield. One hour and twenty-three
minutes.
September I3th, 1794.— Met in the Plantation. Found, and ran awhile there,
and killed. Went away with another, running by Ashbourne to near Mappleton,
and killed.
October lOtJi, 1705.— Met at the Plantation. Found, ran about there for awhile
and went to ground. Then found in the bog, ran very hard for twenty-five
minutes and killed in the gi-avel pit. Then found in Shirley Park, came away to
the plantations and killed ; about one hour and a half.
October IStJi, 1798.— :Met at Bradley Kennel. Tried Thornley's Gorse, did no
good. Found two or three foxes in Gerard's Gorse ; ran there twenty minutes,
and killed. Then found in the Plantations, came along by Corley, by the Ridges,
by Gamble's and Hough's, near to Atlow, back by the Lime-kilns to the Planta-
tions, and went to gi'ound. Horses we rode — The Shark ; Chestnut horse ; Dixon.
Week's hunting and a hill run.
This is all in the diary which concerns this country.
Mr. Meynell married first, in 1754, Anne, daughter of
]VIr. John Gell, of Hopton, by whom he had one son,
Godfrey, who died in infancy, while the mother also died
in 1757. In 1758, he married again, his choice falling
on Miss Boothby Scrimshire, the sister of his friend.
Prince Boothby. By her he had two sons, Hugo, born in
1759, and Charles, born in 1768, who won the first
steeplechase run in Leicestershire — eight miles from
Barkby Holt to the Coplow and back again — and who
subsequently became Master of The Royal Tennis Court.
Hugo married Elizabeth, daughter of Charles, Viscount
Irwin, through whom his son eventually succeeded to the
Temple Newsam estates in Yorkshire. He himself died in
38 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
1800, from a fall from his horse, predeceasing his father,
who lived till 1808.
The following is a description by Nimrod of the per-
sonal appearance of the great Father of Fox-hunting. He
used these words : " Although forty-one years ago, I have
a good recollection of his face, and still better of his
person ; his grey locks more than peeping from under his
black cap, and his keen, ay, piercing eye. I remember,
also, that he sat rather on one side of his saddle, as if he
had one stirrup shorter than the other, and was without
spurs, but kept kicking his horse's sides with his heels,
not at all afraid of going the pace over all kinds of ground.
His appearance was extremely sportsmanlike."
If the grandfather began his career as a master of
hounds at eighteen, the grandson was not slow in follow
ing his example, for he could not have been more than
eighteen when he started his harriers, though he was
thirty-three when he became Master of the Hoar Cross
Hunt. Who were the men who came hunting with him
to compare the good qualities of " those three famous
bitches from Mr. Heron — Fallacy by General, and Nelly
and another of the Meynell (Quorn) Stormer blood : of
Nathan by Mr. Meynell's Bertram out of his Nelly, which
was descended in a direct line from Stormer and the Quorn
blood on both sides ? This Bertram was by Lord Althorp's
Abelard (Mr. Warde's famous Charon sort) out of Mr.
Meynell's Bridesmaid — the grand-dam of which bitch was
given to him by Jack Raven, huntsman to his grandfather.
She was got by Ranter — out of Bonnybell, a favourite
bitch of the latter 's, which the huntsman used to swear by."
The men? Well, of course, there- was a Chandos-Pole
or two; Sir Henry Every, a bold man on a good horse,
with Mr. Frank Wilmot always ready to sell him one of
the right sort; Mr. R. Peel from Burton End; Captain
Drury from Hilton, a hard rider; the Eev. G. Leigh,
desperately fond of hunting, and a hard rider in the same
sense as Mr. Jorrocks of immortal memory ; the Rev. F.
W. Spilsbury from Willington, before mentioned ; two
MEYNELL WORTHIES. 39
Messrs. Holdens, the squire of Aston, and the rector ;
and the Rev. H. Vevers of Cubley, who had a hump on
his back, and rode well. People said the hump broke his
fall, so he had not so much cause for fear as the others.
The celebrated actor, Mr. Young, too, used often to stay
at Hoar Cross and have a day with the hounds. No one
went much better than the Rev. German Buckston of
Sutton. He it was who dropped his watch in the Egginton
meadows in the great run from Eaton Woods to Horsley
Car, eighteen miles as the crow flies, and at least twenty -
five miles as hounds ran. A good story is told of his
engaging a keeper who was a noted vulpecide. Naturally,
all his friends lost no time in telling him what a mistake
he had made. " Have I ? " he said. " Well, he will kill
no foxes of any one else's now, that is quite certain ; and
he knows that he will leave here the first time my coverts
are drawn blank." To prevent this disagreeable contin-
gency, the keeper used to bag a fox by means of a terrier
and a sack from a small earth which he knew of, and place
a man with the fox in a bag in a fir tree in one of the
coverts. When the hounds came, he used to shake the
fox out of the bag, when, the boughs breaking his fall,
the latter used to arrive safely on the ground. In
the end. Old Tom Leedham smelt a rat, and called
out one day, with a grin, " Another of your bag ones.
Tommy ? "
There was no more ardent fox-hunter of the old school
than the Rev. Charles Landor of Colton, brother to Walter
Savage Landor, the poet, who was himself once with a
tutor at Ashbourne. Mr. Charles Landor came of a good
old Warwickshire family, and was a great friend of Mr.
Meynell's. He used always to stay with the Rev. F. W.
Spilsbury at Willington for the Derby week, where Sir
William FitzHerbert also came to live in 1838, thus
making the third in a very sporting trio, who combined
an ardent love of the chase with considerable intellectual
abilities. Mr. Landor was very fond of telling an anecdote
about how he and his father used to occupy the family
40 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
pew after a substantial Sunday early dinner, and of how
they used both of them to go to sleep. If the son woke
up first, it was all right ; but if the father found the son
asleep, he would rouse him with a hearty shake, accusing
him roundly of having no sense of religion, and predicting
all manner of evils, and the certainty of a bad end, if he
persisted in such reprehensible conduct. Mr. Landor was
hunting when Joe Leedham carried the horn, and towards
the end of the latter's time things were in a poor way.
He was all for "Eleu boick" at the first check, and Mr.
Landor used to mutter, "Confound that ' Eleu boick.'
It's all up now."
The Rev. F. W. Spilsbury was another of the right
sort, and a brilliant horseman, riding very straight, and
always preferring to go fast at his fences to have a " smack
at the lot," as Mr. George Tyrwhitt Drake once said, as
he and Mr. Hatfield Harter were coming to a great tangled
boundary fence with no very clearly defined taking off
place and every likelihood of a ravine on the far side.
Mr. Spilsbury sowed the acorns, from which sprang the
oaks in the plantations which bear his name, in 1824. He
brought up his son to tread in his own footsteps, and the
latter clearly remembers a wonderful run from Repton
shrubs nearly to Leicester, when his father did not get
home till they were all in bed.
The Rev. George Inge was another of the followers of
Mr. Meynell's hounds in those early days, being a splendid
example of the " Squarson of the old school." The
Morning Post had the following notice of him when he
died, in December, 1881 : —
A typical country 'gentleman of the old school, the Rev. George Inge, of
Thorpe, has recently passed away at the ripe age of eighty-one. Those who
have frequented the sale-yard at Tattersall's at any time during the last half-
century, cannot fail to remember the genial face, the dignified mien, and old-
fashioned garb of the subject of this notice, who was one of the best judges
of horseflesh in England. At all Midland gatherings, and especially at the meets
of the Meynell and Atherstone packs, the appearance of the squire parson of
Thorpe was as much a matter of course as that of the M.F.H. himself. I
leave others to speak of him as the kindly parish priest, the good landlord,
the sound man of business, a friend of the poor, and confine this notice to
MEYNELL WORTHIES. 41
a few reminiscences of Mr. Inge as a sportsman, a task for which many years of
intimate acquaintance has qualified me. For his early friends and the scenes of
liis youth we must recur to the days of Osbaldeston, and other celebrated
masters of the Atherstone hounds, to Sir Francis Lawley, Shawe of Maple Hayes,
and suchlike Staffordshire worthies and noted sportsmen.
Quite at the beginning of the century Lord Vernon hunted what is now
the Meynell country, together with the present Atherstone country, minus the
Rugby side. At the age of five, the subject of this memoir made his dehnt in
the hunting-field, being carried on a pony in front of a groom, and concealed near
the earths in Thorpe Gorse, to get a view of the fox, as soon as he should be
afoot. From that date up to the season of 1881, the old familiar figure has been
seen at the Atherstone meets, having hunted with sixteen successive masters of
that pack. This list includes, besides those above alluded to, such noted names
as Lord Anson, Applewhaite, Anstruther, Thomson, and others.
Mr. Inge's sporting recollections went back as far as his undergi-aduate
experiences at Christ Church. One of these was in company with George
Osborne, afterwards Duke of Leeds. The two friends drove a tandem to Bicester,
and arrived at the meet just in time to see a fox found in a half-acre spinny,
bearing the name of Goddington cow-pastures, and they ran him to Tingewick
wood. Their instructions had been to follow Wingfield, the huntsman, late first
whip to Osbaldeston, with the Atherstone. Eiding a hard puller from one of the
Oxford stables, young Inge missed his pilot down a ride, and came to a stake-
bound fence that bounded the wood. The puller landed hira over it, but
he lost his seat, and recovered it only just in time to follow Sir Henry Peyton
over the next fence. At the first check he was one of the three who were " in it "
and (he always added) " neither my pilot nor Sir Henry, who had chaffed me for
my narrow escape from a fall, were among that number." At the end of an hour
the hounds ran close into the town of Buckingham, and came to a check in some
suburban gardens. At this point Jimmy Jones, lately a fellow-student at West-
minster, now become a parson, appeared suddenly on the scene, and dismounting,
helped five hounds bodily over the garden wall. Shortly afterwards, the two
couple and a half ran into the fox handsomely in the open by one of the Stowe
lodges. Soon after leaving college, our friend's health gave way, and he was
ordered to winter at Madeira. Eight of his Oxford chums gave him a fare-
well dinner—" they are all dead and gone now," he used to say, with a shake of
his head— but at tiie last moment the sentence of expatriation was commuted to
a sojourn at Torquay, and, as a matter of fact, Mr. Inge never went beyond the
four seas up to the day of his death.
*******
It was not until the year 1870 that he succeeded his elder brother, Colonel
William Inge, in the Thorpe and other family estates. Thenceforward his ample
fortune enabled him to follow his favourite pursuit to his heart's content. The
pi-esent writer has seen him ride well to hounds during the last five years. His
parish duties were always light, for at the census of 1871, the population of
Thorpe numbered fewer than fifty persons, thirty of whom were servants at the
hall. The warden of All Souls, of which college Mr. Inge was a fellow up to the
time of his resignation, about a year ago, when on a visit to his old friend, com-
mented on the small size of the church. " Yes, it is three feet shorter than the
dining-room," was the reply. " Ay," remarked the curate, " and the living not
half so good ! "
Mr. Inge continued to enjoy life and his quiet country pursuits up to within
a few weeks of his death, which event took place in the beginning of August.
42 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
Like the Shunamite, he lived and died "among his own people," and has left a
name beloved and revered, the memory of which will long survive in the
neighbourhood.
Two other early subscribers to the Hoar Cross Hounds
were Sir Robert Gresley of Drakelowe, a very forward
rider, and Mr. Smith of Elmhurst, near Lichfield, the
father of Mr. C. W. Jervis Smith, of Brocksford Hall.
( 43 )
CHAPTER lY.
NEEDWOOD FOREST — MICHAEL TUENOR — MALABAR.
THE OLD BROWN FOREST.
I.
Brown Forest of Mara ! whose bounds ^\•ere of yore,
From Killsborrow's Castle outstretched to the shore,
Our fields and our hamlets afforested then,
That thy beasts might have covert — unhoused were our men.
II.
Our king the first William, Hugh Lupus our Earl,
Then poaching, I ween, was no sport for a churl ;
A noose for his neck who a snare should contrive.
Who skinn'd a dead buck was himself flay'd alive.
III.
Our Normandy nobles right dearly, I trow,
They loved in the forest to bend the yew bow ;
They wound their "recheat" and their "mort" on the horn,
And they laughed the rude chase of the Saxon to scorn.
IV.
In right of his bugle and greyhounds, to seize
Waif, pannage, agistment and windfallen trees,
His knaves through our forest Ralph Kingsley dispers'd,
Bow-bearer in chief to Earl Randle the first.
V.
This horn the Grand Forester wore at his side.
Whene'er his liege lord chose a hunting to ride ;
By Sir Ralph and his heu's for a century blown.
It passed from their lips to the mouth of a Done.
44 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
VI.
Oh ! then the proud falcon, unloos'd from the glove.
Like her master below, play'd the tyrant above;
While faintly, more faintly, were heard in the sky.
The silver-ton'd bells as she darted on hi<?h.
VII.
Then rous'd from sweet slumber, the ladie high born,
Her palfrey would mount at the sound of the horn;
Her palfrey uptoss'd his rich trappings in air.
And neigh'd with deliofht such a burden to bear.
VIII.
Vers'd in all woodcraft and proud of her skill,
Her charms in the forest seem'd lovelier still ;
The abbot rode forth from the abbey so fair,
Nor lov'd the sport less when a bright eye was there.
So sings Mr. Egerton Warburton, favoured of Diana and
the Muses, and his spirited verse applies equally to our
own Needwood Forest. To those who have waofed the
mimic war of the chase over its diverse and undulating
surface some account of its history cannot fail to be of
interest. It was a part of the ancient Duchy of
Lancaster, and, as such, was attached to the Crown. It
was twenty-four miles round, and stretched from Tutbury
to Abbott's Bromley in one direction, and from Marching-
ton to Barton-under-Needwood in another, and it con-
tained eight thousand acres. Local tradition gives it a
yet wider range, as far as Chartley, in fact, and Cannock
Chace. Anyhow, it held forty thousand head of deer,
which must have required more than eight thousand acres
to support them. The greater part of it consisted of turf,
" the best," says an old writer, " that ever I saw for riding
and hunting on." And so is what is left of it to-day, to
judge from Bagot's Park. Possibly the surface was less
hillocky then than now, but it could not have carried a
better scent. What fun that old Venison Oak, on which
they used to hang the deer for gralloching purposes, in
NEEDWOOD FOREST. 45
front of Tumor's Lodge, must have seen in the fifteen
hundred years during which it has stood there, and what
changes ! Gone are the severe forest laws ; gone the ex-
chisive rights of chase, and with them too have vanished
ranger and axe-bearer, bloodhound, highwayman, and
deerstealer alike. Only the oaks and the hollies remain,
and where will you see them in greater perfection ? Take,
for instance, the Swilcar Oak, between Woodroffe's Cliff
and Marchington Cliff, which girths twenty- one feet four
inches at a height of six feet from the ground ; the
Kaven's Oak near Yoxall, which served as a guide-post
for travellers ; or the noble one in Bagot's Park, called
the Beggar's Oak, under whose spreading branches a troop
of cavalry has been drawn up. If trees have feelings, or
if, as the Arcadian Myths would have us believe, each has
its Dryad, how these must have mourned when a prosaic
Act of Parliament, which took effect on Christmas Day,
1802, "divided, allotted, and enclosed the forest ; " when
the axe and the mattock felled the tree and grubbed the
thicket, and the deer, which escaped the peasant's gun,
took refuge in tlie neighbouring woods, where some of
their descendants still remain to baffle hounds and help
the fox to this day. Lord Vernon, who was ranger,
disapproved strongly of the measure, telling Mr. Michael
Turnor, his deputy ranger, that " the poor need wood," and
that is the derivation of the name. Certain people, it is
true, had rights of pasturage, and wood for fuel and other
purposes, which led to serious disputes, and compensation
was made for them when they were taken away. The
Forest Banks, however, were untouched, and retain all
their ancient beauty, as does Bagot's Park. In the Banks
there is a dingle, known as Bartram's to this day, where
one, Bartram, a fugitive from the law, built a hut, and
remained hidden for years. But perhaps the most
picturesque figure of the time was Michael Turnor, of
whom numerous stories are told. He is described in his
latter years as "an old man of gentle manners, with his
white hair parted across his brow." They come of a good
46 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
old stock, these Tumors, and have held office in and about
the forest for generations, Henry, son of Michael, who
came there from Hollybush with the bloodhounds, living
at Tumor's Lodge, Bagot's Park, as steward to Lord
Bagot till a few years ago. But if old Michael Turnor
had gentle manners, as became his birth, his manner could
be firm enough, as is proved by the way he took the deer-
stealer. This man actually covered him with his gun,
and set his authority at naught. But Turnor bade his
attendant bring his gun to bear on the culprit, charging
him, " Don't shoot unless he shoots me ; but, if he fires at
me, do you shoot him dead." Then, dismounting from his
famous old shooting-mare, Nan, he walked resolutely up
to the poacher. The latter surrendered, but, at the time
of the trial, showed cause why his captor should intercede
for him. It seems that this man and his brother had been
watching a buck for an hour to get a shot at him. At the
end of that time Turnor came by, and away went the buck.
The brother was so angry that he wanted to shoot the
man who had spoilt his shot, and was with difficulty per-
suaded from his purpose. ^4 propos of the bloodhounds, a
good story is told of how they were hunting some deer-
stealers, and how they came to a check at some cottages
by three cross roads — possibly the Robin Hood at the top
of Marchington Cliff. When their attendants came up to
them they found the hounds sneezing and whining, with
their heads up, nor could they be induced to try for the
scent. At last it was discovered that the road had been
freely sprinkled with black pepper, which effectually foiled
the line, so that the deerstealers escaped.
Probably it is not every one who sits on his horse,
watching hounds draw Ash Bank, that knows that a
cottage hard by is the famous Venison Hall, the scene of
an amusing incident and a tragedy, and the home of
Malabar, king of the deerslayers. The amusing incident
is this. Looking out of his window one morning, he saw
a fine buck grazing. He promptly lathered his face, and
shaved off half the week's growth from his stubbly chin.
MALABAR. 47
Then he shot the buck through the window, and went out
to bring it in. Just at that moment up galloped one of
the keepers or, possibly, Michael Turnor himself. "Who
fired that shot ? " he asked sharply. " Didn't you meet
anybody ? " " Well, I heard the gun as I was shaving,"
was the answer, " and ran out to see ; but the rascal must
have gone." Such was Malabar's zeal in trying to find
the offender, that he was given some of the venison
for his pains. " But it was a near shave," he said after-
wards ; " in another minute I should have had the buck
on my back."
The other story is a horrible one. The man who lived
in the cottage, whether Malabar or not is uncertain, had
just finished dressing a buck which he had killed, and the
huge oven at the back of the house was ready heated for
baking pasties. The door of the oven was in the house.
It is turned into a window now, and the oven itself is
pulled down. Hearing a bloodhound coming, and knowing
that he must be caught red-handed, the man snatched up
a smockfrock, and, opening the cottage door, awaited the
hound's coming. No sooner was the latter inside than
the door was slammed to, the dog was enveloped in the
smockfrock, and pushed bodily into the oven, where
the flames and smoke soon ended the poor brute's sufferings.
When the keepers came up they asked the man, who was
standing at the door of his cottage, whether he had seen
the dog. " He came baying by here ten minutes ago," he
said, " but I have not heard him since." No suspicion
fell on him, and he lived to tell the story afterwards.
The Turnors had all been Jacobites to the backbone,
drinking right heartily to the king, over a bowl of water
under the rose ; but by Michael's time any chance the
Stuarts had ever had was hopelessly gone, and he was
well content to serve the powers that be in the persons of
■George HI. and George IV. A j^ropos of the latter there
is rather a good anecdote. His Majesty's ranger was a
crack shot ; in fact, it is said that he never missed a deer.
One day a noble buck dashed across a glade, and Turnor
48 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
hit him fair behind the shoulder, killing him on the spot.
Being a remarkably fine, fat buck, it was duly sent to the
king, who thereupon wrote to the sender to ask which of
his subjects loved him so well as to kill his venison so
artistically. Turnor showed the letter to Lord Vernon,
who returned it, with the pithy remark, " When next you
shoot a deer like that, Turnor, keep one half yourself and
send me the other." His lordship might well relish Forest
venison, for it was very superior to that of Sudbury. At
one time the Leedhams at Hoar Cross always had a buck
sent them by Lord Bagot, and Charles used to say Bagot s
Park or Chartley venison beat that of Sudbury hollow.
The latter, he said, was like boiled veal. Lord Vernon
often wanted to exchange a buck with Lord Bagot, to get
a change of blood, and the latter was all for giving one,
but no exchange would he make.
The exact date at which Bagot's Park was granted to
the Bagots is lost in the mist of ages, and the grant must
therefore be of great antiquity. Without a doubt it is
the oldest enclosed deer-park in Staffordshire. Several of
these were granted by the Lords of Tutbury Castle,
amongst them being Castle Hayes, Stockley, Hanbury,
Agardsley, and Barton. Until the Great Rebellion the
fee-simple of these vested in the crown, but Bagot's Park,
Bromley, Hoar Cross, Hamstall Ridware, and Wichnor^
seem to have been granted absolutely to private individuals
at divers times. Besides about four hundred fallow deer
of the old black and dun Forest sort, the thousand acres
of Bagot's Park holds about fifty red deer and a Hock of
white goats with black horns, heads, and shoulders, said
to have been given to the Bagot of the day by Richard H.
There are very similar ones to be seen in Normandy still,
and they may have been imported thence. The white
cattle of Chartley, akin to those of Chillingham, boast a
still longer descent ; for, though they were driven in from
the Forest in the reign of Henry HL, when Chartley was
enclosed by the Ferrers, they are said to go back to the
domestic cattle introduced by the Romans.
NEEDWOOD FOREST. 49
It would be impossible to speak of Bagot's Park
without mentioning the name of Henry Turnor, who
lived at Tumor's Lodge, and was so well known and
respected. There was always lunch at his house for
congenial spirits at the end of a day's Woodland hunting,
when he would delight his audience with his inexhaustible
fund of anecdotes of old forgotten days. He was a capital
sportsman, a fine horseman, and a first-rate shot. What
music those bloodhounds must have made in the woods
hunting in the outlying deer, and there was real melody
to be extracted from the odd-looking little twisted horn,
which the huntsman carried. There was a famous outlier,
which had been hunted from Wentworth in Yorkshire,
and which was harboured in Sudbury coppice, in April,
1840. Finding him there, they ran him to Thatched
Lodge, where he was taken, his antlers sawn off", and he
was turned into Basfot's Park. No one had the best of
Henry Turnor on his black horse, which was sold for a
good price in consequence, nor of his son, Pickering, on
a little Welsh mare. It is popularly supposed that blood-
hounds are slow, but no one found them so that day, and
it is, perhaps, worth mentioning that, one day, when one of
them. Ruby, was loose in front of the house, the Meynell
hounds, in the old squire's time, swept under Venison
Oak in full cry. Ruby joined in, and led them all the
way across the Park, to the astonishment of the squire,
who asked Turnor how he thought a cross would do
" between my foxhounds and your bloodhounds ? " These
hounds were kenneled in the corner of the wood just
behind the Lodge, which still bears the name of Dog-
Kennel Wood. There is a story told of how Rockwood
found his way home from a point between London and
Dover, a distance of from one hundred and fifty to one
hundred and sixty miles, in three nights and two days.
It seems that a draft had been sent up in the van to be
sold at Tattersall's. Rockwood and two or three others
were purchased by the King of the Belgians, and were
duly started on their way to Dover. Rockwood escaped
VOL. 1. ^
50 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
en route, and at about daybreak on the third morning
there sat the old dog baying in front of his master's door
in Bagot's Park.
An interesting paper in the possession of Mr. Pickering
Turner gives the names of all the difterent copses which
make up Bagot Wood, and which were planted by the
Tumors during the last three hundred years. Pheasant
coppice is mentioned as having been planted by Sir Charles
Bagot, who was the first Governor-General of Canada, one
hundred and eighty years ago. It is so called because
the first pheasants on the estate were shot there. It was
grown from acorns ploughed in by bullocks. The age of
the trees in the Forest Banks is given as being seven hundred
years, and the row of beeches by the Beggar's Oak was
planted to protect it one hundred years ago.
There are, probably, no straighter roads in England
than those which traverse the Forest. Local tradition
asserts that the reason of this is that they were laid out
in London by some one who knew nothing of the lie of
the land, and simply took a bee-line from point to point.
Like most other tales, it is half false and half true. The
map of the roads ivas made in London, but the maker was
Mr. Calvert, who lived at Houndhill, and who was agent
to three Lords Vernon, so he probably knew the country
as well as most people. He gave as his reason for laying
out the roads as he did, that he had travelled straight all
his life, and he liked other people to do the same. He
was maternal grandfather to Mr. Albert AVorthington,
who is the authority for the above statement. Mr. Calvert
was a great sportsman, and kept a pack of harriers. He
was, also, a noted shot, and there was a match between
him and the celebrated Lord Hawke to see which could
kill the greater number of partridges between daylight
and dark with a single-barrel muzzle-loader. The match
came off in Shropshire, and one sportsman killed about
one hundred and three birds, and the other one hundred,
but Mr. Worthington could not be quite sure about the
exact number of birds, or as to which was the winner.
NEED WOOD FOREST. 51
The name Houndliill was originally Howenlmll. Hol-
lingshead gives the following fact concerning it : —
Egelred, being greatly advanced, as he thought, by reason of the marriage,
devised upon presumption thereof, to cause all the Danes within tlie land to be
murdered in one day. Hereupon, he sent privie commissioners into all cities,
boroughs, and towns within his dominions, commanding the rulers and officers in
tlie same to dispatch and flee all such Danes as remained within their liberties
at a certain day prefixed, being St. Ryce's daj'^, in the year 1012, and in the
thirty-fourth year of King Egelred's raigue (the 12th of November). Hereupon, as
sundry writers agree, in one day and hour this murther beganne, and, according
to the commissions and instructions, executed. But where it first beganne, the
same is uncertain ; some say at Wellowyn in Hereforth, some at a place in
Staifordshire called Hown Hill, etc.*
There were certain curious old customs connected with
the Forest, which, though well known to every one living
in the neighbourhood, may not be so to others. One of
these was the Tutbury bull-running, which was inaugurated
by John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, w^ho was lord of
Tutbury Castle, and the lands adjoining it. Mr. Hugh
Bennett, in Longmans Magazine, says : " It was connected
with the holdinoj of an annual court of minstrels at Tut-
bury, at which the king of the minstrels and other officers
for the ensuing year were chosen. After service in the
parish church, and a feast in the Castle hall, the bull was
turned out by the prior, at the Abbey gate, for the diversion
of the minstrels. Solemn proclamation was made by the
steward that ' all manner of persons give way to the bull,
none being to come near to him by forty feet, or any
way to hinder the minstrels, but to attend his or their
own safties, every one at his peril.' Then the bull, having
' his horns cut off, his ears cropt, his tail cut off by the
stumple, all his body smeared over with soap, and his
nose blown full of beaten pepper — in short, being made
as mad as possible,' was turned loose to the minstrels to
be taken by them, and none others, within the county of
Staflford, before the setting of the sun the same day. If
they failed to do this, and the bull escaped over the river
into Derbyshire, the minstrels lost him ; but if they could
* Eedfem'a " History and Autiquitiea of Uttoxeter."
52 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
take him, and ' hold him so long as to cut off but some
small matter of his hair, and bring the same to the market
cross, in token that they had taken him,' the bull was
then their own, and they finished the day by baiting him
with dogs in the usual way, and then killing and dividing
him amongst them. From this origin, Tutbury bull-
running came down shorn of none of its barbarities almost
within the nineteenth century. After the dissolution of
the Abbey, the bull continued to be given by the Earl of
Devonshire, who held the estates. The court of minstrels
dropped out of the scene, but this festival day, the
'morrow of the Feast of Assumption,' August 16th, was
still the well-known 'Tutbury day,' and became the
occasion of a celebrated annual contest between the men
of Staffordshire and the men of Derbyshire, the former
trying to capture the bull within their own county, the
latter to drive him across the Dove into Derbyshire. The
rivalry at last became so keen as to be a serious matter
of contention in point of manhood between the two
counties, and so many skulls were fractured, and bones
broken, that shortly before the close of the eighteenth
century the Duke of Devonshire refused any longer to
give the bull, and the rustic sport was abolished." The
reason for it seems typical of the old couplet —
"Staffordshire born and Staffordshire bred,
Strong i' th' arm and weak i' th' head " —
though, for that matter, Derbyshire folk also claim this
distinction as their own.
There was nothing easier in the old days than to get
lost in the Forest, and a bell used to be kept ringing at
Belmote Green, near Anslow, as a guide for the lost folk.
A curious story is told of how Henry VII., while huntino-,
lost his way, and eventually found himself near the cot-
tage of a man named Taylor at Barton-under-Needwood.
Without discovering his identity, the king asked Taylor
to guide him back to Tutbury. It so happened that the
latter's wife had just presented him with triplets, and these
NEEDWOOD FOREST. 56
were shown to the king. When he got back to Tutbuiy,
he told Taylor who he was, and promised to educate the
three boys. Neither did he forget his promises. One of
them rose to eminence, and rebuilt the church at Barton,
where to this day may be seen a shield between each pillar
bearing alternately the device of three roses, and three
boys' heads to commemorate the end of the wars of the
Roses and the adventure of the king and the triplets.
54 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
i CHAPTER V.
RADBURNE.
What a long vista of delights, both past and future, does
not the very name open out for any follower of the
Meynell Hounds ? Radburne ! It is, indeed, a word to
conjure by. Are you not sure of a fox, and of, as a rule,
a good fox, and of a ride over the cream of Derbyshire ?
It seems, besides, to be as impregnated with the flavour
of fox-hunting, as Hoar Cross or Sudbury itself, for while
Lord Vernon, the Hunting Lord, was hunting his vast
■country, the Squire of Radburne of that day, great-grand-
father of the present squire, with Wagstaffe for hunts-
man, had many a rare good chace after fox and hare on
all the Radburne side. The following, from the Sporting
Magazine, dated November, 1795, is a sample of the sport
he had —
If you think the following remarkable account of a chace, which lately
occurred with Mr. Pole's hounds, near Derby, worthy of insertion, I am able to
vouch for its authenticity, having myself come from that neighbourhood : — At
eleven o'clock in the forenoon of the nineteenth of last month they threw off
at Eggington Heath, and, quicklj' having found a hare, they went off" in good
style ; and, being pressed very hard for a few rounds, the hare went off to Etwall,
from thence to Radburne, Bredsall, and Horseley (having crossed the Derwent
just above Bredsall), where she was headed back, and crossed the river a second
time, with the hounds and horsemen at her heels, pressing very hard. From the
river she ran for Mickleover, and from thence back to Egginton, where, after a
chace of twenty miles in the space of three hours, and almost without a check,
he was run into view and killed.
Some remarkably bold leaps were taken during the chace ; one in particular
by Sir Henry Every, Bart., which was allowed by all present to be one of the
greatest they ever saw taken. Too much cannot be said of the excellence and
extreme good order of Mr. Pole's hounds ; they behaved, during the chace, with
RADBURNE. 55
uncommon steadiness, and are allowed to be the completest pack of barriers,
for shape, bone, blood, and beauty, now in Derbyshire, or the adjacent counties.
After the chace, the company in the field, consisting of twenty, were invited
to the hospitable mansion of Sir Henry p]ver}', where they continued their jollity
and mirth till a late hour, and departed full of the praises of their worthj'
host.
I am, gentlemen.
Yours, etc.,
A Constant Reader.
Windsor, November 18th, 1795.
Through the kindness of Colonel Chandos-Pole, the
author has had access to a hunting-diary kept by the
former's great-grandfather, and some of the runs are so
good that they seem to be worth mentioning in an account
of the Meynell country, though they have not actually
anything to do with the ]\Ieynell Hounds.
The diary, dated September, 1790, begins with this
maxim : "To keep up twenty couple of hounds, three
couple of whelps should be entered annually, and six or
seven couple bred and sent to quarters. By breeding so
many the pack will be good, and at the same time hand-
some, and you will have no occasion to keep hounds above
six or seven years old."
Mr. Chandos-Pole kept rather over twenty couples of
hounds, at one time he mentions twenty-four and a half,
and hunted, on an average, three days a week, while his
places of meeting were Langley, Rough Heynors, Radburne,
Morcaston, Brailsford, Dalbury, Mickleover, Lees, Culland,
Littleover, Bearwardcote, Burnaston, Ednaston, Hulland
Ward, Mansel Parks, Barton Fields, Sutton, Nunsfield,
Trusley, Duffield, Windley, Hazlewood, Muggington,
Ramsden's Parks, and he also went to Breadsall and
Morley.
Though the hounds principally hunted hare, yet they
had many a good chase with a fox, sometimes found and
sometimes turned down. Not unfrequently the fox was
taken alive. Wagstaffe, nicknamed Wag, was huntsman,
and wore what was the Radburne livery, until usurped
by George III. — a red coat with black collar. A good
story is told of how the squire one day heard a great
56 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1792
scuffling in one of the bedrooms, and, going in, found
all the servants trying to suffocate AVagstatfe with a
featherbed. They explained that he had been bitten by
a hound, which was assumed to be mad, and that they
wanted to smother him, for fear of his going mad too and
biting them. But for his master's timely intervention
they would probably have succeeded.
In the diary for January 5th, 1792, we find, "Killed
witch hare. This day John Wagstaffe, late huntsman,
died." There is more than one mention of having run
and lost this particular hare, and it is an odd coincidence
that she should have been eventually killed on the very
day that the huntsman died. The Radburne Hounds
frequently joined forces with the Derby Hounds, Mr.
Cox's, while Lord Vernon used to have a day with them
now and then, so, evidently, matters were amicably
arranged. Horsley Parks was a favourite covert, which
nearly always held a fox, and on November 29th they found
there, and ran by " Farley's, to Eaton, to Morley, to Locko,
about ten miles." In January some southern hounds
seem to have been introduced into the kennel, but they
could go, for, on the 17th, the pack ran "from Osleston to
Lees, to Radburne Common, to Mickleover, to Bearward-
cote, twelve miles in forty-five minutes," and killed.
On February 7th we have, " A bag fox from Park Hall,
at Langley Green, to Bowbridge, to Mackworth, caught
alive in Kedleston Inn Yard." On Monday, March 7th,
they had the run of the season: "A bag fox from
Repton Shrubs, Langley Green to Radburne, to Willington,
to Newton, to Bratby, and to earth above Hartshorn.
Twenty miles in two hours." And they ended up the
season with a total of thirty-one brace of hares. There
is a curious entry on October 1st, in the next season :
" Barton Fields, Spath, Cronkhill, Sutton, Ash ; at Ash
dug out alive one brace of foxes, killed six brace of hedge-
hogs." On November 24th they " join Derby Hounds at
Shottle Car, for fox. Found in Car, ran to Wirksworth,
to Cromford, and lost at Alderwasley." Weather did not
1792-4]
RADBURNE. 57
stop them, for we have, " Snow and frost began on
January 3rd, and continued till the 27th. Killed during
snow at Radburne five (hares)." On February 27th, the
Hunt ought to have gone home happy, for they " found
in Langiey AVood a fox, to Mercaston, to Brailsford, to
Hullaud, to Atlow, and lost at Blackwall Car, twenty-
five miles in two hours." This season they killed forty-
seven and a half brace of hares.
On November 17th, in the following season, the good
people of Derby must have been rather astonished, for the
hounds " killed a hare in St. Peter's Parish." On Monday,
November 26th, 1792, they ran "the Brailsford hare
round Langiey, Burrows, and Mercaston, taken alive
between Hodskinson's and Brailsford." December 4th,
1793, was the day of a memorable run indeed, with a "Bag
fox from Park Hall, Bannils Lane to Radburne, to Mickle-
over, to Littleover, to Normanton, to Osmaston, over
river, and killed at Burrow's Ash ; ran twenty miles in an
hour and fifty minutes." Another capital run was on
February 22nd, 1794 : "Hulland Ward. Ran a fox from
Mercaston Mill Dam, to Hulland Ward, to Bradley, to
Hulland, to Ashley Hay, to Ireton Woods, to Blackwall
Car, to Shottle, and lost at Turnditch ; ran two hours
and a half." These hounds must have been stout enough
for anything, for they were out again on the 24th, runnmg
for two hours, and again on the 26th, when they " ran
a fox out of a hollow tree at Barton Fields to Church
Broughton, to Foston, over the Dove to Hanbury. Ran
a hare about Sutton, good sport, took off ; ran two hares
and killed one. In fact, there is hardly a day when they
did not kill. Fifty-eight brace is the total for the season,
and the writer sums up with, " This season not so
good as some before. The fox-hunting very good, better
than the hare-hunting. October, dry. November and
December, good scenting and good sport. January, frost.
February and March, very bad scenting, ground not
heavy, weather mild, very little rain, successful in finding
foxes." The account of the seventh season winds up with,
58 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1802
" A frost set in on tlie 29tli (November) and the hounds
were sold to Mr. Sitwell, of Renishawe, before it broke up
again. In January and February a few hares were killed
by some hounds out of Wales, and from Renishawe, but
no account was taken. One run, however, ought to be
noticed. The hare was found in Radburne near to Lees,
ran to Longford and was killed at Foston, near twelve
miles."
It seems to have been the fashion to bring hounds to
perfection and then sell them, for Beckford says of his,
" When I had got them thus perfect, I did, as many
others do, I parted with them," or words to that effect.
But the squire was not long without a pack, for, at
the beginning of next season, in September, he has
" several days at Radburne and Egginton with the young
hounds which consisted of many sorts and sizes." How-
ever, they did not do badly, hunting sixty days, and
killing twenty-eight brace of hares. There is an entry to
the eflect that " the Caulke Harriers came in exchange for
the small harriers from Wales. At first, from want of
exercise, they were the cause of bad sport, but improved
at the end of the season." They went fast enough the
next year, for on Wednesday, March 4th, we find, "A
bag'd fox at Radburn Parks, to Langley, to Wood, to
Mercaston, over Hulland AVood to Biggin, thirteen miles
in one hour, caught alive."
"On March 12th, 1802, by the Derby Hunt, the
following places were given up to me : Nun's Field,
Grange Field, Osleston, Mr. Holland's Farm at Barton
Fields, south side of Brailsford, Culland, Burrows. The
road to Bradley and the Turnpike road to Brailsford
Bridge, with Bradley Brook, is not given up and includes
all belon^-ino; to the Derbv Hunt in Brailsford."
In 1803, the writer tells us that, "From the engage-
ments in the cavalry, I was out but little this year, and
on that account the hounds were out fewer times than on
former seasons. Out this season forty-two days, killed
twenty-one brace and a half of hares."
1804] RADBURNE, 59
At the end of the next season, 1804-5, there is this
entry : "Out this season fourteen days, killed four brace
of hares. The hounds were not up till very late, and
during the season regular hunting never was intended.
The winter was very cold, and the snow and frost con-
siderable. In February the hounds returned to quarters."
In the summer they were billeted at different farms, a
list of which is given, and only came into kennel for the
hunting season. But space forbids more entries from this
fascinating diary, which ends with the sale of the hounds
to Mr. Nichols, in January, 1807, towards the end of the
seventeenth season, during which they showed extra-
ordinary sport, as may be gathered from the extracts
given above. But there are any quantity of runs as good
which have not been mentioned.
RADBORNE HUNT. CHRISTMAS, 1802.
Of the squire and his harriers the poet shall sing,
And the old woods of Radborne with echoes shall ring.
Here's a health to Squire Pole for the sport that he gives,
And may good health attend him as long as he lives.
Men, horses, and dogs make a very fine show,
George shouts out "Tantara." Away we all go.
They're off with a view in a style so complete.
So matched you may cover the pack with a sheet.
First Kedleston comes dashing on at a rate
That might win him a handicap, sweepstakes, or plate.
So freely he gallops, so lightly he moves,
That his heels need no spurs, and his hands need no gloves.
With garments spread out just like wings in the air,
He skims o'er the fallows as swift as a hare,
On Top-gallant mounted he shows them the way,
Tho' his Scanderbeg's faster, as some folk will say.
Next Wilmot comes resolute, dashing along.
Behind him of natives he soon leaves a throng ;
His grey leaps so well, at no fence will he falter,
In his strength and his speed he's like old Gibraltar.
60 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
Tho' I hear 'tis reported some wicked wag says,
That his horse was a trooper turned out of the greys,
Let that wag ride his best, and, in spite of his banter
That same grey shall show him his heels in a canter.
The Reverend of Radborne is next in the run.
Who has never rode bold since he sold his old dun.
Trotting over the wheat, if he had his due meed.
He should forfeit his tithes, riding over the seed.
Charles Hope, who rode bold when a good horse he had,
Notwithstanding his weight was as brisk as a lad.
Now, mounted on Dumpy, scarce shifts from his ground,
Yet sees half the hunting by nicking the round.
Mr. Copestake shall next of the song have a share,
Who, tho' he won't ride, often finds us a hare.
With gratitude, therefore, we'll give him a word,
For, by finding us hares, much sport he'll aflbrd.
Geo. Western comes last, his Rusher quite done,
Both his horse and his Prospect of hunting being gone.
Does as well as he can, tho' he never is near,
On a trooper or cart-horse lie brings up the rear.
The praise of old Rusher, the theme of his talk.
Till up starts the hare all his gossip to balk.
When he, moaning his loss, and unable to ride,
He jogs at a trot, with Charles Hope by his side.
Few sportsmen indeed with our squire can compare,
In breeding and training his hounds to the hare ;
So here's to the squire ! Fill your glasses around,
And may every glass with a bumper be crowned.
G. W,
Cliristmas, 1802.
This squire was the first to take the narae of Chandos,
which he did by right of his ancestor's marriage with the
heiress of that noble family. His wife appears to have
been a lady of some strength of character, and must have
also enjoyed robust health. For, once, when some one
was complaining in her presence of inability to digest
certain dainties, she is said to have remarked, " I do not
RADBURNE. 61
understand all this talk of stomachs. I have a bag, and I
put what I like into it ! "
On another occasion, when all the county was in
mourning for some very important personage, she appeared
at Derby races dressed in white from head to foot to show
her dislike of what she considered an absurdity, and much
scandalized her neighbours.
The next squire, Edward Sacheverell, whose birth
is quoted in his father's hunting-diary, served in the First
Guards (now the Grenadiers), through the Peninsular War,
up to 1813, when he came home invalided from the effects
of fever. When he arrived at Radburne he found that, in
his absence, his father had died, and he thought his sister
most heartless, because, on his arrival, he found her playing
the harp in the hall. What was news and a shock to him was
naturally unfait accompli to her, the squire having died six
months before. Of course all the match-making mammas
in the county now laid their plans to secure such an eligible
parti as the young squire for their daughters, but he
disappointed them sadly. For at Ashbourne there lived
Mrs. Wilmot, widow of the Rev. Edward Wilmot, late
Rector of Kirk Langley. She had a daughter, a very
lovely girl of seventeen, who had been the young squire's
playmate from her childhood. Without saying a word to
any one he left home one day and returned three days
later with his old playfellow as his bride. They had been
married at Ashbourne at eight o'clock in the morning, and
only six persons were supposed to be present — the bride
and bridegroom, the officiating clergyman, the clerk, Miss
Dale as bridesmaid, who lived next door to the bride, and
another witness. A seventh person was discovered, nearly
fifty years afterwards, to have been present, viz. a little
boy, who had hidden himself in the gallery, and long after
described the whole scene to the youngest son of the
marriage, dwelling on the brown coat and brass buttons of
the bridegroom, and the short-waisted embroidered muslin
of the bride.
His soldierly instincts stood him in good stead during
62 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
the riots in Derby, and its neighbourhood, when several of
the surrounding houses suffered more or less severely.
The rioters sent word that they were coming to Radburne,
whereupon he promptly barricaded his house, and placed
a small cannon on the steps, which he taught his daughters,
amongst others, to fire. He then caused it to be made
known to the rioters that he meant to use it. They did
not come ! He was a noted man with Mr. Meynell
Ingram's hounds, though not so fine a rider as his brother,
the Rev. Reginald Chandos-Pole, and by no means a heavy
man. He died in 1863.
His son, whose initials were also E. S., was not only a
remarkably fine horseman, but one of the best " whips " in
England. In fact, he and the late Duke of Beaufort were
the prime movers in the coaching revival movement — the
squire himself driving several coaches — though it is in
connection with the Brighton coach that his name will
perhaps best be remembered.
"For who so smoothly skuns along the plain
As Beaufort's Duke? What whip can rival Payne?"
So runs one of the musical couplets of the " Chaunt of
Achilles," but, except for the sake of the rhyme, Pole might
well have been substituted for the latter's name.
He was High Sheriff for Derbyshire in 1867, and
rebuilt the wing of the Hall.
There is an amusing story told of how once a worthy
citizen of Derby rode up to him out hunting, with, " Well,
Pole " — pronouncing it as it is written, which the squire
particularly disliked — " what 'ave you got in your flask ? "
"Try some!" the squire said pleasantly — though
resenting the familiarity — at the same time offering his
flask, at which the other took a long pull, thinking it was
sure to be something good. But he made a wry face when
he swallowed it, and a still sorrier one when the squire
said, laughing, " And now I advise you to be off home as
quick as you can. It's my gout mixture ! "
This calls to mind a good story of a man who rode up
Mr. E. S. Chandos = Pole.
From a picture at Radburne
by
Samuel Carter in 1863.
y.d
.f.d8i rii i^jfiuQ faumB?-
EADBURNE. 63
to another, with whom he was not on the most intimate
terms, and began, in the usual sort of way —
"I say, Tom "
" I know you do," was the retort, " and I wish you
would not ! "
But this is by the way. To return to the original
subject.
The " Squire" must have ridden close on twenty-seven
stone in his latter years, but, in spite of it, he could gallop
at an astonishing pace, especially over rough ground, and,
like a good many other welter weights, if their nerve is
good enough, was very partial to jumping timber.
Some years before his death, which occurred in 1873,
when felling a tree, he cut his leg severely, and said at the
time, " It has killed me," and though it did not do so
directly it did indirectly, for it prevented him from taking
walking exercise, and so, perhaps, ruined his health.
There used to be pleasant gatherings in old days at
Eadburne, for what was then known as the Derby week.
This had nothing to do, as might be supposed, with the
famous race, but only with the week when the hounds were
kenneled at Kedleston inn, during the first week in each
month, to hunt the Derbyshire side. This furnished an
occasion for much pleasant hospitality on the part of
Derbyshire people towards their Stafibrdshire neighbours,
and the following- amongst others were welcome ojuests at
Eadburne : —
Mr. Meynell Ingram, Mr. Hugo Meynell Ingram,
Admiral Meynell, William, Lord Bagot, Mr. Hervey
Bagot, Mr. William Davenport Bromley, Rev. Reginald
Chandos-Pole, Rev. German Buckston, Rev. F. W. Spils-
bury, the Cokes of Longford, three of them, Mr. William
Clowes, Mr. Bass (Lord Burton), Mr. Charles Colvile,M.P.,
Mr. Edward Mundy of Shipley, the Wilmots of Chaddes-
den, the Mosleys of Rolleston, Sir Seymour Blane and
his sons, Sir Henry Every, Lord Chesterfield and an
occasional Stanhope, Colonel Gooch, Captain Gooch, Lord
Alexander Paget, and Lord Berkeley Paget.
64 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
The house is, like its inmates, thoroughly English in
character. There is something in its massiveness, and
in the mellowed ruddiness of the bricks of which it is
built, which is entirely suggestive of English country
life.
"Peaceful, graceful, complete English country life
and country houses, everywhere finish and polish, nature
perfected by the wealth and art of peaceful centuries."
So Kingsley wrote in his charming " Prose Idylls," and
some such thought must be in any one's mind, who stands
on the broad terrace in front of the noble Georjrian
mansion, and looks out on the park, with its grand old
oaks, and on the rich, thickly-timbered pasture land
beyond.
Hard by, in the dip below the Hall, is the ancient
church, and by it stood once the old Hall, of which Leland,
in his " Itinerary " (Vol. 8, pp. 25 and 26), in speaking of
" Sir John Chandois, the famous warrior," who died
in 1370, says : "the old house at Eodborne is no great
thing, but the last Chandois " (Temp. Henry VI.) " began
in the same lordship a mighty large house of stone, with a
wonderfull cost, as it yet apeirithe by the foundations of a
man's height, standynge as he left them. He had thought
to have made of his old place a colledge." There was
also tieing-up room for a hundred horses, which gives
some idea of the magnitude of the proposed house, which
was never finished. It was through the marriage of Sir
Peter de la Pole with the heiress of this Sir John Chandos
that Kadburne came to the Poles, who long before that
were settled at Hartington, and subsequently at Moat
Hall, Newborough, whence they moved to Radburne.
About half a mile or so from the house is the famous
Rough, a history of which would include many, if not
most, of the best runs with the Meynell hounds. There is
no better fox-covert anywhere, as it is a tangled mass of
osiers, rushes, and thick undergrowth. It takes a good
deal of drawing too, as old Tom Leedham found to his
cost, when he had drawn it blank, and the present squire's
Radburne.
The Seat of Colonel R. W, Chandos-Pole.
From a photograph
by
The Rev. C. Barnwell.
.alo^^-aobnariO .W .5! lanoloO !o Jb98 aril
rfqBisoiorlq b moiH
RADBURNE. 65
grandfather made him draw it again, when it proved that
he had drawn over no less than a brace of foxes ! No
place is kept quieter than this is, even the squire himself,
in the summer time, never going within at least two
hundred yards of it — a policy, which seems to answer, for
they are nearly always w^ild old Hectors these Eadburne
RouQ-h foxes. Often enoug-li there is a visitor from the
hills, who appreciates a snug, quiet, resting-place, and is
consequently there when the hounds call on him.
VOL. I.
60 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS [1812
CHAPTER VI.
AULD LANG SYNE.
1812-1823.
The preceding cliapters were written from what little
material could be collected, but subsequently, by the kind-
ness of the Hon. Mrs. Meynell Ingram, the writer has had
access to complete diaries kept by Mr. H. C. Meynell
Ingram, from 1812 to 1831, and continued by his son from
1859 to 1871. We have now done with tradition and can
deal with facts. These serve to dissipate some errors, for
in 1816 Mr. Meynell Ingram began to hunt in Derbyshire
as well as Staffordshire, though he did not actually meet
at Kedleston till April 14th, 1818. Where his open-
ing meet for the regular season was held is not clear.
The hounds came to Longford on Friday, November 1st,
1816, but they were at Hoar Cross on Monday, October
21st; Sudbury coppice on Wednesday, October 23rd;
Byrkley Lodge, October 26th ; and Wichnor, October
29th ; and again at Hoar Cross on Monday, November
4th, so which was actually the opening day must remain
doubtful.
From these diaries the fact of the Hoar Cross Hounds
having been originally harriers is definitely settled. There
were nineteen couples in kennel on September 1st, 1812,
of which the following is a list : —
Hoar Cross Old Hall.
The property of the Hon. Mrs. Meynell Ingram.
From a photograph
by
The Rev. C. Barnwell.
.IIbH blO eaon:) nsoH
riqsigoiofiq b mot^
1812]
AULD LANG SYNE.
67
Age.
Names.
SiBES.
Daus.
8
Mira
Lord Vernon's Bertram
Music
6
Wilful
Lord Vernon's Royster
His Gladsome
5
Reveller'^
Roguish/
Busy
Lord Vernon's Ranter
Marplot
Rarity
Bonny-bell
4
Victory
Dauntless
Justice
Fairy
Gypsey
Mr. G. Talbot's Bustler
Lord Southampton's Dragon
Duke of Beaufort Justice ...
Baronet
Mr. Heron's Gilder
His Victory
His Rampant
His Gypsey
Fallacy
His Bashful
3
Warrior
Justice Wilful
Songtress
Mr. G. Talbot's Starling . . . Raritv
Costly
Charlotte
Caroline J
Melody
Reveller
Marplot
Clara
Columbine
2
Nora Mr. Heron's Nelson
Cowslip Mr. Heron's Coroner
Wrangler Justice
Rallywood ' Mr. Talbot's Rally wood
Mr. Talbot's Ruby
A bitch of Lord Derby's
Milliner
Wilful
His Frantic
1
Juvenal
Juliet
Justice.
Roguish
Rarity
Fau-y
Joyful j
Ravager
Fleecer
Justice
Justice
PUPPIES PUT FORWARD APRIL 25, 1813.
Names.
Dreadnought ]
Dragon |
Daniel I
Delia J
Vigilant 1
Vanquisher J
Pontiff )
Pastime J
Wellington 1
Wanton J
Forester 1
Facer J
Conqueror . . . .
Dams.
Mr. Smith's Ramper Dauntless
i
Wrangler Victory
Mr. Smith's Pontiff Nora
Justice Wilful
Wrangler Fairy
Warrior Columbine
68 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1813
In the original list several hounds are mentioned as
having been drafted, on February 4th, to Charles. This
may be Mr. Charles of the Moors. Also hounds are
mentioned as having been sent to Mr. Harbord as fox-
hounds. The question of the origin of the Hoar Cross
hounds is definitely settled, for it was with these harriers,
of foxhound blood, that he began hunting what is now
known as the Meynell country. Even before 1816 he
hunted a fox when he could find him, and occasionally
turned down a bagged one. It is most probable, though
it cannot be ascertained for certain, that the squire
carried the horn, while his brothers, Edward, who was
afterwards in the 10th Royal Hussars, and Henry (the
Admiral), whipped in for him, and Tom Leedham was
kennel huntsman and whipper-in till 1816, when the
latter took the horn. The people who hunted with him
were General Grosvenor, Mr. Harbord, Sir Bellingham
Graham (who, about 1818, hunted part of the South
Stafford country), the Hon. Frederick Curzon, Mr.
Boucherett, Mr. Whitewick, Mr. Chadwick, Rev. C.
Landor, Mr. Meeke, Lord and Lady Anson, Captain
Pole, Mr. Hall, Mr. Saunders, Mr. Shawe, Mr. Arnold,
Mr. Bott, Mr. Harrison, Mr. Robert Peel, Sir L. Salusbury,
Lord Alvanley, Miss Eleanor Sutton, Lord E. Belgrave,
Mr. Jaggard, Mr. Boothby, Lord Bective, Hon. E. Curzon,
Mr. Bromley Davenport, Mr. R. Bagot, Lord C. Talbot,
Sir James Fizgerald, Mr. Kershaw, Mr. Hacker, Mr.
Stone, etc.
The first mention of Tom Leedham occurs March 30th,
1813, when the diary says, "Met Tom with his hounds,
joined him, ran hard twenty minutes, and killed." This
looks as if Tom Leedham at that time was kennel hunts-
man, for Mr. Meynell, with his hounds, was running a
hare when they met. This year they found two foxes,
killed one. At the end of the next year they ran a
bagged fox and killed him. " Afterwards ran a drag
with his head for twenty-five minutes as hard as they
could go."
1817] AULD LANG SYNE. 69
Then comes a most important entry. " First season's
fox-hunting," and the first day was Friday, September
6th, 1816. They found several foxes, and, curiously
enough, hounds were very steady from hare. His hunt-
ing days were not particularly regular. Sometimes he
went out once a week, sometimes twice, and sometimes
three times, as occasion served. During cub-hunting the
famous Nathan, and Bridesmaid, of his grandfather's old
sort, particularly distinguished themselves.
On October 23rd they went to Sudbury, and, after
running a brace of foxes to ground, one at Somersal and
one in the Aldermoor, found in the gorse in the park.
" From there they ran a ring by the coppice, through the
bottoms, round Hare Hill, turned over the brook by
Cubley, almost to Bently Car, across the Ashbourn road,
through Marston, and almost to Kocester, turned to the
right and killed beyond Roston. An hour and thirty-five
minutes — the very best pace. The finest run I ever saw
in this country." Mr. Meynell rode Feeble and had a
fall. Tom Leedham was on Forrester, Joe on Chance.
" Ravager, Racer, Rival, Dragon, and Damsel particularly
distinguished themselves ; also Warrior and Wanton."
On November 1st there is rather an amusing entry:
" Longford Car ; left a fox without finding him ; drew
on to Shirley Park without finding ; went back to near
Bentley, where we heard a farmer had just caught a fox,
turned him out, and ran very hard about ten minutes
and killed him. I rode Feeble. Hounds remarkably
steady."
On March 4th, 1817, hounds found at Hoar Cross,
"went away fast by the Chantry and across the en-
closures to the park, across the brook by Coppice Bank,
where seven couple of hounds got forward, and we were
unluckily halloaed to a fresh fox, which we hunted with
a bad scent over to the sandpits ; went back to look after
the other hounds, and found they had gone by Yoxall
Lodge to Byrkley Lodge, where one hound viewed the
fox all the way to Knightley Park, where we believe a
70 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1817
farmer caught him, as the hound was seen to lay hold of
the fox several times in the field where this man was at
plough."
Wednesday, March 12th, was celebrated for a marvel-
lous run. There is a tradition at Hoar Cross that it was
always a case of " no fox, no claret " after dinner. But
surely the squire might have allowed an exception to his
rule on this occasion, for they met at Longford, " found
at Shirley Park, went away with a middling scent by
Osmaston, through Bradley Wood, to the Park, where the
scent mended and we ran hard across Sturston brook,
over Knyveton Hills, across Brassington Pasture to
Bradbury Rock, where we were halloaed to a red cur,
and two couples of hounds went on with the scent, which
we never could catch, and we lost below Grange Mill,
about four miles from Bake well, an hour and fifty
minutes. A very fine run, most people's horses tired. I
rode Timothy ; Tom, Forrester ; Joe, brown mare. Did
not get home till nine o'clock."
This was at least seventeen miles as the crow flies, but
they do not seem to have thought it anything extra-
ordinary, such wonderful runs did they have in those
days.
On the Saturday, at Bagot's Park, hounds divided —
the squire, with five couples, killing his fox. He then
joined Tom, and the joint pack killed the other. On the
next hunting-day he mentions that several of Osbaldeston's
people were out. March 31st, met at Holly bush. " Found
in the banks, ran very hard for an hour, when the hounds
divided, and part went away. We went after them, but
without success, and afterwards heard they ran their fox
to Chartley." A good ten miles.
They wound up the season with a day in the woods
on April 10th.
They killed fifteen foxes, ran ten to ground, lost
thirty-six, and had ten blank days.
The stud seems to have consisted of eleven horses,
of which the squire had three, Timothy, Feeble, and
1818] AULD LANG SYNE. 71
Rushton, for liis own riding, while the men shared
Pavilion, Forrester, Chance, The Dealer, Whirlwind,
Aaron, brown mare, and Commodore between them.
The last day of cub hunting ! was on October 28th,
at Longford, and resulted in a wonderful day's sport.
" They found immediately and came away fast by
Bentley Car, below Cubley, for Somersal, turned short
back to Sudbury Coppice where he had waited. Went
away again very fast to Somersal and lost him. Very
stormy. We found again in Sudbury Coppice and went
away by Somersal to the Hare Park at Doveridge, crossed
the Dove above Marchington, and went over the en-
closures to Kingston Woods, where Tom stopped them
close at the fox, as nobody but himself, on Aaron, was
with them. Joe's brown mare w^ent into convulsions.
An hour and a half almost without a check — the hardest
day we ever had."
" On Monday, January 19th, 1818. Sudbury. Found
in the bottoms, went away with a good hunting scent
across Cubley bottoms, through Bentley Car to Shirley
Park in fifty minutes. Here I think we changed and
went away again fast, leaving Bradley Hall to the left,
by Thornley's Gorse to Hulland house, and killed him by
Ireton. Two hours and ten minutes from Sudbury.
Many horses tired. A very fine run. I rode Feeble ;
Thomas Leedham, Aaron ; Joe, Need wood."
This was at least thirteen miles as the crow flies.
The sport was very good, but the usual troubles of
a master seem to be beginning, for he twice mentions
hounds being overridden.
They were stopped by frost for over a fortnight from
January 30th, when Sir Bellingham Graham was out.
But evidently this was not much to Mr. Meynell's taste,
for he writes: " On February 10th took the hounds for
exercise into Brakenhurst, found several foxes, and went
away immediately by Holly Bush to the Greaves and
down the banks, came back, and ran to ground at Castle
Hayes. On foot, and saw most of it to the end."
72 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1818
There are two or three more runs in this season which
are too good to be omitted, and those who know the
country will be struck by the directness of them. Evi-
dently they were all with good wild foxes, who had a
definite jDoint to make for, usually at some great distance.
Mr. Meynell mentions somewhere killing the largest fox
he ever saw, which, he says, people told him was a grey-
hound fox. There must have been many of that breed, to
judge from such runs as the following : —
Friday, March Gth. — Eton Wood. Found immediately, and ran about the
wood with a bad scent. At last went to a holloa and hit our fox on to Sudbury
coppice, when the day mended after a thunderstorm, and we went away the best
pace for Cubley ; came under Hare Hill, leaving Boyleston to the left for Foston,
turned again between Longford and Sutton, through Kadburne Car, to Mickle-
over, Mackworth, and ran him into a hollow tree in Kedleston Park, an hour and
forty minutes from Sudbury. Joe's brown mare lay down close to Kedleston,
but very soon recovered and came on. Many horses could not get to the end,
and almost all quite tired. Forester (Mr. Meynell's) the freshest. The best rim
I ever saw in this country.
Those who say that Mr. Meynell was no hard rider
must have judged him from what he was in later years, for
from all accounts he was always with his hounds, and
from his own diary he had quite his fair share of falls.
However much people, in those days at least, may
exaggerate their own performances, yet their diaries at
least are trustworthy, and he mentions having a day with
Sir B. Graham at Hoppas Hays, when there were only four
besides himself with the hounds, and he, for one, had a fall
with his favourite horse, the oddly-named Feeble. He
describes the hounds as being coarse and ill-looking, and
very tonguey.
On Thursday, April 9th, he had another splendid run
with his own hounds. " Found in the Sudbury bottoms,
newlT/ planted, beyond the coppice ; came away almost in
view, through the coppice, by Hare Hill, left Boyleston on
the right, through Bentley Car to Shirley Park, by Os-
maston, and Edlaston to Clifton Toll Bar, and lost him by
Hanging Bridge (at Mayfield). An hour and thirty-two
minutes to Shirley Park. Only three or four people with
1819] AULD LANG SYNE. 73
the hounds. A very good run. I rode Feeble ; Tom,
Aaron ; Joe, brown mare." This was about a nme-mile
point, and at least fifteen as hounds ran.
Tuesday, April 14th, Kedleston. This is interesting as
l^eing the first day that he met there, and hunted that side
of Derbyshire. They had rather a wonderful run, too, for
after stopping hounds from a vixen found at Kedleston,
they drew on to Radburne, where " Sir H. Every put a fox
down, and we ran him very hard by Langley, Kedleston,
Quarndon Car, crossed the Derwent by Little Eaton, and
killed him at Horsley Park, fifty-three minutes, the best
pace. A large field and almost all beat. Several Melton
people out."
Well pleased must the squire have been to have shown
the latter such a gallop, for it is close on a nine-mile
point, and the fox went as straight as a gun-l)arrel back
to his home amongst the rocks at Horsley Car, which he
was never destined to reach.
" Well known is yon cover,
And crag hanging o'er ;
The little Red Rover
Shall reach it no more !
The foremost hounds near him,
His strength 'gins to drop ;
, In pieces they tear him,
Who-whoop ! Who-who-wlioop ! "
They hunted this season sixty-five days, killed seven
and a half brace of foxes, ran five brace to ground, lost
eighteen brace, and had ten blank days. But who would
mind a blank day sometimes, if foxes ran now as they did
then ?
1818-1819
The pack was increased to thirty-two and a half couples ;
several drafts were added from Lord Sondes and others.
Regular hunting began at Sudbury coppice on Saturday,
October 10th, and on the 20th killed a mangy fox at
Kedleston. There must have been some very large drains
74 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1819
in those days, for more than once there is a mention of
running a fox- into one, and a hound, or sometimes two,
getting in and killing him ; Costly, who is the very first
hound in the Meynell Kennel Book, being an adept at
this, which she did several times — once, even bolting
a badger at Kedleston. On the 7th of December, hounds
ran clean away from them between Ireton Rough and the
Lilies, and Joe staked Chance. The squire bought Moses
and Pigg in her place, so next day Tom was on Aaron, and
Joe on Moses, and hounds ran at a tremendous pace from
Blythmore by Newtonhurst, through Kingston Woods,
over the river at Blythbridge, across Chartley Park, up
to Sandon Wood, and round to Fradswell, killing him at
Milwich Heath after an hour and fifty minutes.
On February 2nd they had an old-fashioned day
from Bretby or, as the diarist spells it, Bradby, They
did not do much in the morning on account of the snow,
but in the afternoon they found in Repton Shrubs, and
went away fast by Smisby Common through South Wood,
Staunton Springs, and Staunton Harold, back to South
AVood, where the fox was all amongst the hounds, but
gave them the slip somehow, and they changed and came
away again by Calke Abbey, by the house at Staunton
Harold into South Wood again, where they stopped them.
They did not get back to kennels till near ten o'clock, and
heard afterwards that the hounds killed near Calke.
As an instance of how far foxes travel, there is a
mention of killing in the Brakenhurst a marked fox on
April 5th, turned down by "Trevanion at Sutton," in
November, at least nine miles away, and on the other side
of the Dove. The last day of the season was rather a
fiasco, for, meeting at Bramshall, hounds found a fox in
Draycott AVoods, and ran clean away from every one, and
were found at Stone, where they had lost their fox. This
was on April 13th. They had hunted eighty-two days,
killed nineteen brace of foxes (and two badgers), lost
twenty- eight brace, and ran six and a half to ground ;
and had ten blank days.
1820] AULD LANG SYNE. "5
1819-20.
They began regular hunting on Monday, October 25th,
at Sudbury Coppice, and on Thursday, November 4th, for
the first time, hounds stopped at Kedleston, after hunting
round there that day. They hunted on Saturday at
Radburne, returning to Hoar Cross at night. The
Kedleston day was pretty good, for they found at Farnah,
left Quorndon to the right, ran by Allestree, crossed the
Derwent below Duffield, went over Breadsall Moor, came
back by Horsley Park, on into Hays Wood, where the fox
got a long way ahead of them, and they lost him near
Shipley, after an hour and three-quarters. Mr. Meynell
thought it was a good run, but a bad country. It is
worse now, as there are railways and canals to bother you,
as well as a river.
There was exactly a month's frost from December 24th,
1819, till January 24th, 1820. Towards the end of the
season Mr. Meynell had a day with Lord Anson, who
turned down a fox, which they killed in ten minutes.
After that, says the writer of the diary, they did nothing
but run hare, and I left them.
The regular season ended on March 25th, but he had
a few bye days, including two at Wootton Park on the 1st
and 3rd of April, when he drew right up to Cheadle
Common. Hunted, sixty-three days; killed, thirteen
brace ; to ground, four brace ; lost, eighteen brace ; blank
days, six ; and they found no less than three mangy foxes.
1820-1821.
The pack by this time was increased to thirty-four
and a half couples. They began cub-hunting on August
28th, and had two days ; but it was so dry and hot that
they did not go out again till September 23rd. The
consequence was that the hounds got very wild. On
Thursday, December 7th, they had a capital run from
Shirley Park to Breward's Car and killed. But Mr.
Buckston also killed his horse. The best thing they had
76 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1821
before Christmas was on December 12th, when they found
at Sudbury Coppice, and went away at a tremendous pace
by Marston Park, and, leaving Rocester on the left,
crossed the Dove, ran through Wootton Park, and killed
on the side of Weever Hill. "An hour. The fastest
thing I ever saw. Twelve miles from point to point, and
nobody could live with the hounds. Tom, the black
horse ; Joe, Needwood ; self, Moses. Twenty couples ;
every hound up at the death." *
It froze hard that night, and went on doing so till
January 11th. After the frost they hunted a turned-
down fox from Hollybush, and likewise from Vernon's
Oak ; so it seems as if wild ones were getting scarcer.
On the last occasion the master and servants were
deserted by the whole field, as it rained so hard that they
had all gone home !
Thursday, January 25th, was a wonderful day. They
found at once at Gresley, went away at the best pace to
Bretby, across the Park, leaving Repton Shrubs just on the
left, to Gorstey Leys, through it and on to Calke, where
they turned to the left almost to Swarkstone Bridge and
back to Gorstey Leys, where they went away with a fresh
fox, by Foremark, through Repton Shrubs, by the farm at
Bretby to Newton Solney, through the Folly, crossed the
river, and killed him on Burton racecourse. " The whole,
three hours and a half. An hour and twenty-five minutes
the first time to Gorstey Leys. Almost all horses tired.
One died. I rode Aaron ; Tom, brown mare ; Joe, Sailor.
Eighteen and a half couples. The best day I ever saw in
this country."
On February 10th, again just before a frost, they ran
very hard from Draycott Clifl^ by Chartley and Birchwood
Park, to Draycott-in-the-Moors, and there was no one
with them but Tom on Feeble, and Mr. Boucherett, who
stopped them. Tom did not get back to Hoar Cross till
nearly ten o'clock.
* This was probably the run in which the present Lord Waterpark's father rode
I'avilion, alluded to later ou.
1821J AULD LANG SYNE. 77
From the number of bag foxes which they hunted it is
plain that they were badly preserved ; but, as an off-set,
almost wherever they found one they had a great run, if
there was anything like a scent, and usually a straight-on-
€nd one.
How they managed it on such a short stud of horses
is a mystery ; but they seldom had one lamed, and
they came out twice a week, sometimes with only one
day in between.
Foxes killed, seventeen and a half brace ; to ground,
nine and a half brace ; lost twenty-four and a half brace ;
blank days, seven ; badgers killed, two.
1821-1822.
Early in this season hounds got hold of an otter in the
osier bed at Wichnor, but let him go again, and small
blame to them. Foxes must have been getting scarcer
still in Derbyshire, for the opening day was at Black
Slough, on October 22nd, and he did not even make a
pretence of going to Sudbury, but met at Eaton Wood
instead on the 29th, where there were plenty of foxes.
But he had a blank day at Kedleston on November 1st,
and, on the 3rd, at Radburne, did not find till they got to
an osier bed at Egginton, whence they ran hard to the
Potlocks, and killed.
On January 3rd, 1822, began by finding a fox at
Shirley Park, which they ran to ground at Hulland.
Then they found another not far off, and had no end of a
run for an hour and fifty minutes, though, for once, the
diarist does not tell us where they went. But it must
have been what Dick Christian called "a stitcher," for
Tom lamed Patriot, and, changing on to the brown mare,
got to the end of her, so that he had to stop at Cubley
Parsonage. Mr. Cavendish had mounted Joe on Pavilion,
and he was " completely tired." Some one stopped the
hounds in the end, and as both his men were liors de
combat^ that duty must have devolved on the Master.
78 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1822
Tom was not able to come out on two consecutive days
in January, and the master rode his horses, Patriot and
Fanny, but does not say who carried the horn. Fanny
may have learned her trade by this time, as the first day
Tom rode her in the Walton country she gave him two
falls, and got cast in a ditch to boot. The late Squire
Drake, Master of the Bicester, seldom, if ever, gave more
than forty pounds for his horses, and if any of the men
complained of one of the mounts, he used to say, " Oh, I
dare say he'll do for me ! " and would cheerfully ride him
himself, and, when he rode them, they had to go where
the hounds went. Whether Mr. Meynell would quite go
this length is doubtful, but at any rate what was good
enough for his huntsman was good enough for him. He
seemed to have liked Fanny, for he always rode her him-
self after this. They did not kill on the first of the two
days, and had bad luck on the second, for Dauntless had
hold of the fox by Dunstall, but let him go again, and
he got to OTound.
On Saturday, March 9th, they met at Black Slough,
and it was a grand scenting day, with a drizzling rain.
Towards evening they found a brace at Rangemore, and
hounds divided. Joe had a splitting fifty minutes with
one lot, and caught his fox, while hounds ran clean away
from the squire and Tom and the field, and killed by
themselves somewhere near Rangemore dingle. Mr. Chad-
wick staked his horse.
The last day of the season, April 12th, must have
been a bad one indeed as regards the weather, for the
master stopped at home on account of it, when the hounds
went to Wootton, and he missed a good hunt, for they
" found below Ellaston, ran by Clownam, Marston Park,
Cubley, over the limekilns, Snelston, and killed in
Norbury."
Killed, nineteen brace ; to ground, nine and a half
brace ; lost, twenty-eight brace ; blank days, one.
1822] AULD LANG SYNE 79
1822-1823.
The famous Nelly, by Mr. Heron's Bluclier, out of his
Needful, who traced back to the old Mr. Meynell's Quorn
hounds, was killed this season, but whether kicked or
jumped on he does not say, though he complains more
than once of hounds being " disgracefully over-rode."
Reveller, too, was killed by a kick. They started the
season with thirteen horses, to carry the master and his
two men (for he seems to have dispensed with a second
whipper-in). The horses were Forester, Feeble, Sultan,
Needwood, Fanny, Sailor, Moses, and Aaron, the great
black horse, Patriot, General, who took the place of the
brown mare ; Violante, who was put by for two seasons,
and Pigg. These names are only given because the horses
lasted so long at Hoar Cross, and they are useful for
reference. Mr. Meynell was very soft-hearted where his
horses were concerned, and could not bring himself to
believe that an old favourite was past his work. It seems
almost incredible, but, unless they stuck to the same
names, Aaron and Pigg, not young horses at this time,
were still to the fore, when Joe was huntsman fourteen
years later.
A ]}ropos of the second whipper-in, there is the first
mention in this season of " little Tom " beino- out on
" Landor's mare," and a very good day it was. A curious
incident happened during cub-hunting. They killed an
old vixen at Loxley, and she turned out to be one " that
had been twice brought with cubs to Hoar Cross, and
turned out there, and once to Sudbury."
The opening day was at Longford. On the 25th they
ran at such a pace from Walton Wood, by Catton, and
killed in the river below Drakelowe, after twenty-six
minutes, that all the horses were beat. Mr. Landor had
a rattling fall. But in the same country, on the 9th of
January, after they had been stopped a great deal by
frost, they had an extraordinary run of four hours and
three-quarters.
80 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1823
They found at Catton, " went away immediately to
Edingale, where he was headed, and came back almost
to Catton, turned to the right, and went up to Seal Wood,
through the cover, and away fast, leaving Sweyne Park
and Gresley Wood close on the right up to Brizlincote Hill
Covert, down the valley and up to the Burton road ; left
Bradby (Bretby) Lane on the right, and went by Wins-
hill beyond Newton (Solney), where he headed back and
came by the Cotton Mill almost up to Newton folly ; back
by Winshill to Brizlincote, and the same way he came
back to Seal Wood, where we stopped the hounds. The
finest day's sport I ever saw, and the hounds worked
capitally. Ranter, Reveller, Victory, Bridesmaid, Caroline,
and Juliet, particularly distinguished themselves, also
Dauntless and Bertram. The run was four hours and
three-quarters, sometimes very fast, the hunting beautiful ;
a very large field, but a great many lost the first time
at Seal Wood, and of those who came on only seven or
eight reached the end ; eighteen and a half couples. I
rode Aaron ; Tom, Patriot, tired and slightly staked ;
Joe, sailor ; he and I were the best carried, and Mr.
Meeke."
This last bit is delightful, giving all the credit to the
horses.
On Thursday, February 27th, they met at Markeaton,
and after minor affairs, such as a bag fox killed, found in
Ireton Rough, a fair step from the meet, when a couple
of hounds slipped on, and ran by 'Mackworth and Mark-
eaton, and crossed the road from Mickleover to Littleover,
where the truants, Ramble and Daffodil, were overtaken.
They then ran by Sunny Hill, Hell Meadows, Stenson,
Findern, Potlock, crossed the Trent below Willington,
by Foremark, to ground at Anchor Church. An hour
and thirty-five minutes ; about fourteen miles. The
account ends with, " A very fine run. Fifteen couples.
I rode Aaron ; Tom, Sultan ; Joe, Needwood."
On Friday, April 25th, the Master seemed to have it
pretty much his own way, for, in the morning, they ran
1823J AULD LANG SYNE. 81
very fast from the Greaves by Hanbury to the Hare Holes,
and nobody was with them but the Master, Mr. Landor,
and Joe. Then they found in Frame Bank, Bagot's
Woods, where the hounds divided, and the main body
went away through Kingston Woods and Windy Hall, to
Chartley Moss, where the squire stopped them, as neither
Tom, nor Joe, nor any one else were with him ; but the
next day the boot was on the other leg, for they found
again in Frame Bank, went across the Uttoxeter road,
where some hounds slipped on, and had a capital run by
Blyth Moor, Locksley, Carrick Coppice, Bramshal, and lost
by Beamhurst ; nobody but Mr. Turnor with them. This
was on April 28th, and the last day of the season.*
* The spelling of the names of places is taken from tlie diary, and, as local
people will observe, difters from that which is now in vogue.
VOL. I.
82 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
CHAPTER VIL
THE FITZHERBERTS.
He was no bad judge of either the goodness of land or
beauty of scenery, this first FitzHerbert, who chose
Somersal for his home in the year 1200, or thereabouts,
nor was he of Norbury a bad one either. As you stand
by Selina's elm, as the tree is called, which looks proudly
forth from its lofty eminence on the fair broad acres,
which once belonged to the lords of the manor of Somersal-
Herbert, and see beneath you the delightful old-world
Hall, nestling down in a hollow, where storms beat not
*'nor ever wind ])lows loudly," with the blue smoke-
wreaths rising amongst the immemorial elms, whither
the rooks are winging their homeward way, you feel
that your gaze rests on a " Haunt of ancient peace."
Just beyond the Hall are the oak -palings of its little
park. Higher up on the slope of the hill to the right
is the old oak, the fall of one of whose branches, so
the legend runs, heralds the death of the reigning lord ;
beyond that, again, are fair pastures dotted with oak,
elm, and ash, many a goodly tree, stretching down to
where the Dove, dear to old Izaak Walton's piscatorial
soul, winds its way through lush pastures, where cattle
graze contentedly on some of the richest grass of this
fair Derbyshire land. Against the sky-line the soft
outlines of the Forest Banks, with their fringe of noble
trees, forms a fitting framework to a scene of unsur-
passed pastoral loveliness. A sort of feeling of sadness
steals over you as you drink it all in with softening gaze.
THE FITZHERBERTS. 83
and picture to yourself the generations whicli have come
and gone with their loves, their hates, their feuds, their
ambitions, their friendships, all reduced to one common
level in the quiet churchyard below, whence —
" Owners and occupants of earlier dates
Erom graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands,
And hold in mortmain still their old estates."
Come, let us turn away, let us think of something else.
What is that line wavering through the meadows ? The
brook? The Somersal brook? What, "that stream of
historic disaster ? "
"There in the bottom, see, sluggish and idle,
Steals the dark stream where the willow tree grows ;
Harden your heart and catch hold of the bridle,
Steady him, rouse him, and over he goes."
How easily the hackneyed lines recur to the memory
when the right cord is struck. 'Tis but one step from the
sublime to the ridiculous.
" F for the FitzHerbert family stands,
They can all ride like blazes and haven't they hands?"
What a bathos ! But it cannot be helped. It was the
brook that did it. As to the lines, they were written by
the licensed rhymester of the Hunt about the members of
this wonderful riding family in 1881, and so, probably
with equal justice, could their representative at the battle
of Hastings have been described by the chronicler of the
day, for such horsemanship as theirs is an hereditary gift.
No history of the Meynell country would be complete
which failed to allot a certain space to them, for are they
not as Meynellian as the Meynells themselves, having the
same blood in their veins, and have not two of them
at different periods been termed the Fathers of the Hunt ?
Moreover, in these days, when everything goes by the
majority, the fact of there having been close on a dozen of
them in the field at once, five and twenty years ago,
ought to count for something.
84 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
As far back as the time of the Father of Foxhunting,
the great Hugo Meynell himself, there is a set of verses
describing a run with that worthy, in which these lines
occur —
"And, screwing behind him, there's FitzHerbert Dick,
His horse half-done-up, looking sharp for a nick."
But, nick or no nick, he was forward enough, for there
were but three others in front of him, which is no bad
place for an old man. As these lines were written about
the beginning of the last century, and as the squire died
full of years in 1806, he is fairly entitled to the epithet.
It seems unlucky for him, in the eyes of posterity, that his
name should have been Dick, with its obvious rhyme, for
once more there occurs —
"The parent of our hunt, old Dick,
We'll greet with cordial glee ;
The' now he chiefly makes a nick,
That he more sport may see."
By this time he was evidently old enough to have
arrived at the dignity of being Father of the Hunt No. 1 ,
Sir William of Tissington being No. 2, nearly a century
later.
This Richard FitzHerbert was the last Squire of
Somersal in the direct line, the Tissington ones having
branched off in the middle of the fifteenth century, having
acquired Tissington by marriage with Margaret Francis.
Richard FitzHerbert was succeeded by his sister, who
only survived him a few years. Till then, Somersal-
Herbert had been held by a FitzHerbert without a break
from about 1200. At Miss FitzHerbert's death it went
to her nephew, the Rev. Roger Jackson, who sold it.
Lord Vernon bought most of it, but Lord St. Helens,
the younger brother of Sir William, the first baronet,
whose mother was Mary Meynell, sister of Hugo Mey-
nell, the father of fox-hunting, purchased the Hall and
the land immediately surrounding it, thus preserving the
cradle of his race for his family. He never married,.
THE FITZHERBERTS. 85
and at his death bequeathed the property to his nephew,
Sir Henry, third baronet, who, in turn, left it to his
second son, Col. FitzHerbert. His eldest son, Major Fitz-
Herbert, is now the owner.
Before this, however, in 1845, Mr. FitzHerbert, after-
wards Sir William, came to live there, remaining there till
1866, in which year he went to live at Tissington. His
brother, the Colonel, succeeded him at Somersal, journey-
ing from Nettleworth, like a very Jacob, with his flocks
and herds. He and his wife and the smaller children
came in the carriage, while the elder ones rode, driving
a mixed herd of horses, of all ages, and cattle, in front of
them.
Sir Henry, having been brought up by his uncle
and aunt, Mr. and ]\Irs. Gally-Knight, who were non-
hunting people, did not hunt himself, but was very fond
of riding, so he and his large family, ten in all, used to
make great riding tours, accompanied by the huge, roomy,
family coach, all through the High Peak of Derbyshire.
It was not very easy, as may be well imagined, to find nice,
quiet animals for so large a troop, so, of course, the young
ones soon took to riding " whatever came along," to use an
Americanism, and thus, in learning to sit a wild colt at the
outset, acquired that fine horsemanship for which they
were so remarkable in after life. Naturally the boys
all went hunting as soon as possible, serving their appren-
ticeship with their maternal uncle, Mr. Robert Arkwright,
who lived at Broadlow Ash, and at one time at Ashbourne,
and who kept a pack of harriers. Some of them died
comparatively young, some of them went to live elsewhere,
and Mr. John FitzHerbert, who lived at Hulland and
at Breadsall, gave up hunting altogether when he married
in 1859, so it is with the two elder sons that we are
principally concerned.
The eldest, in the spring of 1819, in his eleventh year,
went to school at Charterhouse. In the autumn of 1826
he matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he
remained till, in April, 1829, he received a Cornetcy in
86 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
the Inniskilling Dragoons, joining his regiment at Knuts-
ford. For four years lie was quartered in Ireland, which
was much more to his taste than the year he spent at
Edinburgh. In 1834 he retired from the Army, and in
the spring of 1835 went to Barbadoes, in which island
and Jamaica the family owned considerable estates.
While in Barbadoes, in December of the same year, he
married Miss Alleyne, daughter of Sir Reynold Alleyne,
of Mesner Hall, Essex, and Mount Alleyne, Barbadoes,
who lived subsequently at Field House, Marchington, and
Barton-under-Needwood, where he died. It may be
interesting to note here that the mother of the Father of
Fox-hunting was an Alleyne of this same family, and not
a Poyntz, as is generally stated by sporting writers, but
his grandmother was a Poyntz.
After his marriage Mr. FitzHerbert lived for a year
at West Farleigh, his father's seat in Kent, and then
came back to Derbyshire. From 1837 to 1841 he resided
at Willington, where he and a kindred spirit, Mr. Spils-
bury, went hunting and schooling young horses to their
hearts' content. At the latter's house there was always
a cheery party for the Derby week — Mr. Landor, with his
tall, gaunt figure, in knee-breeches, silk stockings, and
silver buckles on his shoes ; Captain Arden puffing away
at his gigantic pipe ; and Lawyer Willington, of Tam-
worth, amusing everybody with the life-like likenesses of
Meynell people and their horses which he used to cut out
of paper.
From Willington Mr. FitzHerbert moved to Norman-
ton, in the Atherstone country, till the spring of 1843,
when he stayed at Tissington for a year. Then came a
few months on his father's estates in Jamaica, after which
he settled down, in 1845, to a long spell of Bench-ing (to
coin a word), hunting, and farming. About this time a
little boy asked, " What are you, sir ? " and the reply was,
"I am a farmer." The Eev. Francis Mosley Spilsbury
was curate there, as fond of hunting as the squire him-
self. One day hounds were running hard across Somersal
THE FITZHERBERTS. 87
parish, when the curate got a fall, and his horse fell atop
of him. " Never mind him," roared Jack Bond ; " he
won't be wanted for a week."
Always a very brilliant and daring rider, a light
weight, a most abstemious liver, no smoker, and mounted
on thoroughbred horses, ]\ir. FitzHerbert was very bad
to beat over any country, while he could ride anything.
To him the lines might well have been applied —
" He can tame the wild young one, inspirit the old,
The restive, the runaway, handle and hold ;
Sharp steel or soft solder, which e'er does the trick,
It makes little matter to Hard-riding Dick."
Where the hounds went he went, scorning to deviate
from his chosen line, no matter how formidable the
obstacle. One day hounds came tearing out of the Birch-
wood Hoar Cross, or the Brakenhurst, and with them,
over the boundary fence, came Sir William. By-and-
by Mr. Meynell Ingram said, "There was no occasion to
jump, FitzHerbert ; there was a gate just round the
corner." "How should I know where all your gates
are ? " was the characteristic reply. With this style of
riding it is not to be wondered at that he got many falls.
Even when he was quite an old man hounds ran up
amongst the stone walls. Presently an exceptionally
high one with a terrific drop barred the way. No one
seemed anxious to go first, and the leading men were
huddled up like a flock of sheep. At last Sir William
said, in his quiet, deliberate way, and deep tone of voice,
" Perhaps you will let me come ? " Over he went, on a
horse accustomed to walls, without a moment's hesita-
tion, followed by his daughter, and it was some little time
before any one caught the pair. About the last time he
went hunting the united ages of himself and his horse
were not far short of a hundred. Towards the end of his
time away went the fox, away went the hounds, and away
went he in their wake, with all the dash and fire of a
young man, evoking the half-envious observation from a
slow-going member of the hunt, " There goes the old
88 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
baronet, mad as ever." He might possibly have made
the same remark if he had seen the subject of it set the
whole field at the Melbourne brook in flood, or charge the
Mease, landing dry himself, " the horse not being a good
water jumper," as he observed dryly, though some people
would have thought it a fair performance nearly to suc-
ceed in clearing a river. He always thought an extra-
ordinary good run of two hours and forty minutes from
Loxley at a great pace over the cream of that good
country was the best thing he ever saw with the Meynell.
Miss Meynell went very well, as she always did. It may
have been in this gallop that Tom Leedham, coming up
from behind, called out, "You mun lick and lay on,
missy ! " The fox had the best of it, for it was thought
that hounds never changed, yet they had to be stopped
in the end.
Sir William made his last appearance in the hunting-
field in his seventy-seventh year, riding Tory, a famous
horse bred by Colonel FitzHerbert, and a great favourite
with his daughter. Hounds ran very fast for thirty-seven
minutes from Longford Car, round by the Spath, and
killed near Brailsford. " Squire " Chandos-Pole, who
was then master, presented the brush to his old friend,
who had been in his usual place all through. So, with
him, the ardent flame of the chase was not allowed to
flicker out, as it is in some cases, but burned brilliantly to
the finish. So long as hunting continues in Derbyshire
his name will be connected with it, while its very mention
still conjures up for many of us the familiar figure with
the white hair beneath the hunting-cap, the patriarchal
beard flowing over the breast of the well-worn " pink,"
and the cavalry boots with a peak coming up over the
knee, such as you see depicted in Herring's spirited
pictures.
Charles used to tell an amusing story of how a fox
was killed just in front of a gentleman's house, and of
how the owner was very much put out at the horses
trampling his gravel. The next time Sir William saw
Sir William FitzHerbert, Fourtii Baronet.
1808- 1896.
081-8081
THE FITZHERBERTS. 89
the latter, he asked if he had recovered from his annoy-
ance. " No, I haven't," he answered shortly ; " I call it
most outrageous." " Well, you see," said the first speaker,
" I have made it a practice all my life to go pretty much
where the hounds go ; but you are so totally unaccustomed
to that sort of thing that of course you would not under-
stand it!" Needless to say the cap fitted to a nicety.
He was the first huntinsj-man in Derbyshire to wear a
beard, though his brother, the Colonel, who came to
Somersal in 1866, did likewise. Very white they were
latterly, and people irreverently styled the brothers
" Moses and Aaron." Once Mr. Davenport Bromley, who
also had a fiowing white beard, turned up at the meet
with them, upon which a reverend gentleman, who was
not much of a credit to his cloth, exclaimed, " Hallo, here
are Moses and Aaron and all the prophets ! " Whereupon
Sir William, who thought the remark highly impertinent,
retorted with, " Yes, and you had better take a good look
at them, for you are never likely to see them again."
As a breeder of horses he was fairly successful. Baily's
Beads, by Hurworth, was about the best, and a wonder at
water. He was said to have cleared twenty-eight feet
over the Cubley brook with Mr. (now Sir Richard) Fitz-
Herbert, and got clean over the Foston mill-race, eighteen
feet of open water, jumping twenty -four feet, with Mr.
Beresford FitzHerbert. The latter also had about the
best of it on another good one, Firedrake by Prizefighter,
during the greater part of a memorable run, in 1863, from
Radburne Rough. He slipped into the Church Broughton
brook towards the end, but the pair were up at the finish,
which was near Sudbury station. This was an extra-
ordinary good gallop, and an account of it will appear
elsewhere. Mr. Walter Boden, who was riding a grey,
purchased from Mr. John Wright, will never forget it.
This horse once jumped the palings out of Sudbury Park
with him. The Honourable Edward Coke, of Longford,
and Colonel Reginald Buller on Horninglow, a steeple-
chase horse, were also right in front all the way, while
90 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
Sir Richard FitzHerbert, who was only about seventeen
at the time, had none the worst of it. Charles Leedham
used to say that, up to about this time. Lord Stanhope,
afterwards Lord Chesterfield, used to be about the best
man with the Meynell, especially on Emmeline, or Mad
Moll, " till Mr. Dick FitzHerbert began to ride, when, as
soon as he passed him in a run, his lordship would pull
up, muttering, ' No fun,' and go home." There may have
been as good men as Sir Richard with the Meynell, but
there never was a better. He was a wonderfully nice,
quiet rider, with the best of hands, a strong seat, and, of
course, undeniable nerve. You never saw him flashing
about, jumping unnecessary places, or making himself con-
spicuous ; but the moment hounds settled down to run you
were aware of a long, spare figure in a black coat stealing
to the front and sticking there. He had an extraordinary
quick eye for hounds, was always with them, but never
over-rode them, and no one could ride a young horse
better.
This is all put in the past tense, not because there is
any falling off in the horsemanship, only that, after he
became rector of Warsop, he did not come out regularly
with the Meynell. His two elder brothers, who un-
fortunately died young, were also quite first rate.
Colonel FitzHerbert, too, who dressed very like his
elder brother, in hunting cap, and black boots coming up
over the knee, was just as good as the others. In fact,
with a slight alteration, Mr. Egerton Warburton's lines
exactly fit the case —
" Were my life to depend on the wager,
I know not which member I'd back,
The Rector, the Squire, or the Major,
The purple, the pink, or the black."
It is impossible to decide which was the best. Some
say one, some another ; the fact being that they all
excelled, each in his own way. Sir William was perhaps
the more brilliant and dashing rider, the Colonel could
nurse a horse the best, while the present baronet seems to
Sir Richard FitzHerbert, Fifth Baronet.
• Jynoiija iljt. i .;i?«fTjrlj;ji4 bmrioi>| ifg
„ait^,,j:.S,^.f/Lfc^
THE FITZHERBERTS. 91
combine the good qualities of both. And this brings us
to one of the other sex, the Colonel's daughter, Miss
Mildred FitzHerbert (now the Honble. Mrs. Moncreift).
She was not only a horsewoman of the finest calibre,
equally good on a young one or on a perfect hunter, but
she had a wonderful eye to hounds and a country, and
knew all about it. She wanted no pilot, and to see her
sweeping along on her favourite, Tory, was a treat, for
she knew how to gallop, an art which few men, and
hardly any women, ever acquire. She could turn and
twist with hounds like one of them, while her eye was
never off the pack. Many a time has the writer seen her,
when every one was riding along a lane or road, gossiping,
while hounds were at fault, stop suddenly, pull her horse
round, and jump out of it. Her quick eye had noticed
that a hound had hit the line, while other people were
busy with their own concerns. Perhaps one reason why
she was so good to hounds was that she never lost a
chance through inattention. It seemed a pity that such
an ornament to the huntin2;-field should have been
destined to go and live in Scotland. Miss Rose Fitz-
Herbert (now Mrs. Peacock) was also her father's constant
attendant, and rode well, having plenty of practice on
young ones at home, and her sister. Miss Mabel, was
equally good. In fact, all the family took to riding as
naturally as ducks to water, but, even at Somersal, there
were not horses enough for such a number, fifteen in all,
to go out hunting at the same time. Mr. (now the Rev.)
Reginald was the child of the Rufibrd Hunt, and at ten
years of age was promoted to a home-made red coat and
a hunting cap, as being a sportsman of experience. When
his father first went to Nettleworth the riding of the
members of the Hunt was at a low ebl), people being
pretty much content to ride from point to point as they
did in pre-Meynellian days. Colonel FitzHerbert played
the part of the Flying Childe of Kinlet in that district.
The Rev. Banks Wright is made to express his contempt
for it in the lines where he says —
92 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
" The Rufford ! Bah ! Can I, the pride
Of all the shires, my talents waste,
To Percy's tow-rows over-ride,
And through his deep morasses haste ! "
Not that they did not show fair sport at times, which no
one enjoyed more than the Colonel, yet he was not loth
to exchange " the morasses and the tow-rows " for the
fair pastures of the Meynell country and the Hoar Cross
hounds. So determined was he to stick to the latter, that
he even swam the Dove in flood, in 1849, on his famous
mare, Ada, and had them all to himself for a long time
in consequence.
Some capital horses were bred by him, amongst the
best being Havelock, foaled in 1857, sold at eight years
old to the celebrated " BoIj " Chapman, the dealer, for
a hundred and sixty pounds, who passed him on to Lord
Grey for three hundred and fifty pounds ; Eosy Morn, by
Chanticleer, foaled in 1855, and ridden "in the great run
of 1868 ;" Bengal, by Tufthunter, out of the above mare,
foaled in 1862, who went to Chapman for a hundred and
fifty pounds, and left him with only two hundred pounds
added to the purchase money ! This horse ran second to
Mountain Dew at Lichfield.
These prices are curious instances of the fact that
gentlemen will hardly ever give the same prices to one
another, which they pay unhesitatingly to a dealer.
The Colonel's eldest son, who now lives at Somersal,
served, like his father before him, in the Rifle Brigade.
Like the rest of his family, he was a good horseman, but
spent most of his time in India, where he was an ardent
ahikarri. The old house at Somersal is full of trophies,
some of them obtained at considerable risk of life and limb,
and he was considered a good enough authority on big
game in India to be consulted by his friend. Major Heber
Percy, when writing his contribution to the Badminton
library. The second son, who, like his elder brother, is
a great antiquarian, is Rector of Somersal. The younger
brothers all emigrated years ago to New Zealand.
Colonel FitzHerbert.
jnsdnahxxH ianoiov
^"i'Un^£M>.'>J^^-^''
1824] ( 93 )
CHAPTER VIII.
SPORT IN THE TWENTIES — THE GREAT RUN TO ULVERS-
CROFT ABBEY — SIR PETER WALKER, BART.
They began cub-hunting on the 2nd of September,
1824-25, in the Brakenhurst, killing a cub and a badger,
with the whole pack out, with the exception of two
couples. He had thirty-nine couples.
Some of those who came down to write accounts of
hunting with these hounds describe them as being very
indifferent on a cold scent, but the Master himself says
just the opposite. For instance, he says : " Stone's Gorse ;
found several foxes, and, after running about the cover
for some time, came away by Parson's Brake to Holly
Bush, by Moat Hall to Hoar Cross village ; turned short
back through the gardens and Newboro', back through
Mr. Hall's cover, by Parson's Brake to Hanbury Park
Wood, where we killed. A vixen. Beautiful hunting,
and nothing could excel the perseverance and steadiness of
the hounds, with a bad scent and pouring rain."
The opening day was at Sudbury Coppice on
October 25 th.
They had a lot of good sport, but it is impossible to
mention everything. But there was one day, when they
met at little Eaton, which Joe Leedham, for one, was not
likely to forget, for they found at Horsley Park, ran
through Locko by Chaddesden and Spondou, back to
Locko, and then away by Ladywood to Sandy Acre, close
to Nottingham, and nobody saw a yard of it except Joe,
on Denmark. The date \vas January 13th, 1825. This
94 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1825
was a seven and a half mile point, and at least thirteen
miles as hounds ran.
On the 29th of January, on a very doubtful morning,
when it w^as too hard to hunt till one o'clock, they found
at Eaton Wood. From here they came away fast by
Marston Park across Darley Moor, by Edlastone, by
Blakeley Holt, through Shirley Park, by Bradley and
Hulland, but came to very cold hunting going for Breston,
and gave it up ; it was fast up to Shirley Park, but
towards the end it got much colder, and the ground
became so frozen that they could not make much of it.
As it was, they did not get home till eight o'clock.
On the 31st January, Monday, they had a tremen-
dously hard day, running for five hours and ten minutes,
though by no means straight. To quote from the diary,
" they found in the woods and ran very hard to Locksley
and back to the woods, back again to Locksley, where we
changed our fox, back through the woods to Locksley
again, through Bramshall Park, almost to Beamlmrst by
Uttoxeter, almost to the Banks, turned again to Woodford
Kough, where the hounds viewed the fox two or three
times as he lay down in the hedgerows, but the horses
were all so tired that we could not kill him, as it was
quite dark — the hardest day I ever saw. I rode Sailor ;
Tom, Mr. Chadwick's Grey, dead tired ; Joe, Needwood,
nearly tired ; little Tom, roan mare, but he went to stop
some hounds, and went home."
This was at least twenty-three miles, measured from
point to point.
After such a day as this, it does not sound very
wonderful to run " from Brakenhurst by Foxall Lodge,
through Bannister's Rough to Tatenhill, through the Hen-
hurst, by Anslow, Stockley Park, near Stone's Gorse, by
Hanbury to Coton, almost to the river, across the road
to Draycott Mill, by Hound Hill, over the Dove, almost to
Doveridge, came back by Somersal to Sudbury Coppice,"
where they whipped off in the dark. A note at the end
says, " Wilful and Joyful worked harder."
1825] SPORT IN THE TWENTIES 95
We should think this pretty good nowadays.
This was at least eighteen miles, measured from point
to point.
In March of this year there is the first mention of
Mr. Trevor Yates, who changed horses with little Tom.
Killed thirteen brace ; two badgers ; ran to ground
nine and a half brace ; lost twenty-five and a half brace.
Cub-hunting began on August 22nd, 1825, in Braken-
hurst ; found plenty of cubs and killed one. Oddly
enough, next time they drew it, on September 3rd, the}^
found but one fox. It was so hot and dry that they
stopped till the 14th. Result of the cub-hunting was one
cub, one badger, and two old foxes ! On the last day,
October 22nd, they had a blank day, though they had
drawn Black Slough, Rough Park, Brakenhurst, and
the Birchwood !
The opening day was at Shirley Park, on
October 24th.
The first remarkable day was on February 11th,
from Blithfield, when " they drew through the woods to
Dickson's Hills, found, and came away fast through the
woods, through Kingston on the hills towards Blythe
Bridge, back by Bagot's Bromley and Dunstal, over the
Park and away, by Floyers Coppice, over Uttoxeter high
road, through Loxley Park, almost to Windy Hall, turned
down the hills, across the Blythe, by the corner of
Gratwich Wood, through the middle of Chartley, to
Fradswell, where we changed our fox, ran him through
Birchwood Park, and Draycott Wood, where we all lost
the hounds for some time, found them at last in Draycott
Woods, close to their fox, but it was so late, and all the
horses so beat, that we stopped them. The hardest day
of the season. They were running hard for five hours,
only Mr. Bott, Calvert, Edward Bagot, Self, Henry, Tom
and Joe at the end. I rode Sailor ; Henry,* roan mare ;
Tom, one of Mr. Walmesley's, a little while, and then the
black horse, who went wonderfully stout ; Joe, the young
* Admiral Meyncll.
96 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1826
horse, who proved himself very good. Sixteen couples ;
the hounds quite fresh at the end."
On the 20th they had another old-fashioned run from
Sudbury ; hounds found in the Alder Moor, and a few
couples slipped away, and were not caught till just beyond
Foston Mill. From here they ran by Sutton, and by
Barton Park to Longford slowly, but they got up to him
at Longford Car, and ran fast through Shirley Park and
over Bradley bottoms ; here the inevitable curdog chased
the fox and brought hounds to a check. They hit him
off again, and hunted him up to beyond Hulland, where
darkness overtook them, and they had to give it up.
They were evidently in for a run of sport, for on the
23rd, from Gorsty Lees, they had one of the best runs
they had ever had hitherto. They went away at once,
the best pace, by Ticknall, through the end of Staunton
Springs, through Breedon Cloud, almost to Grace Dieu,
turned over the forest, left Bardon Hill to the right, and
over by Markfield windmill, through the corner of Martin-
shaw, across the Leicester Road, by Grooby, through
Steward's Hays, almost to Bradgate Park. They then
came back along the valley, and killed him at Ulverscroft
Abbey, after two hours and ten minutes, and it was an
hour and five minutes to the first check.
The squire rode Goldfinch ; Tom, Jaspar ; Joe, Pigg ;
and little Tom, Muslin.
This was at least twenty -three miles.
Killed sixteen brace ; to ground, five and a half brace ;
lost, twenty-four brace ; badgers, one ; blank days, three.
A detailed account of the great run into Leicestershire
on February 23rd appeared in the Sporting Magazine of
that month, and is as under : —
February 23rd, 1826.
On this day the hounds of Hugo Meynell, Esq., met at Ingleby House, near
to Foremark, the seat of Sir Francis Burdett, which, however, the worthy baronet
does not often visit, and where, in the days of his father, Sir Robert Burdett, a
gallant pack of foxhounds was kept. The hounds were thrown into an adjoining
covert, which they drew without finding. This excited much surprise, as it was
considered a sure find, and some persons, who reside in the immediate neighbour-
hood, and who happened to be on the ground, were decidedly of opinion that the
1826] THE GREAT RUN TO ULVERSCROFT ABBEY. 97
covert held more thau one fox, although the hounds had apparently run through
it. Hence the observation seemed correct, that, though Mr. Meynell's hounds
are uncommonly fleet, they do not appear to draw well. Moreover, the morning
was far advanced, which, of course, made the drag more difficult to recognize.
However, from a conviction that the covert had not been well drawn, the hounds
were thrown in a second time, and Renard was halloaed off immediately. It was
about twelve o'clock when the fox broke. Though the dogs were close at him,
he flourished his brush as a token of defiance, and went away as if he meant to
run. He set his head in the direction of the straggling village of Ticknall, and
afterwards turned to the left, making his way, by Melbourne coppice, over the
township of Breedon to the Cloud Wood. In it there are remarkably strong
earths, which, I apprehend, were not stopped ; yet Renard did not remain here.
On the contrary, he passed by Spring Wood to Osgathorpe, and, leaning to tlie
left, and crossing the low wood on Charnwood Forest, made away in the direction
of Gracedieu Tollgate to Mr. Cropper's cottage, and, passing the rough, strong,
and rocky covert of Gracedieu Park. Here he turned to the left, crossing Chain-
wood Forest, to Sharply Rocks. I now concluded he would endeavour to shelter
himself in these almost inaccessible fastnesses, where I have seen foxes repeatedly
stop for refuge when hard run, though they frequently lose their lives over the
manoeuvre. For, notwithstanding the numerous holes which the crevices in the
rocks afford, there is not one from which a fox may not be drawn. However,
this gallant chace did not stop, but made away over the Forest in the direction
of Charnwood village, leaving which, to the left, he stretched away for the strong
covert of Bardon Hill, the shelter of which he also disdained, and, leaving the
village of Whitwich to the right, crossed the Bardon grounds for Shaw Lane,
Markfield, by Steward's Haywoods, to Newtomi, whence he directed his course
to Bradgate Park, where Lord Stamford's foxhounds were formerly kept, passed
the mouldering ruins known by the name of Ulverscroft Abbey, and was killed a
little distance beyond them, after a most extraordinary run of two hours. The
distance compassed must have been twenty-five miles, and, though this fox was
pursued by one of the fleetest packs of hounds in England, they did not reach
him till he had absolutely fallen down from mere exhaustion. The mode in which
the fox ran was singular, as I have already mentioned. It is highly probable,
being a dog fox, that he had rambled from Mr. Osbaldeston's Hunt, in which he
was killed, to the place where he was found by Mr. Meynell's hounds.
A Constant Reader.
In au account in the Derby Mercury of this same
capital run, the writer ends up with —
We understand from those gentlemen who were able to keep within distance
of the hounds that they never came to a fault or check during the whole run
which could not be computed in a direct line at less than seventeen miles.
There is rather a curious fact recorded in this year of
how one of the woodmen of Mr. E. Cope had occasion to
climb up a spruce fir tree in Longford Car for the purpose
of attaching a rope to its summit prior to its being felled.
When he was about two- thirds of the way up the tree, he
saw a fine fox, which immediately jumped to the ground
VOL. I. H
98 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1826
and made oS. On examining the tree, he discovered a
sort of den, so pleached and interwoven with branches as
to make a capital place for the fox to eat and sleep un-
molested. Mr. Meynell's hounds had drawn this covert
blank several times this season, and no doubt our friend,
curled up in his nest, enjoyed seeing them. From the
amount of debris of game and poultry, he must have used
it for some time. Perhaps this was one of Mr. Buckston's
keeper's fir-tree foxes, who had l)een gradually educated
up to the idea.
The Hunt Ball on April 5tli this year seems to have
been a great success. " The gentlemen of the Meynell
Hunt Club received the nobility and gentry of the neigh-
bourhood in the new Assembly room. A brilliant company
assembled from 9.30, and dancing commenced at 10.30,
and was maintained till 2 a.m. E. S. Chandos-Pole and
Theophilus Levett, Esq., were appointed stewards for this
occasion. Mr. Levett was unavoidably absent. It was
observed that a greater numl)er of strangers were present
at this ball than usual. Nearly three hundred persons,
from the most distinguished families in the neighbourhood
partook of the evening's festivities."
Mr. Theophilus Levett here mentioned was an ardent
sportsman. He it was who ofi'ered Lord Vernon nine
hundred guineas for three of Sam Lawley's horses, which
sum his lordship was magnanimous enough to refuse. Nim-
rod says : " There were few better riders than Mr. Levett,
a welter weight, and his horse, Banker, will, with himself,
long be remembered in the Atherstone country." Mr. John
Boutbee, Mr. Vaughton, and Mr. Edmund Peel, were three
others who were always in the van when hounds ran.
1826-1827.
Cub-hunting began on the 1st of September, 1826, in
Bagot's Woods, and they found a fine lot of cubs up till
the opening day, which was at Foston, on October 23rd.
There happens to be a printed account of a day in the
1826] SPORT IN THE TWENTIES. 99
middle of the season, which is inserted here to show what
current writers said of the sport.
From the Staffordshire Advertiser, Dec. 9th, 1826.
THE RUN WITH MR. MEYNELL'S HOUNDS ON DEC. 2nd,
FROM BLACK SLOUGH.
{From a Correspondent.)
On Saturday last these celebrated hounds had an excellent day's sport, and
never perhaps more conspicuously displayed their leading characteristics of
turning quick loith a scent and carrying head, as it is technically termed, across
a country. After drawing Vicar's Coppice, Elmhurst Wood, and some other
coverts without finding, it was determined, notwithstanding the unfavourable
state of the weather, not to miss that noted spot. Black Slough Moore, a wild
secluded waste, thickly covered with deep heather and long dry grass, extending
on one side to the Grand Trunk Canal, and surrounded by sheltering belts of fir
trees. It was here picturesque in the extreme, and highly gratifying to the true
lovers of the chace, to observe with what quickness, steadiness, and sagacity,
each hound tried to find, while the motley pack, drawing into the wind, giadually
spread over the waste ; when all at once a fine old fox jumped up from amongst
the heath and broke away, with the gallant pack close at his brush, in a direction
for Curborough Wood and Fradley Heath, up to Hill Farm, and on to Orgi'eave
Gorse. Here, after "hanging" a little in the coverts, he faced "the open"
again, away for Elmhurst Hall, crossed Haunch Brook and the Birmingham and
Manchester turnpike road. A severe burst along the meadows, leaving Seedy
Mill to the left, by Brook End and Longdon windmill, through Jay's Coppice,
across the upper side of Armitage Park, away over the Liverpool turnpike road
above Brereton village, skirted Brereton Hays, leaving the Marquess of Anglesea's
to the left, and on by Startley Head, nearly to the highest part of Cannock Chase,
where very heavy storms of snow and rain unfortunately brought the hounds to a
check, and this " flying fox " fairly " beat them out of scent," after a very fine
run of at least eleven miles. Too much praise cannot be given to this excellent
pack of hounds, as they had to contend against bad weather, with every ac-
companying disadvantage. There was a very large assembly of sportsmen when
the fox was foimd, and a great many horses were much distressed during the run
by the pace and the stiffness of the fences, so much so, that after a severe struggle
for precedency, over this deep and difficult country, we were only able to notice
four persons (besides the huntsman and one whipper-in) fairly "placed" with the
hounds, viz. : Sir Thomas Salusbury, on that well-known horse Waxlight, by
Waxy, late the property of Captain Edward Meynell, of the 10th Royal Hussars,
and now belonging to George Walmsley, Esq., of Foston House, Derbyshire ;
Mr. H. M. Chadwick, on his favourite mare ; Mr. Hawkes, jun., of Norton Hall,
on " a thoroughbred one ; " and a Member of Sir Richard Sutton's Hunt, out of
Lincolnshire, on a visit at Mr. Meynell's, whose name we could not learn.
P.S. — It gives us much pleasure to find that the IMaster of the Pack is fast
recovering from his slight attack of lumbago, and that he will very shortly again
be able to ride to his hounds.
This sounds very fine, but the diary dismisses it with
" a very bad rainy day." Both accounts evidently refer to
100 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1827
the same occasion, for the diary states that Sir Thomas
Salusbury rode Waxlight.
On December 15th there was a capital ball, the suc-
cess of which was principally due " to the politeness of the
stewards, particularly H. S. Wilmot, Esq. Knowing every
one, no one escaped his courteous and affable attentions ;
and all acknowledged the more than civility of his
demeanour throughout the whole evening."
On December 23rd they had a great day in the
woods, and all round Draycott and Hound Hill, Coton, and
Draycott, finally running to ground at Marchington Cliff,
at dark, after two and a half hours. They dug him out
by candle light and killed him.
They began the new year with what is described as a
magnificent day ; but all we are told about it is that it
started at Ravensdale Park and ended at Kadburne, with
nobody with them but Tom on his brown horse, and little
Tom on his old favourite, the black mare. Joe got to the
end of Spotless, and had to stop.
After a week's frost they " found a fox at Wichnor, and
went away by Shivel Lodge * and Yoxall Lodge, crossed
over Crop Plane through Nettlebed to Stone's Gorse,
through the Hare Holes up to the Hanbury Road, where he
was headed, and came back through the corner of Hunts-
wood by Fauld to the meadows, crossed the Sudbury road
by Draycott, went under Hound Hill to Woodford Rough,
where we ran several rings and viewed him close before
the hounds to the river, crossed opposite the Doveridge
Hare Park, where he was headed, and we lost him at the
river, where I have no doubt he was drowned, as the
stream was very rapid. This was a capital run, with
very few checks, and at a good pace all the way." The
master rode Aaron, and Joe had a bad fall with Sailor.
January 20th was the Duke of York's funeral, but
they hunted all the same at Blithbury, and there was a
very good scent, in spite of the ground being frozen so
hard that they had to stop the hounds on that account.
* Probably Sherbolt Lodge.
1827] SPORT IN THE TWENTIES. 101
On February 3rd they had a capital rim from Rad-
burne. After drawing the Pastures blank they heard
there was a fox in the earths at Eadburne, came back and
bolted him, and ran very fast between the Ash and
Sutton, along the meadows under Etwall. They then
crossed the road by Egginton Bridge and the river by
the osier bed nearly opposite Stretton, After crossing
the Dove hounds were brought to their noses and hunted
prettily by Stretton, through the corner of the Henhurst,
through Knightley Park, by the New Inn, over Stockley
Park, and were stopped at Rolleston, as it had been
freezing all day, and the hounds were all lame from the
hardness of the ground.
All these parks, which are so frequently mentioned,
are not, as a stranger would naturally suppose, enclosed
deer parks now. They were so in remote times, but at
present, for the most part, differ not at all from the
country in general. Nothing is left of the park l3ut the
name.
After a week's frost hounds ran (after starting from
Longford ! ) from Marchington Cliff and lost their fox at
Hamstall Ridware, which is not by any means a bad run
— close on a seven-mile point, over a capital line, and
done in forty-five minutes. It elicited no further com-
ment from the diarist than " very pretty." In fact, when
he does say " a very fine run," or " magnificent day," the
commendation is well merited, so we may well believe
that the following, on April 5th, which he describes as
" the most brilliant thing of the season," was something
out of the common. They found in Shirley Park and
went away at a great pace by Wyaston, past Osmaston,
through Bradley Moor, leaving the Gorse on the left,
and killed him by the cotton mill at Kniveton after forty-
seven minutes without a check. Every horse was beat,
and no wonder, going that pace over those hills. Mr.
Meynell, on his black horse, could not catch them at all,
and came home, giving it up as a bad job. Tom's brown
mare carried him first rate, and little Tom, on the black
102 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1827
mare, as usual, was all right, but the honours of the day
remained with Joe on Kedleston.
April 12th was the last day, and they met at Holly-
bush, found in the Banks, and lost at Henhurst. Then
they drew the Greaves, Castle Hays, Stone's Gorse, and
Brakenhurst blank.
Foxes killed, sixteen brace ; lost, twenty-four brace ;
to ground, five and a half brace ; blank days, three.
Old men often say nowadays, how frequently they
hunted in the woods in old times. Taking the season
just mentioned as a sample, we find that they hunted
sixty-one days after the opening of regular hunting,
sixteen of which were in the woods.
Shirley Park figures in almost every run in that part
of the country, so some slight account of its history may
be interesting. It derives its name from a Saxon word,
which means " a clear place or pasture." From the village
of Shirley the famous family of that name took its cog-
nomen, and they appear to have come there first in the
time of Henry I. — of course through a grant of land from
Robert de Ferrers. It was not, however, till the reign of
Henry HI. that it became the principal seat of the family.
Yeavely and Stydd were formerly part of the parish of
Shirley, but Washington, fifth Earl of Ferrers, about a
hundred years ago sold a great deal of it. Shirley Park
was once of great interest, in fact, Sir Thomas Shirley,
writing in the time of Charles I., says that it might be
" more aptly termed a forest." At the present time Sir
Peter Walker owns a good deal of it. His father. Sir
Andrew Walker, bought it . with the house and land
at Osmaston, close by, from Mr. John Osmaston. The
latter's father, Mr. Francis Wright, who married a daughter
of Sir Henry FitzHerbert, Bart., of Tissington, bought
the property, and built the present magnificent house some
time in the fifties, at an immense cost. His son John,
who assumed the name of Osmaston, sold it to Sir Andrew
AValker, and the house and pleasure grounds immediately
surrounding it, the cost of which must have exceeded
Sir Peter Walker, Bart.
From a photograph
by
Dickinson.
rfqBt^goJoriq s moiT
.noEni>l3iQ
SIR PETER WALKER, BART. 103
£100,000, were only estimated to bring £11,000. Mr.
John Osmaston was at one time a regular follower of the
Meynell hounds, and went well, especially on a grey, the
General, which he sold to Mr. Walter Boden. He had a
penchant for that colour, always driving greys in his coach,
and he also started a herd of pure white shorthorns.
The present owner of Osmaston is a staunch fox-
preserver, but is probably fonder of a gun, and more
especially of a rifle, than he is of horse and hound. Yet
he kept at his own expense for some time the Dove Valley
Harriers, about the year 1894, when Colonel Fleming, a
capital all-round sportsman, gave them up. This country
has also to thank him for instituting the point-to-point
races, which are usually called after him. A peculiarity
of these is, that in each — the light weight (open), the
heavy weight, and the Meynell Hunt race— the com-
petitors must be nominated by a lady, who must have
received a nomination from Sir Peter Walker. The
nominator of the winner receives a bangle, and the owner
gets the stakes.
No one enjoys big game shooting more than the
popular Baronet of Osmaston, and he has been all over the
world in pursuit of it. The trophies at Osmaston bear
witness to his success, while another most interesting
result of his travels is the establishment of a herd of elk,
or, more strictly speaking, Wapiti, in the Park. These, at
first, twenty in number, were delivered at a cost of, on dit,
j£l00 a-head, which seems a very reasonable remuneration
for the risk, trouble, and expense of collecting and shipping
them. They have thriven and multiplied greatly in their
new home, but it is not safe to allow them to be at large,
like ordinary deer, on account of their rather queer tempers,
as they are dangerous at times. Consequently they are
fenced in on a large tract in the Park, with iron fencing of
an immense height.
Osmaston is famous for its hospitality, and its owner
is always doing something for other people's pleasure, in
which he is ably assisted by Lady Walker, daughter of
Mr. Okeover, of Okeover.
104 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1813
CHAPTER IX.
SQUIRE OSBALDESTON — CONTEMPORARY OPINION — A KEDLES-
TON DAY — RADBURNE.
1813-1826.
In the seasons preceding Mr. Meynell's start in fox-
hunting on his own account, he went out with the Sud-
bury hounds in 1813-14, and 1815.
The first mention of them is their meeting at Hoar
Cross, on November 1st, when they had a pretty fair run,
during great part of which there was nobody with them
but Mr. Meynell and a farmer. There were two curious
incidents. The first was, that the fox ran through a drain
near Abbots Bromley ; and the second was, that the fox
was eventually killed l^y a greyhound near Hamstall
Ridware. This latter does not seem to have been a very un-
connnon occurrence. It would seem as if there was some
truth in the stories of jealous riding between the wearers of
the Vernon orange coats and the redcoats, for Mr. Meynell
mentions, in several runs, that there were but one or two
besides himself with the hounds, and very often that
Thomas Leedham or some one of the Hoar Cross horses
went best. Like most other Masters, he is rather inclined
to pick holes in the neighbouring packs, and does not
credit the Sudbury hounds with being very steady. But
he does not find much fault with the pace they went,
especially in a brilliant twenty minutes from Sudbury
Coppice, when nobody but he. Captain Pole,* and William
Lawley were with them.
* Probably the present sqnire's grandfather.
1823] SQUIRE OSBALDESTON. 105
One great day was in the Forest Banks, when they ran
till dark, hounds divided, and one lot stayed out all night.
On Monday, February 14th, when the frost was barely
gone, they had a great run from Shirley Park, by Yeavely,
Bentley Car, Cubley, and to Doveridge, where they took
to the meadows. They suppose some of the hounds
crossed the river. Nobody was with them owing to the
impossibility of riding on account of the snowdrifts.
They hunted up to April 13th, finishing the season at
Hollybush, when it was so hot that the hounds were all
quite beat.
For some reason or another he only hunted with them
the next season in March, when they did nothing remark-
able. In October of the same year he began hunting with
]\Ir. Osbaldeston, whose style of hunting did not meet
with his approval ; he continually mentions losing the fox
" through getting into confusion," or " through bad
management "; the hounds were not at all steady.
After the end of the season 1815-16 there is no
further mention of Mr. Osbaldeston. Mr. Meynell saw
these hounds find nine and a half brace of foxes, of which
they killed two brace, and ran one to ground. Of course
allowances must be made for a Master being prejudiced in
favour of his own kennel ; but at the same time neither
the Sudbury hounds nor Mr. Osbaldeston's had any runs
so remarkable as fell to the share of Mr. Meynell's pack.
In the season of 1823-24 they began cub-hunting on
August 21st, and amongst other places visited Willough-
bridge, which was an innovation. For some reason, possi-
bly from ill-health, the Master himself missed a good many
days, and no doubt the Leedhams had a good story to tell
when he was not out. For we find that they ran from
Shirley Park to Longford and back, and killed after fifty
minutes, which they said was the fastest thing of the
season, and on a similar occasion from Kadburne they
ran for three hours and ten minutes, and all got to the
end of their horses, who had carried them amazingly.
Tom lamed Sultan, then tired out Pigg, and changed on
106 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1824
to Muslin, " who carried him wonderfully to the end," and
Joe did quite as well on the new mare.
Next day he rode Patriot till he stopped and lay
down, and well he might, for they had run from Sudbury
to Foston, and over the Dove to the plaster pits by Castle
Hays to Rolleston, across the river again by Egginton
and back to Marston, and were stopped at dark by
Tutbury, after running two hours. A few days after-
wards they ran from Shirley Park by Bradley and
HuUand, and left off close to Matlock, "where they be-
lieved the hunted fox was killed, as the hounds were seen
to view him. Afterwards fresh foxes got up, and they
stopped them ; a magnificent run, most horses tired.
Tom, brown mare ; Joe, Needwood ; and little Tom,
Patriot, who was lame at starting. Seventeen couples."
Though he is not always mentioned, it would seem
from contemporary writers that Little Tom went out
regularly from this time as second whipper-in. This
latter run was a twelve-mile point.
On January 24th they had a wonderful run from
Bagot's Park, where they "found in the woods, and went
away very fast below the Frame Bank, over to Woodford,
across the Dove, and went between Sudbury Coppice and
Maresfield Corse, across the Park to Boylestone, through
Bentley Car to Yeavely, came to the right through Alk-
monton bottoms, and killed him at the old barn by
Longford Car, an hour and fifty minutes ; one of the finest
runs we ever had. Only Tom, Mr. Vernon, Mr. Calvert,
Mr. Sneyd-Kynnersley, Richard Turnor, and a servant
with them. Tom rode Fanny, but Aaron was lost in the
woods at starting." It does not appear who was riding
him, probably Joe.
Saturday, January 31st, they had a wonderful gallop
from Armitage as hard as they could go, " by Beaudesert
over Style Cop, to the right of Moor's Gorse and along
the Teddesley road to the Warren, where he turned along
the ditch of the new enclosure for a mile, came over from
Mainstay Wood, turned again on to the Chase, where we
1824] CONTEMPORARY OPINION. 107
could not o'et over the new fence till the hounds were out
of sight. I came home, but Tom, Joe, little Tom, and
Mr. Walmsley met with them again near New Coppice,
and they ran him through all the gardens at Rugeley,
and killed him in Wolseley Park — the finest thing I ever
saw, an hour and a quarter."
On Thursday, March 25th, a great many strangers
came to see if the reports they had heard of the great
sport with the Hoar Cross hounds were true. Amongst
them were Sir H. Mainwaring, Sir N. Brook, and Mr.
Hay. As good luck would have it, they had a capital run,
from Shirley Park by Bradley, and back to Brailsford
Gorse and almost to Ravensdale Park ; going away from
here they fairly raced, and running from scent to view,
killed near Shirley Park, after a wide ring of two hours.
At the end of the day the master expresses himself thus :
"The work of the hounds most capital and highly
satisfactory."
They finished the season at Hollybush on April 17th.
Foxes killed, thirteen and a half brace ; to ground,
nine and a half brace ; lost, twenty-four and a half brace ;
blank days, three ; badgers, one.
It will be interesting to compare what is said by
contemporary writers with what has gone before.
There is not much to be gleaned from the old magazines
and so forth about early days with the Meynell hounds,
partly, perhaps, because the Meynells themselves were
averse to publicity. However, here and there there are
allusions to the hounds and country, such as the following,
which refers to the Donington country : —
About thirty years ago (1794), the Earl of Moira, now Marquis of Hastings,
kept a pack of harriers at Donington Park, which, in the course of a few years,
were converted into fox-hounds, with which he hunted the neighbouring country.
In a short time afterwards these were sold .to the late Sir Henry Harpur, after-
wards Sir Henry Crewe of Calke, with whom they remained until his death ; his
son, the present Sir George Crewe, discontinued the establishment.
The country continues to be hunted by Mr. ^Meynell, though it is difficult to
get a fox away, on account of the great extent and number of the covers. There
are several strongholds for foxes at Calke ; there is Kobin Wood ; there is the
large and strong cover called Cloud Wood, near Breedon, near to which is the
108 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1826
still more extensive Spring Wood ; at no great distance is Oakley Wood, to say
nothing of the minor covers near Donington and Melbourne Parks. When a fox
is driven from one he makes for another, and, unless they can force him across
the Trent, there is seldom much good running. The foxes frequently attain a
considerable age in this neighbourhood, as I found, upon inquiry, that many grey-
faced ones were occasionally recognized. One of these old gentry led the hounds,
at the latter end of last season, twice across the Trent. It was not without much
difficulty that he was originally forced to cross the river just mentioned, and
finding his pursuers gaining upon him, renard turned again, made for his own
country, recrossed the Trent, but perceiving it impossible to reach his own
abode, he entered the town of Melbourne, which he was not able to leave, but
seeking shelter in a privy, he was there run into and killed, after a chase of
uncommon length and severity. — Sporting Magazine, December, 1825.
The same, 1826 : —
On the 3rd of January, the fixture for Mr, Meynell's hounds was Kedleston,
and I therefore moved to within about four miles of the place the day before, and
took up my quarters at the Bell Inn, Derby. . . .
The writer arrives at the meet at 10.30, with grave
doubts as to whether the frozen state of the ground will
admit of hunting. He goes on to say —
The hounds, I apprehend, arrived the evening before, as the kennels (Hore
Cross Hall, Needwood Forest) are situated at a considerable distance. ... I
had been informed by a gentleman who attended them, that these were the
swiftest hounds in England. It frequently happens that sportsmen who are in
the habit of hunting with a particular pack, become very partial to it, and are
apt to speak rather as they wish than as they know. If I was allowed to form a
decided opinion on the subject, I should place the Quorndon pack of bitches at
the top of the list on the score of speed, and very probably Mr. Meynell's might
rank the second. As fox-hounds, Mr. Meynell's dogs are not large — nay, they
are considerably smaller than the generality of the Yorkshire hounds, than the
Duke of Rutland's, those of the P^arl of Londsdale, Sir Henry Mainwaring's, or Mr.
Osbaldeston's, his bitch pack excepted. But they are high-bred, and I soon
became well convinced that they deserved the high character that they had
acquired for speed, though not well calculated, I should suppose, for hunting
a cool scent.
Mr. Meynell appeared with his hounds, not, however, as huntsman, that office
being performed by an active veteran, who had spent his life in the family, and
who for more than twenty years had acted as coachman to Mr. Meynell's mother.
Two of the sons of this man assisted him as first and second whippers-in, so that
it might be said to be a family concern. We proceeded to Kedleston Hall,
from which a very fine young man came and mounted a beautiful hunter, which
was waiting to receive him. It was Sir Roger Griesley, Bart., of Drakelowe, near
Burton-on-Trent, son of the late Sir Nigel Bowyer Griesley, descended from the
celebrated Norman Rollo.
The hounds and the assembled sportsmen proceeded down the Park in
the direction of Ravensdale Park, into which the hounds were thrown at 12.20.
For several minutes all was anxious expectation. No tongue spoke to a scent,
1826] A KEDLESTON DAY. 109
and fears began to be entertained that the favourite cover held no fox. I heard
some mutterings about returning to draw Kedleston Park, when a hound gave
tongue, another spoke, and another, and another. A view holloa was heard,
Renard was off, and the hounds went away close at his brush, and I confess I
never saw hounds go faster. We had not been running, however, more than five
minutes, if so much, when in going at a clipping pace along a narrow lane,
rendered very slippery by the frost, my mare's feet shot completely from under
her, and I, of course, measured my length on the ground. Several sportsmen
immediately behind me were more fortunate. The shoes of their horses were, I
apprehend, prepared for the frost, which unfortunately was not my case. They
passed along, not, however, without the customary inquiry, " Are you hurt,
sir ? " I answered in the negative, yet, though I had sustained little injury,
several minutes elapsed before I was able to mount, and the hounds ran with
such speed that I was not able to reach them again ; but I kept on, and was able
to follow the track by the marks of the horses' feet as well as what, for want of a
better term, I will call the wrecks of the chase. A few minutes brought me
in sight of a prostrate brother sportsman, who, I was glad to iind, had, like
myself, sustained no injury. As I progressed I continued to come up with dis-
mounted and beaten Nimrods ; some had lost their horses, and others their way,
and one gentleman appeared to have sustained a considerable injury in his side
from a fall. He was riding very slowly, and expressed himself apprehensive that
one or more of his ribs were fractured. At last I came in sight of the happy
chosen few, who had enjoyed the delights of the run. It had been a brilliant run
of thirty-eight minutes. The fox had taken shelter in a slough at Darley, a mile
and a half from the town of Derby. One of the whippers-in had been despatched
to Kedleston for a terrier. I waited a few minutes, but the genius of the chase
had forsaken me. The animal on which I rode had gone in fear all the time.
She was not properly shod for the slippery state of the ground. It was doubtful
if they would be able to bolt wily renard. Further, I thought Mr. Meynell did
not appear anxious to kill him, as foxes are scarce in Kedleston. Under all
these circumstances, therefore, I accompanied Mr. Statham to Derby, but I was
afterwards informed that they succeeded in getting the fox out, when he made
away for Kedleston, and there again taking shelter in a slough was suffered to
remain.
Mr. Meynell's hounds were not very successful in the early part of the season,
but latterly they have been more fortunate. Of the last seven foxes which they
had ran up to January 3rd they had killed six, which is certainly more than the
general average.
Mr. Meynell's hunt is extensive, and the Derby side seems to be at an incon-
venient distance from his residence, but such a circumstance is regarded as a
mere trifle by a true fox-hunter like Mr. Meynell, nor is the Derby country
reckoned the best. On the contrary, I was informed that Kedleston seldom
produced a good run. Tuesday, the 3rd, however, proved a brilliant exception.
The country on the other side of the river is in higher estimation. Calke
frequently produces a good run, and foxes from this place generally take the
direction of Ingleby or Foremark, which is a fine country, though there are some
■extensive and strong covers from which a fox is not easily got away. This part
is what the sportsmen of Derby call the other side of the river, being situated on
the right bank of the Trent. Foremark, the patrimonial seat of the Burdett
family, is one of the many splendid mansions which ornaments the banks of tin's
river, but it has been somewhat neglected by its present proprietor, Sir Francis.
His grandfather, Sir Robert Burdett, kept an excellent pack of foxhounds at this
no THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1826
place, and hunted the adjacent country, part of which is now Mr. Meynell's and
part Mr. Osbaldeston's.
Saturday, the 7th of January, the hounds of Mr. Meynell met at Radburne,
tlie deh'ghtful seat of G. Poole (sic), Esq. As I proceeded towards the place of
meeting I met with the hounds about two miles before we reached it. I thus had
an opportunity of more minutely observing them. They were well-sized, and it
was evident that much pains had been spent to render them as complete as
possible. They appear indeed to be studiously formed for motion or velocity.
" Their wide-spread hams and low - dropping chest confess their speed."
Eighteen couples were now proceeding to Radburne, under the conduct of the
old veteran already noticed and his two sons. Radburne is considered one of
the surest finds in this part of the country, and I therefore calculated on good
sport. A field of about one hundred sportsmen was collected in a very few
minutes after the arrival of the hounds, which were soon after thrown into a
cover immediately adjoining the house. Here were pheasants in abundance, if
not foxes. They rose almost by scores, and I could scarcely help entertaining
a suspicion that foxes suSered from the penchant for pheasants. I was happy
to find myself mistaken, as fox-hunting is too highly prized at Radburne to
suffer poor Renard to be killed unfairly. However, no fox was to be found,
but it must be observed that all the covers immediately surrounding the house
were not tried. On the contrary, the hounds were taken to others more remote,
which they drew unsuccessfully till they reached what is called "the Pasture,"
and here they had scarcely entered when Renard took the alarm. He left his
kennel in good time, as if he intended to run. He was well viewed off, and I
confidently anticipated a brilliant chase from so animating and so hopeful a
prelude. The hounds went away with the utmost impetuosity and with un-
common speed. They crossed the first field from the cover, then entered the
second with a headlong dash, and, after running halfway up it, leaned to the
right (which was not the direction of the fox), and I immediately suspected
the atmosphere was not so favourable as I had supposed. However, as Renard
had been viewed olf by many, hounds were immediately got on the very line of
him, yet the few seconds which were lost enabled the mercurial part of the field,
the random riders, to head the dogs in some degree. The hounds in the next
field seemed to be well settled to the scent and went gallantly away. A trifling
check occurred ; the impatient gentlemen again headed ; in fact, the scent was
repeatedly ridden over, and, on the whole, I never recollect seeing hounds so
unfairly treated. Yet we had a run for a considerable time, but certainly not a
brilliant one. Long before the end I was convinced we should never reach our
fox, unless, indeed, he chose to Avait for our coming up, a step which Renard
seldom thinks advisable. After passing over some extent of country, during
which we once approached the town of Derby, we found ourselves again at the
place of meeting — Radburne, and, as we passed close to the house, a bevy of
female beauty presented itself on an exterior elevation and gave incontestable
proof of the interest they took in the scene. Here we might be said to be com-
pletely at fault. The hounds were kept longer in the immediate vicinity of the
house than was consistent with the true principles of fox-hunting, and I much
lamented, not merely from the loss of the fox, but also on account of a gentle-
man who got what appeared at the moment an ugly fall. This gentleman — Mr.
Bingham, I believe — put his horse to a scrawling sort of leap, and one over which,
by the way, there was no occasion to go. A gate had been removed, and in its
stead some loose thorns had been carelessly introduced, thus presenting an eleva-
tion of not more than 3 feet. I happened to be close by the spot. The horse
1826] RADBURNE. Ill
seemed to go awkwardly at it, and this awkwardness was further increased by
the rider himself, who, as his horse rose, appeared to pull his nose to his breast,
by which the animal's fore feet were brought amongst the thorns, and his face
almost perpendicularly upon the ground. In consequeace he turned completely
over. I never recollect witnessing so complete a revolution of both horse and
rider. And, strange to say, they both immediately assumed a perpendicular
position, the rider's hand, instead of his foot, in the near stirrup. Very little
injury was sustained by either, though the fall was produced by unskilful horse-
manship, and arose from not slackening the reins or giving the horse his head as
he went up to the leap, and particularly at the moment of rising at it. The
gentleman was perhaps trying the manoBUvre called lifting horses at their leaps,
which can only be successfully practised by the very first horsemen. In no case,
however, is it of the least service, and too frequently is it productive of mischief.
A horse, when left to himself, lowers his head immediately before rising at his
leap, and this movement is the perfection of the leap. B3' this he unties or
gathers himself up for the spring or bound, and whatever prevents the animal
from thus compressing, as it were, his elastic energy must counteract the very
effect it was so injuriously meant to produce. We loitered in the immediate
vicinity of Radburne so much longer than necessary that we lost all trace of
the fox, and ultimately trotted away to other covers.
The writer then goes on to say how hounds drew
Sedley Gorse, a likely place, and a favourite one with the
late Lord Vernon, but they did not find. He describes an
odd-looking sportsman, of whom he says :—
He was mounted on what I should have taken for an old carriage horse
rather than what I should have taken for a prime hunter. Instead of breeches
and boots he displayed a pair of monstrous duck trousers with other habiliments,
etc., equally out of the common way, and therefore I regarded him altogether as
an extraordinary character, some mighty but not well-defined member of the
chase.
However, this gentleman was a desperately hard
rider, in spite of his queer get up. The writer, " T.,"
winds up with —
There was a good field. Amongst the sportsmen appeared Sir C. Constable,
Mr. Poole (sic). Captain Ramsey, Mr. Every, Dr. Fergusson, many gentlemen
from the town of Derby, and, amongst this number, that enthusiastic fox-hunter,
Mr. Brearey, and also Mr. Statham, and I embrace this opportunity of acknow-
ledjrinp: the civil attention which I received from the last-named gentleman. — T.
112 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1827
CHAPTER X.
MR. MEYNELl's diary.
1827-1832.
Cub-hunting began on August l7tli in the Brakenhurst,
and was much more satisfactory than the year before, for
they killed nine brace of cubs, ran seven brace to ground,
and only failed to account for three brace.
The first day of regular hunting was October 22nd, at
Sudbury. November 1st was an interesting day in the
annals of the Meynell, for they met at Bretby on that day,
Thursday (though they had been there on the Monday),
for the Duke of Wellington, who was a guest of Lord
Chesterfield's, to have a day with the hounds. There was
an immense field out in honour of the " Iron Duke," but,
as usually happens on these show occasions, there was not
much sport. On December 3rd they had a good run from
the Birch Wood, Hoar Cross, and killed at Durstall after
an hour and five minutes. But the interest of the day is
in the postscript, as they say of a lady's letter, which is :
** Little H. greatly distinguished himself." This is the
first mention of the future Master.
Sport was not so good this year up to Christmas ; in
fact, the best day was on December 22nd, from Wichnor,
when hounds divided in the Forest. One lot, with most
of the field with them, ran by Yoxall Lodge, and Byrkley
Lodge, where they ran clear away from their followers,
who never saw them again till they had killed their fox
by Stone's Gorse, at Needwood. Meanwhile, Tom, with
1828J MR. MEYNELL'S DIARY. 113
eight couples, ran hard to Dove Cliff, where he stopped
them.
On January 26th they had a good day, and tired all
the horses. They found in the Greaves, ran to the
Brakenhurst, came away from there, with a bad scent,
back to the Greaves. From here they ran with an
improved scent, by Coton, and crossed the Dove to Foston,
past the house, and along the brook side to Sapperton.
Thence they turned over the hill for Sudbury Park, swung
to the left, when the fox was viewed with the hounds
close to him ; ran by Aston, across the river again below
Hanbury, into the Greaves, and they stopped the hounds
at Marchington Cliff, as it was nearly dark.
The next day which is of much interest, and that
more on account of the hounds mentioned than anything
else, was on February 2nd, when they had a long, ringing,
run, with a middling scent, from Wichnor all round
Dunstall, Barton, Brakenhurst, Jackson's Bank, Yoxall,
Eough Park, Hadley End, Bancroft — in fact, all over
the country round about — till dark, and finally they had
to stop the hounds " going up to T. Lawley's. A very
hard day, and the hounds worked beautifully. Darter,
Symmetry, Ganymede, Basilisk, did the most. Matchless
worked well at the end."
It is a curious thing, but the writer has seen many
diaries of masters of hounds and of huntsmen, and yet
Mr. Meynell's is almost the only one which mentions
the individual work of hounds.
On the 17 th they had a good, old-fashioned Eadburne
day. " Bolted a fox out of the earths, and went away
very fast, round the house, and back, over the brook,
almost to Mickleover, came a large ring almost to the
Ash, back through Radburne Car, across Dalbury Lees,
almost to Brailsford, turned to the right by Langley and
Mackworth, by Eadburne, two or three rings towards
Mickleover ; the fox having lain down in a ditch by the
Parsonage at Eadburne, we killed him in the Car. Two
hours and three-quarters ; almost every horse tired, and
VOL. I. I
114 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1828
some could not be got home. Aaron carried me capitally.
Tom, roan mare. Joe, Jasper, tired. Little Tom, black
mare."
The season, which was a moderate one, finished at
Hollybush, with a kill, on April 12th.
Foxes killed, twenty-one brace ; to ground, seven ;
lost, twenty-one ; badgers, one ; blank days, eight.
1828-1829.
They began cub-hunting on August 25th, in the
Brakenhurst, but it was very hot and dry, and they did
not go out regularly, so when they did hunt, they had
out as many as thirty-four couples. The result was four
and a half brace.
Regular hunting began on October 20th at Sudbury,
when they drew everything blank, till they got to Eaton
Wood.
On December 1st they had a wonderful day for
hounds, all round the woods and thereabouts for four
hours and a half. Blameless, Bravery, Fencer, and Game-
some were running hardest at the end.
There was a lot of good sport this season, but nothing
which could be called historical. Probably they had
killed many of the old foxes, and others had met with
an ignominious fate (for there is often a mention of a wire
round the leg, or a three legged one, and once the keeper
shot one in front of the hounds !) ; and so there were only
young ones left.
Foxes killed, fifteen brace ; to ground, seven ; lost,
twenty-two ; blank days, four.
1829-1830.
Cub-hunting began on August 17th, in Bagot's Woods,
and they had their opening day at Sudbury very early,
viz. October 19th.
The first day which is worth mentioning was from
Morley Tollgate, on November 5th, when they "found at
1829] MR. MEYNELL'S DIARY. 115
Horsley Castle, and went awcay very fast through the
Park by the Priory " (probably Breadsall) " almost to
Cliaddesden wood, where we were brought to hunting,
through Hay's AVood to Shipley, where we got up to a
fox, and went away fast by Ilkeston to Kirk Hallam,
when the fox lay down in a garden, and we viewed him.
One hound caught him by the brush at a fence, but he
got away, and beat us back thro' Shipley by Cotmanhay
Wood, and we stopped them when close to him after
hunting some time by moonlight. A hard day. I rode
Barleycorn ; Tom, Miss Fearn ; Joe, Spotless ; little Tom,
Muslin." This was on a Thursday. On the Saturday
following they ran hard from Radburne by Miekleover, by
AVheat hill (where Mr. Christopher Chandos-Pole has built
his new house), over the brook between Mackworth and
Langley, up to Kedleston village, turned to the left below
Mugginton, and killed their fox in Breward's Car. Tom's
brown horse gave him no less than three falls !
On the 12th they found a good hill fox at Longford,
and ran him by Bentley Car back to Longford, where
they changed, and away they went best pace through
Alkmonton (here spelt Orkmington) bottoms to the right
of Cubley, by Stydd, over the road between the Tollbar
and Darley Moor, almost to the lime quarries, turned to
the right by Snelston, crossed the Dove between May-
field and Calwich, and stopped the hounds at Stanton
Wood.
The best run of the season up to date in Mr. Meynell's
opinion was on February 15th. Hunting had been stopped
by frost for over a month, and they met at Longford.
Finding there, they ran through Bentley Car, turned to
the left, crossed the Ashbourne Road beyond Cubley
Tollgate, went to the end of Lord Chesterfield's covert
(Cubley), down to the Ellastone Road, where the hounds
turned short back, and ran a ring, coming back by
Marston, over Marston Park, down to the meadows by
Rocester, and back again by Marston Park to the
Aldermoor, through Sudbury Coppice, over Locker's Knoll,
116 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1830
to the gorse, and killed him in the round plantation in the
Park after two hours and a quarter.
Shortly after this the Master had a good deal of
trouble, for while out hunting in the Bradley country, on
February 25th, a note was brought to him, telling him
of his son's illness, and he went home at once. Then he
took the boy to London, and, while there, his father-in-
law, Mr. Pigou, died, and the hounds were ordered to
come home from Kedleston in consequence, and did not
hunt again that week. Mr. Meynell came home again on
March 15 th. The weather was curious, for in the last
week of March it was too hot, while in the first week in
April there was a snowstorm.
A moderate season ended at Wolseley with a blank
day.
Foxes killed, nine brace ; to ground, six brace ; lost,
twenty-seven brace ; blank days, four,
1830-1831.
Cub-hunting began this year in Bagot's Woods on
September 6 th, and they found a fair number of cubs all
through the season. The celebrated actor, Mr. Young,
stayed at Hoar Cross this season, and kept a horse or
horses there, which the squire often rode, probably while
his guest was engaged on his professional duties. Regular
hunting began on October 25th at Sudbury Coppice.
Sport was quite up to the average during the season, but
there were no sensational runs. The first day of note was
December 13th at Radburne, when they found in the
Pooltail, ran a ring out to Buruaston and back, then
away again through the gardens at Radburne, by Mack-
worth and Kedleston, where they turned to the left by
the pleasure-ground, and up to Mugginton, through
Ravensdale Park by the Limekilns, and stopped the
hounds beyond Shottle, near Alderwasley.
They were then nearly thirty miles from home, which
they did not reach till nine o'clock.
1831] MR. MEYNELL'S DIARY. 117
There is nothing much else worthy of remark, except
perhaps that the Master had greater cause for complaint
about his hounds being over-ridden, probably because
sport was not quite so good.
On June 1st, 1831, there was a great discovery of
coins in the river-bed at Tutbury, as many as a hundred
thousand being found altogether. They were said to
have been thrown into the Dove by the Earl of Lancaster
when Edward II. ousted him from the castle as a rebellious
subject.
Foxes killed, seventeen brace ; dug out and let go,
two brace ; to ground, six and a half brace ; lost, twenty-
one and a half brace ; blank days, two.
1831-1832.
The pack, which was always steadily on the increase,
now consisted of forty-two and a half couples, and drafts
had been from time to time introduced from all the
famous kennels, including the Duke of Beaufort's, Lord
Fitzwilliam's, Lord Lonsdale's, Lord Middleton's, Mr.
Heron's, Mr. Foljambe's, Mr. Savile's, Lord Tavistock's,
Sir T. Mostyn's, Mr. Shaw's, Mr. Shirley's, Lord Anson's,
and Sir H. Mainwaring's.
Cub-hunting began in the Brakenhurst on August 22nd,
and they found during cub-hunting only fourteen and a
half brace of cubs, of which they killed six and a half
and ran three and a half brace to ground.
The first interesting item is on October 8th, when
little Tom had it all to himself in a good run from the
Henhurst and all through the woods. At the end he had
his fox "dead beat all amongst the hounds," but he
escaped after all, as he frequently did under similar
circumstances. The Master, having his rheumatism to
think of, had gone home because of the heavy rain. His
field did not like rain much either, for he very often
mentions how he and the men were left alone, everybody
having gone home on account of the rain.
118 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1831
Possibly it was on account of his performances on this
day that " little Tom " is promoted to " Tom Junior" !
Eegular hunting began on Monday, (3ctober 17th, at
Sudbury Coppice. There was a good run on November
26th from Cubley Gorse, across to Bentley Car, where
there were two or three foxes on foot. However, they
came away from there, and ran to ground in a drain
at the Cubley brook. From this they bolted their fox,
and ran, by Marston, through Eaton Wood, over the Dove
near Crakemarsh, up to Nott Hill, Wood Farm, and
Madeley Wood. Here they probably changed, for they
came back to ground at Alton. There were no end of
falls, and Mr. Arnold killed his horse.
They had a certain amount of good runs, notably one
of four hours and a half, with a kill at the end, all round
about the Bretby country, but no run with any great
point till March 10th, when they met at Kedleston, and
did not find till they got to Bentley Car. But when they
did find it was to some purpose, for they had a tremendous
run. They went away at a great pace nearly to Sudbury
Coppice, swung round by Cubley to the gorse, crossed the
Ashbourne-Cubley road, opposite Stydd Hall. Then they
ran on by Stydd over Darley Moor, past Edlaston,
Wyaston, by Shirley Park, Bradley, Hulland, and Atlow,
nearly to Hopton, where the Master stopped the hounds,
after they had been running hard for two hours and
twenty minutes.
This was undoubtedly the run of the season, which
ended on April 16th at Blithfield.
Foxes killed, twenty-two and a half brace ; to ground,
seven and a half brace ; lost, twenty-one brace ; blank
days, five. The total finds, therefore, come to a hundred
and two foxes; in 1899-1900 the total was three hundred
and sixty.
1832]
MR. MEYNELL'S DIARY.
119
Foxes Bjlled.
To Ground.
Lost.
Blank Davs.
1812-13
1
10
17
15
38
26
22
35
39
35
27
26
32
42
30
18
34
45
1
1
16
10
13
8
7
19
19
16
19
19
11
14
14
12
17
15
2
3
2
15
40
36
46
36
39
49
56
53
49
47
49
42
44
53
43
42
1813-14
1814-15
—
1815-16*
1816-17
1817-18
1818-19
1819-20
1820-21
1821-22
8
10
10
6
11
7
1822-23
1823-24
1824-25
1825-26
1
4
3
5
1826-27
3
1827-28
1828-29
8
4
1829-30
1830-31
1831-32
4
2
5
Total
492
231
746
91
This is practically for sixteen seasons, as, prior to 1815-
1816, Mr. Meynell Ingram did not profess to be hunting
foxes, but ran one if he was lucky enough to find him.
We now, unfortunately, come to a great gap in the
diary, which lapses till it is resumed in 1858 by Mr. H. F.
Meynell. It is, therefore, necessary to have recourse,
during that interval, to what scanty materials can be
gleaned from public sources.
1833, January 23rd. — A writer in the New Sporting
Magazine says —
The season oa the whole has been a bad scenting one with us, and though
there have been scarcely two days together to keep hounds in kennel, the
number of foxes killed has been unusually small. The Atherstone hounds, the
last time I was out with them, had numbered but sixteen brace, and Mr. Meynell's
but twelve, yet both these packs hold a high rank in the field.
It sounds odd to us, who are more highly favoured in
these days, to hear, " the Staffordshire farmers " {i.e. in
* From January Ist he gave up hunting hares, and confined himself entirely
to foxes.
120 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1833
Mr. Applewhaite's country) " are too fond of the plough,
and Mr. Meynell's district is still more arable." Hunting
men have cause to bless the repeal of the Corn Laws.
From the old Sporting Magazme,¥ehv\iSiYj 20th, 1833 :
The best things I have seen have been with Mr. Meynell's hounds. On
Thursday last we had a capital day from Catton, with a large field out. The old
favourite find, the osier-bed, was under water from the previous heavy rains, and
consequent overflowing of the river ; we were obliged, therefore, to proceed to
the wood on the hill. Here the hounds had not been in above two or three
minutes before a hollo was heard. You know what riding to a hollo in a thick
wood is, Mr. Editor, bumping your knee every now and then against a great
brute of a tree that won't stand out of your way, and scratching your eyes out
with scrambling through bushes and briars, with the constant vexation of a
brother sportsman in front pulling up to regain his hat, which you hear smashing
under your own horse's feet. We got to the hollo at last, but the hounds would
not have a word to say to it. " Are you the man that viewed that fox ? " " Yes ;
he went away at this corner." The corner, however, produced no scent, and at
last the man confessed that he was not quite sure whether it was a fox or not.
We then proceeded to Walton Wood, where we were lucky enough to find a
capital old dog-fox, and away he went as hard as he could rattle for Catton
Wood. After a short excursion through the wood, he doubled round and broke
again at the bottom ; a wide brook, with a paling on the near side, now presented
itself, which nothing but a regular flyer could carry one across. One scarlet got
a roll with his horse, but / don''t think he was hurt, and away we went up the
hill quite fast enough to be pleasant. Koslistone was the first village we came
to, then Caldwell, then Linton; I can't pretend to tell you the woods, gorses,
streams, and hamlets, that we passed, for I wasn't bom in the neighbourhood,
and " the pace was too good to inquire." At Linton we had a long check (it
was now a quarter past two, and we found exactly at twelve) and were proceed-
ing to try for another fox at Drakelowe Grove when, by great good luck, we hit
oft' the old chase across the road, and hunted him up to Gresley Wood, where he
jumped up in view. We ran him a little further, and, on a sudden, and quite
unaccountably, we were again at fault. After casting this way and that, and
thinking it deuced odd where pug could be gone, we at last found him out under
a carpenter's bench, where several people were at work, unaware of his presence.
We soon got my gentleman out of his shavings, and turned him off* before the
hounds. They ran him in view about a mile further, when he took refuge in an
old furnace-hole, but the sanctuary not being respected by the pack, he was
followed to his corner and sacrificed to their vengeance.
A still better thjng was enjoyed with these hounds on the Saturday preceding.
They met at Radborne, found a fox, and had a rattling burst of an hour and
fifty minutes, then a long check, after which they got on the line of their fox
again, and killed him at a place called Thacker's Wood, two and thirty miles
from their kennel, which they did not reach till eight o'clock at night.
( 121 )
CHAPTER XL
MISCELLANEA — MR. MICHAEL BASS, M.P. — TOM LEEDHAM's
LAST SEASON GOOD CHARTLEY RUN — SIR MATTHEW
BLAKISTON — MR. TREVOR YATES.
1833-1839.
There in search of sport I wandered, nourishing a verdant youth
With the fairy tales of gallops, ancient runs devoid of truth.
The writer of this couplet was more fortunate than the
compiler of this work, for no fairy tales, true or the re-
verse, are to be found in newspaper or magazine for some
time after the end of 1833. Not that that proves that
there were none, for somewhere about that period, possibly
in 1835, there occurred one of the most brilliant runs
possible, so far as point and straightness is concerned.
The Rev. B. W. Spilsbury writes : — " I have found the
map showing the two runs I mentioned, and hope it may
be of use to you. . . . The runs appear to have been
through Leicestershire, but I think the fox, in each case,
was found in coverts belonging to the Meynell Hunt.
They certainly used to draw the woods near Oalke,
Staunton Harold and Cole-Orton. I think the runs were
about 1835, but I have been told there was a full account
given of them in the Derby Mercury of the date on which
they occurred." One of the runs here mentioned is the
one described in the Sporting Magazine and in the Derby
Mercury, as having occurred on February 23rd, 1826.
The other is a far better one, but unluckily there
seems to be no record of it, except a line drawn on Mr.
Spilsbury's map, starting from Ashby Old Parks, a little
122 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
to the north of Cole-Orton Hall, crossing the Ashby-de-
la-Zouch and Leicester turnpike, continued between Nor-
manton and Ravenstone, straight on between Ibstock and
Ibstock Grange, between Nailstone and Bagworth, then
parallel with the main road from Barlaston to Blaby, as
far as Enderby Lodge, seventeen miles as straight as
a gun-barrel. It is a thousand pities that no one is
able to tell us —
" How they pressed, how none forsook it through that brilliant hour,
How they ran their fox and killed him by the flooded Soar."
Not but what it must have taken considerably over an
hour to do those seventeen miles, and " hour " does not
quite rhyme with " Soar." This reminds one of the story
of Ben Jonson and John Sylvester rhyming to their
names. " I, John Sylvester, kissed your sister," rhymed
the latter ; and Jonson retaliated with, *' I, Ben Jonson,
kissed your wife." " That does not rhyme," Sylvester
protested. " No, but it is true," was the stinging retort.
About the time of this run Mr. (afterwards Lord)
Vernon was living at Marchington, and Mr. Bott — the
father of those two good sportsmen, Mr. R. Bott of
Church Broughton, and JVIi-. W. Bott of Somersal House
— was at Coton. One night Mr. Bott of Coton was coming
home from the Derby ball, with his wife in his carriage,
with post horses and a postilion. The latter proved to
be drunk, so Mr. Bott deposited him in the dicky, and,
with his legs encased in woollen overalls, took the postilion's
place in the saddle. The consequence was that he wore
out the overalls and ran the carriage into his own gatepost.
His wife was the niece of Captain Arden of Fulbrook,
Barton-under-Needwood, a great character. His toilette
was of the oddest description, and he never ceased smoking
a huge pipe all the time he was out hunting, having even
been seen to stop in the middle of a run for the purpose
of lighting it. Both his horse and his coat were said to
be twenty-five years old. Mr, George Moore, of Appleby,
was also a very regular follower of the Meynell in those
MR. MICHAEL BASS, M.P. 123
days, and was considered a great authority on hunting
matters. Mr. Michael Bass, the father of Lord Burton,
was a desperately hard rider, too, and kept it up till quite
late in life. He is even said to have cleared the Long
Lane, somewhere between Longford and Langley — a suffi-
ciently wide margin — lane, double hedges, and all. It is
a tremendous jump, and, in places, the bottom of the lane
must be quite thirty feet below the land on each side.
Wishing to authenticate this story, the writer bethought
him of going to see James Whitely, Mr. Bass's second
horseman, who came to him as long ago as 1845. The
veteran, still hale and hearty, though in his seventy-third
year, was living in his own house at Stapenhill, where he
finds the garden, in which he delights to work, a harder
master than ever was the human one, whom he served so
well, and about whom he was nothing loth to talk.
In the full swing of his narration, he came to a run
in which Mr. Bass was riding Warwick, a white horse, and
a wonder. " They came away," he said, " at a tremendous
rate from Eadburne Rough — what a lot of good runs there
have been from there : no place like it for good, wild foxes
— and ran hard Brailsford way. Mr. Bass jumped clean
over Long Lane, and never knew he had done it. What
a horse that must have been to have made such a jump,
and his rider never to feel as if he'd done anything extra-
ordinary ! Yes, some one saw him do it. I nicked along
the roads a bit, cutting a corner here and there, and
presently heard the hounds turning to me. They crossed
the road right in front of me, and the first man with them
was Mr. Meynell Ingram, without his hat. I knew by that
they must have been running hard, and next to him was
Mr. Bass, with a scar on his forehead. He'd been down.
I was the only second horseman there, and Mr. Bass got
on his second horse, the Sweep we called him, a black
thoroughbred one he was, and said, ' Take the old horse
home; he's about done for. He'll never come out again.'
They've got him at Rangemore now, and Coquette,
a rare water jumper. Yes, their pictures, I mean, of
124 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
course. And the hounds ran on, a great rinsf, for
Kedleston, and just before they got there there was
some tremendous high timber. Mr. Meynell Ingram
had a go at it first, and got over it, hitting it hard all
round ; the Sweep jumped it clean, and Mr. Bass gave
Jack Leedham half a crown to go and measure it the
next day. It was just six feet two inches. Nothing ever
stopped Mr. Bass ; he never knew where he was, but
just went where the hounds did. About Mr. Hamar jump-
ing the Sapperton brook in cold blood on a six hundred
guinea one ? No, I don't remember anything about that.
We had a six hundred guinea one once — a poor one he
was, too. A thoroughbred horse of Lord Wilton's, called
Freetrade. Mr. Bass used to buy a good many horses
from Darby of Rugby. He once brought down six for
two days' hunting. They met the first day at Chartley.
I was riding a grey to show to Admiral Meynell. Before
long down he comes on his knees on the road. I told
Darby, and he was in a nice way about it. The horse is
in no condition, I said. He was beat. Jack Leedham
rode another. He often rode Mr. Bass's new ones, just to
try them. A fine rider Jack was, but he always said
Tom w^as a better. I think he was, too. Well, when the
run was over, Jack came to me, and said, ' You'd better get
this horse home; he is regularly beat. He's in no sort
of condition.' I did have a job to get him home — had to
drive him in front of me. He ran right into a gate, and
I found he was blind. He was down as soon as they'd
dressed him, and it was a long time before he got up
again, and the soles of his feet and his frogs came off.
You were asking about Grasshopper? He was a grand
horse; could jump anything, but Mr. Bass never liked
him. The way he came to ride him in the great run of
1868 was this. They checked at Brailsford. Mr. Bass
was riding Derby— one of his best ; and he said, ' I think
it is about over. You may as well take this horse home.'
But it had only about begun. That was how he came to
ride Grasshopper. He got to the end, though, and he and
MR. MICHAEL BASS, M.P. 125
Miss Meynell came home together. They had tea on the
way home. The tea was green, and Mr. Bass said it
poisoned him. But the Trusley brook was the worst of
all. He would get over it somehow ; he was an old man
then, and did not want to ride at it, so he waded across,
and I drove his horse over to him, and then jumped mine
over. I tried to persuade him not to do it, but he would,
and he caught a chill, and was never the same man after-
wards. He went to Putney for his health, and that did
him good. Once, out with the Warwickshire, he lamed
his horse over the first fence : the poor brute had put his
shoulder out. I took him to a farm, and fomented him
for two hours. Then I put him in a floater, and started
for Birmingham. Mr. Bass overtook me, and told me to
take the horse to the Hen and Chickens, and then I should
have done with him, ' for,' said he, ' I've sold him.'
' Then you've done well,' I said. And he told me he had
told some one that the horse had put his shoulder out,
and the gentleman would not believe it, so Mr. Bass said
he might have him at his own price. So the horse was
sold for twenty-five pounds : well sold, too, for they had
to shoot him in the end."
Then we went and looked at the portrait of the man
we had been talking about, and certainly the keen face
which gazed out from the picture-frame was no bad index
of the bold spirit which played so prominent a part in the
world of business, politics, philanthropy, and sport, for the
long term of eighty-four years.
This digression about men, however, must give place
to the doings of the hounds, and in 1835, in spite of the
advanced age of Tom Leedham, who was now seventy-one
years old, they showed capital sport, as may be seen from
the following accounts of good days which appeared in
the Derby Mercury, the Spo7'ting Magazine, JBeU's Lifey
etc. In the first mention of the hounds a terrible accusa-
tion is brought against the gentlemen of Derbyshire, from
which, however, by this time they have nobly cleared
themselves.
126 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1835
Sporting Magazine, January, 1835, p. 253 : —
Mr. Meynell's hounds are in high force. Their first meet for the regular
season was on Tuesday, at Aston-upon-Trent, It being the village feast, there
was a large field out, principally brown coats, but with a respectable sprinkling of
pink, and a gi-eat consumption of beef and ale before starting. Unfortunately the
coverts in the neighbourhood were drawn blank, to the great disappointment of
the village belles and their numerous fair friends, who were thus prevented
seeing the exploits of their smart beaux, who, doubly inspired, could have
stopped at nothing. We found at Arleston Gorse, ran hard for ten minutes
towards Ingleby, came to cold hunting, and lost. The Derbyshire gentry are
very bad preservers of foxes. I will back their country against any other in
England for blank days and long draws before finding.
Sporting Magazine, May, 1835, p. 3G : —
A DAY WITH MR. MEYNELL'S HOUNDS.
Sir, — On Monday last Mr. Meynell's hounds met at Chartley Park, in the
county of Stafford, the seat of the Right Hon. Earl Ferrers. We soon found a
fox in the Park, which, after a very sharp run of twenty-five minutes, went to
groimd. All parties seemed of opinion that it was a bitch fox, except the
keeper (who, by the way, is a most excellent preserver), and he begged to dig it
out ; and a true sportsman who was out with us desired to have the fox to turn
out in another part of Mr. ]Meyneirs country.
We then proceeded to draw for another fox, and soon found a brace — one of
which, a fine old dog-fox, was chopped ; the other ran a short distance and was
lost, owing to a great part of the ling in the Park being lately burnt, which
prevented all chance of scent.
It was then proposed to draw Gratwich Wood on the way home. It was now
about three o'clock, and many had given their horses a day's work. The wood
was drawn very judiciously by Joseph Leedham (the head whip), his father, " Old
Tom," not being out. The wood is very tiiin of under-covert, and by Joe not
making any noise the hounds got away close to their fox, and went at a
tremendous pace back to Chartley, straight through the wood that bounds the
Park. Fortunately for the field they got upon a gravel footpath by the side of
the Park pales, the Wood and the Park being so heavy no horse could live.
The pace may be imagined at this part of the run, when I tell you the hounds
beat the horses out of the covert (which is a very strong one) some distance :
every one was going as hard as his horse could gallop. Away went the hounds
over a very heavy country to Birch Wood Park, through the woods there. The
coimtry begins there to improve. The fox crossed the River Blithe, and went
near to Leigh Church. We now got into as fine a country as any in England.
The hounds still went on at a rattling pace. Some good ones begun now to cry,
" Enough ! " but bold Reynard told them, " Not quite yet, for I am come from the
Northern Hills, and to them I must return ; " but he little knew what a pack
were in pursuit of him ! The hounds now ran faster, if possible, than before, and
went in direction of Draycott Woods, but bold Reynard disdained them, and
away he went for Huntley Hall. Here the first check occurred, but it was only
for a few moments ; he then went away for some large plantations near Dilhorn,
tlie seat of E. Buller, Esq., M.P. He was now no doubt getting into his own
1835] TOM LEEDHAM'S LAST SEASON. 127
country, but the gallant pack forced him through these stately plantations, and he
again took the open and bore away for the town of Cheadle, and was finally
killed, after a run of an hour and thirtj^-five minutes, in a garden close to the
town, the distance from point to point being not less than ten miles, and making
angles from four to five miles. It was certainly as fine a day's sport as ever was
seen, and, considering the heavy state of the country, and that in many parts of
this superb run the hounds had great difficulties to contend with (having very
strong coverts to run through), it proves that this most excellent pack are not to
be surpassed even by the Old Meynell's of Quom. The field at last only con-
sisted of twelve real good ones ; amongst them Capt. Meynell, on his brother's
horse Clasher, who went well all through the run.
These hounds have not had altogether what may be termed a good season ;
but this day's sport, and a former day from Sudbmy equally good, make a season
of themselves.
A True Fox-Hunter.
Uttoxeter, April lOth, 1835.
Another account of this capital run also appears in the
Derby Mercury and in BelVs Life, probably by the same
pen.
The run on the following Friday was equally brilliant, but differing in the
character of the country over which it was coursed. The meeting was at
Wolsely Bridge, and at the usual hour the hounds commenced trying the gi'ounds
about Shugborough, from whence they went to Cannock Chace, and a scent was
hit upon which, although the fox appeared to have been disturbed some long
time before, yet afforded considerable sport, but eventually was lost in the
direction of Teddesley. The hour being early it was determined to try for a
fresh fox, and after ranging over the wild heath of Cannock Chace, with all
descriptions of game rising up from under the horses' feet, which served as a
pleasing contrast to the enclosed country we passed over on Monday, we were
suddenly delighted by the eager appearance of the hounds, which evidently were
near to their game, and in a few seconds they darted forward with a burning
scent, on a part of the Chace called Brindsley Heath, as if for the grounds about
Teddesley Park. The chace was continued without a check for fifty minutes at
a most rapid pace ; many miles were run over the Heath to Hednesford, but at
length the enclosures were approached, and passed in the same straight line, at
the same rapid pace as before. Passing by Norton, and proceeding onwards
towards Walsall, the fox crossed the Canal, and was killed in gallant style, in
full view of the sportsmen, after an hour and twenty minutes ; thus closing a
most brilliant day's sport. The distance ran is supposed to be from thirteen to
fourteen miles.
From BelVs Life. The same account also appears in
the Derby Mercury.
So ended old Tom Leedham's last season as huntsman.
That he understood his business and showed sport can be
readily gathered from the accounts of it, meagre though
they be, which have appeared in the previous pages.
128 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1836
Naturally there were plenty of other good runs of which
no record exists, except the innumerable noses on the doors
at Hoar Cross, which are now so dried up as to render
it very difficult for any one to recognize them as having
once been part and parcel of a fox. There was that run
from Radburne, for instance, to Amber gate, when Joe
Leedham, their first whipper-in, was bitten in the heel by
the moribund fox, and fainted from loss of blood. Many
others, too, there must have been, besides the great runs
in Mr. Meynell's early years.
Of the season of 1836 there is only one record of any
run at all. But it need not be inferred from this that
the new huntsman was not a success. Many years after
this the editor of one of the sporting papers writes, as if
smarting under a sense of personal injury, " The Leed-
hams are, as usual, the component parts of Mr. Meynell
Ingram's establishment, where the grim god of Silence
seems to reign supreme."
BelVs Life, March 27th, 1836 :—
GALLANT RUN WITH MR. MEYNELL'S HOUNDS.
On Thursdaj' week, the hounds of Mr. Meynell had a most superb day's sport.
They met at Sudbury Coppice, and found their game almost instantaneously. A
fox a most gallant one — crossed the pond head, near to Alder Car, through the
midst of sportsmen, who at that moment almost lined the road. He then pursued
his course back to the coppice, and made his point as if for Cubley Gorse, but
bore eventually away for Eaton Wood, where he was at length run into, after a
chace of one hour and seven minutes. Here, however, the day's sport did not
end, but a fresh fox was found at Foston, which took a line through Foston Wood,
and thence, at a most severe pace, to Sudbury Coppice, which, however, he did
not reach, but bore away over a very fine country to the right, and persevered
over the open to Alkmonton, and nearly to Longford Car ; but, again bearing to
the rio-ht crossed the brook above Barton Fields, and was killed at Thurvaston,
after a most beautiful run of one hour and twenty-five minutes, the first fifty of
which was without a moment's check.
This run must have been close on twelve miles.
In 1837, so far as we know, nothing of any importance
occurred. In the last year of his reign Old Tom Leedham
did not go much out of his own kennel for sires ; but his
successor made amends for it pretty freely the next year.
The Hoar Cross Hunt.
From a painting:
(now in the possession of Sir Peter Walker, and
formerly the property of Mr. Chadwick).
Joe Leedham (left), Hugo Meynell (centre),
Tom Leedham (right).
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1838] GOOD CHARTLEY RUN. 129
dipping into the blood of Lord Segrave's, Lord Yar-
borough's, the Duke of Beaufort's, and the Belvoir kennels.
The entry resulted in producing, at least, two good ones
in Fatima, by Lord Yarborough's Finder — Rosebud, while
Draco, by Lord Segrave's Hotspur — His Dulcet, proved
a more than useful draft, remaining in the pack for nine
seasons.
Unfortunately, hunting was stopped a great deal by
frost, which was so severe in January that a man walked
across the ice on the Thames, though not without difficulty,
and two people drove in a cart across the Serpentine. There
were cricket matches on skates in Essex and at Sheffield,
but the best story about this very severe frost hails from
London. We are told quite seriously that a glass of gin
was frozen into a solid mass in the mouth of a coalheaver,
who remained gagged till placed on the kitchen fire, when
the dangerous mass dissolved !
In this year, also, there is the first mention of a mangy
fox, which occurs in rather an amusing way. " Colonel
Wyndham's hounds in Sussex had a twenty-mile run after
a fine grey dog, which was supposed to be a fine grey, or
mange-d, fox. The hounds ran up to him, but did not
kill him." The Tegleaze Wood, just above Mr. Reginald
Wilberforce's house at Lavington, has always been held
by local tradition to have been the starting-point of this
extraordinary run, but the dog was always said to have
been killed and eaten.
To make up for the long stoppage by frost, they hunted
later than usual this year, winding up with a smart ring
from Chartley. In this run we have the first public
mention of Mr. Trevor Yates, who lived at Sapperton,
and was such a w^ell-known figure in the country.
BeWs Life, April 22nd, 1838 :—
GALLANT FOX CHACE WITH MR. MEYNELL'S HOUNDS.
This crack pack met on Saturday, the 14th ult., at Chartley Park. Drew
Lazarus Wood blank, but found Pug iu the Brand, scent cold ; and, after au
ineliectual attempt to pick it out, gave it up, and started for the park, which was
drawn blank, as well as the Moss. Away we steered for Newton Gorse (a covert
VOL. I, K
130 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1839
of Lord Bagot's) — found instantly. The view holloa liaving been given by tho
huntsman, away started the gallant pack at the best pace, by Booth Farm, througli
the Moss Wood, nearly up to Chartley, through Lazarus Wood, almost up to
Field, thence to the left, through Birch Wood Park, over Fradswell Heath to the
Brand, and Chartley Park into Lazarus Wood, where this gallant pack ran] into
their fox, after a run of one hour and three minutes, over a very severe and heavy
country. Among the leading riders we noticed Lords Alford and Tamworth,
Hon. Wm. Bagot, M.P., Rev. Charles Landor, Messrs. MejTiell, Boucherett, F.
Bradshaw, Bott, Trevor Yates, Potts, Jackson, etc.
It is extremely difficult to assign the exact date of
the following run, but it seems probal)le that it occurred
in 1839.
"Monday, the 12th inst., aflbrded, perhaps, one of the
most satisfactory days to the master of hounds, the field,
and the hounds themselves, that can be recorded in the
annals of sporting. AVe met at Sud])ury Coppice, and
found the worthy squire there — not more celebrated for
his love of the chace than for his urbanity of manners and
truly gentlemanly conduct towards every one. We threw
the hounds in, and soon unkennelled our fox, who took
the open country, and, after a remarkably quick burst of
forty minutes, was killed. We then trotted off to Foston
Hall, where, in one of the plantations, the fox was drawn
away, the hounds laid on, and away they went down
the meadows for Sudbury village, where he passed at the
back of the Hall gardens and across the Uttoxeter Road
for the Alder Car, through the coppice, and over the hill
for Marefield Gorse. Leaving this to the right, he took
the direction of Somersal village, and over the hills for
Eaton Wood. He then bore away for the left, ran through
a small wood of Lord Waterpark's, and up to Doveridge
village. Here he was so hard pressed that he took to the
gardens and outbuildings of several places, but, alas ! broke
away again, and ran back by Ley Hill and straight away
for the Alder Car again, thence up to the turnpike road and
into Sudbury Park gorse. The gallant pack rattled him
through this, and ran him to the top of the park, out by
Mr. Chawner's, of Hare Hill. Here, alas ! many of our
best riders and best horses were brought to a standstill,
and went home again. Those old sportsmen, however,
1839] SIR MATTHEW BLAKISTON. 131
who had been careful of their horses in the early part of
the run, still pursued with hound and horn. Crossing
the Boyleston Road, he went down for Cubley brook and
through an osier bed to the right, over the next hill,
making his line for Bentley Car. Here the hounds were
seen gallantly carrying a head, and running at a good
pace for the gorse, which they did not allow him to hano-
in for an instant, but pushed him out on the far side
towards the village of Yeovely (sic), evidently meanino-
to reach Longford Car if possible. But the staunch pack
were getting nearer to him every field, and their pace
increasing, so that by the time we got to Alkmonton
bottoms he was fain to try two small woods, where the\-
got so near to him that, on being barred out, he made, or
rather was attempting to make, back when they ran into
him and killed him in gallant style after a run of two
hours and forty minutes. The squire, and his brother,
the captain, with about sixteen more, including the hunts-
man, out of a field originally consisting of near a hundred
men, were up. On those who stayed, perforce, I will not
cast any reflection. Suffice it to say, that they had ridden
well and fairly, through a heavy country, for two hours,
and when they found their steeds fail, they had too
much feeling for them to urge them cruelly forward." *
" Sir Matthew Blakiston, Bart., was descended from
Matthew Blakiston, Esq., an eminent merchant of London,
who was elected an alderman of that city in 1753, and
Lord Mayor in 1760. In 1759 he was knighted and was
afterwards created a baronet." This is what Debrett says
of one, who, in his day, was perhaps the best man in the
Meynell country. He lived at Sandybrook Hall, his own
place, near Ashbourne, where Mr. Peveril Turnbull, a
regular follower of the Meynell hounds, on their Ash-
bourne side, now resides. Latterly Sir Matthew, owing
to straitened means, lived in a much smaller house close
by. The late Sir William FitzHerbert, who was a great
friend of his, used to say there was no harder man.
* The writer ia unable to find out who wrote the above account.
132 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
Unfortunately he was also very hard of hearing, which led
to rather a catastrophe one day. There was a wire clothes-
line about the height of a horseman's chin just in front
of a fence which the baronet was going to jump. With
his eye fixed on the place he had chosen, he was quite
oblivious of the wire. In vain those behind him, who saw
it, shouted to him ; he never heard a sound, and, going
on, was swept clean out of his saddle. Though quite an
old man at the time, he was not much hurt. He was out
the first time hounds found in Brailsford Gorse, and ran
over Atlow Whin.
There was no more noted man in his day with the
Hoar Cross Hounds than Mr. Trevor Yates, and yet
nothing very much can be learned about him. He lived
at Sapperton, where he kept a pack of harriers, and also
at one time hunted Mr. Okeover's harriers at Okeover,
He was practically one of the staff" with the Hoar Cross
Hounds, wore a huntsman's pink frock-coat and cap,
knew every hound in the pack, acted as a supernumerary
whipper-in, and sometimes mounted one of the Leedhams.
This was probably with a view to selling the animal,
which was most likely being ridden on trial, as Mr. Yates,
in addition to farming, made a nice little income by
breaking and selling young horses. Some of his cracks
made as much as three hundred guineas. Mr. Arthur
Yates, the famous steeplechase rider, owner, and trainer
of steeplechase horses, is his nephew.
Having got thus far in the notice of a well-known
Meynell character, the writer wrote to Mr. Copestake of
Barton Blount, who very kindly furnished the following
copy of an obituary notice which appeared in the Derby
Mercury, April 7th, 1880 : —
TBIE LATE TREVOR YATES, ESQ.
Mr. Trevor Yates, of Sapperton, who died on the 19th day of March, 1880,
at the age of seventy-seven years, was almost the last of a class who combined
the good qualities of an old English gentleman with the position of a tenant
farmer. The son of Harry Yates of Sapperton, he succeeded to the farm long
held by his family, under the Squires of Snelston, upon the death of his mother,
MR. TREVOR YATES. 133
about the year 1846. Before this period, his fine judgment and excellent horse-
manship had made him famous with Mr. Meynell Ingram's Hunt, as being a
•' maker " of high-class hunters, some of which he sold at very high prices to the
members of the Hunt. As the owner and huntsman of a fine pack of harriers,
he had, of course, every opportunity of making young horses perfect ; yet that
he enjoyed hunting for its own sake, every one who has ever ridden with him
knows full well. ... To what grand perfection he got his pack, an account of
many runs, by the few of his hunting friends now left, might be given in ample proof.
A correspondent tells us of one (whether with a bag fox or hare is immaterial)
when the run was from the Duke of York, on the Ashborne and Buxton road, to
Warslow Hall, the seat of Sir John Crewe, nine miles from point to point, and
crossing the rivers Dove and Manifold. Again, finding at Bradbourne, they
killed at Bonsai, after a run, without a check, for two and a half hours. His
hounds and himself were so famous that Lord Chesterfield invited him to come
and try his skill at an outlying stag that his Lordship's staghounda were unable
to take. Our friend was invited to breakfast at Bretby Hall, and between twenty
and thirty gentlemen in " red " were there, and first one and then another asked
him, " Well, Yates, do you think you can take him ? " Now, up to a certain
point, a better tempered sportsman never lived ; but at last a certain gentleman,
who was not a great favourite in the hunting-field, came to him and said, " Ah t
Yates, do you think your little dogs can take the deer to-day ? " So " Old
Trevor," rising from his chair to go to his hounds, replied with one of his looks,
" Well, if I cannot, I will cut every hound's throat when I get home." The
result was, after a splendid run of two hours, the stag was brought to bay, with
a most select field at the finish. Lord Chesterfield was so pleased that he ofiered
Mr. Yates another run, which took place shortly afterwards, the stag being un-
carted in a field near Ashbourne, and taken, after a splendid run of three hours,
within a mile of Belper.
So highly was Mr. Yates esteemed as a sportsman, and such was his con-
sideration for wheat and seeds, or anything else that might sustain unnecessary
damage, that he was welcome wherever he went. One of his best runs took
place when, invited by Mr. Watts-Russell, he went to Ham Hall, and, finding a
hare at Thowley Hall, killed her, after a run of two hours and three-quarters
at Caldon Mill. He sold this famous pack afterwards to Prince de Joinville.
He afterwards hunted a pack for the Squire of Okeover, and the distances ho
rode to his meets would hardly be believed by our railway-hunting sportsman
nowadays ; but a keener sportsman and finer horseman the present generation
would have a difiiculty in finding. With all his love of sport, a more industrious
or more intelligent practical farmer did not live. Up between four and five
o'clock in a morning, he would, before starting with hounds, be amongst his
servants, sharing the milking and giving general directions. The eye of the
master was never wanting, and his crops were the best, and his land the cleanest
in the district, and he was (all farmers know what is meant by the expression)
a good neighbour. His hospitality was genial and hearty, but never over-
strained ; there was a welcome so long as his friends would stay, but no undue
pressure beyond what was convenient to them. For many years increasing
infirmities, the result of years of hard work and exercise, had prevented him
mounting a horse, but it was cheerful and delightful to hear him tell tales of hia
huntmg days with Old Squire Meynell, and of the horses he had sold to the
Admiral, and other good sportsmen, who went out to hunt, as well as to ride ; on
the diff'erence between which pursuits old Trevor was wont to express himself
very strongly.
134 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
Well, Trevor Yates has gone — a good man, a good sportsman, and a good
neighbour. There are not many left now of the old cronies who hunted with
him in days of yore ; but many of our readers knew and valued his honest
sterling worth, and will lament over his death. At his funeral, which took place
last Wednesday, there was a large attendance of his friends and acquaintances,
from whose recollections this brief obituary notice has been compiled.
Mercuky.
( ^35 )
CHAPTER XII.
CHARTLEY QUEEX ADELAIDE AT SUDBURY THE REV.
GERMAN BUCKSTON.
There is no more sporting place in the Meynell country
than the above, and few which are wilder or more
picturesque. As you stand in the centre of the park, with
its scattered clumps of fir trees, and nothing but the
white cattle, the deer, and the rabbits to keep you com-
pany, you might as well be in the solitude of the Rocky
Mountains. The latter term is used advisedly, for surely
it is very like what is called "a park" in those parts,
especially in autumn, or on a frosty day in winter, when
the sky is blue overhead and the rough, tussocky grass
is yellow under foot, while the rabbits have honeycombed
the surface like any badgers. For these latter flourish
greatly in the foot-hills of that far-off western land.
For aught the writer knows to the contrary, there are
very few parks anywhere in England like those two in
Staffordshire — Bagot's and Chartley. For where else do
you find the park without the house? No doubt there
were plenty of others at one time, though in many cases
only the name remains without the pales. But Chartley
is exactly as it was when the Conqueror came — or many
a century before his time, except so far as it is enclosed by
its fence, which is said to have been put up in the reign
of Henry III., when the white cattle were driven in from
the forest.
Its castle,* which is now in ruins, was built in 1220,
* Redfern's " Antiquities of Uttoxcter."
136 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
by Kichard Blunderville, Earl of Chester, on his return
from the Holy Land, and from him descended to William
Ferrars, Earl of Derby, whose son Eobert forfeited the
estate by his rebellion. He was, however, afterwards
allowed to retain it. Subsequently it came by marriage
to the family of Devereux, and was in their possession
when IMary, Queen of Scots, was taken there from Tutbury
Castle, in December, 1585, and remained there till she was
removed to Fotheringhay, in September, 1586. Before
her arrival Lord Essex wrote to Mr. Bagot of Blithfield,
asking him to have "all the bedding, hangings, and such
like stuffs, removed to your own house for a wile ; and,
if she come to Chartley, it may be carried to Lichfield,
or els (she being gone to Dudley or els wher) it may be
carried back." From this letter it does not seem as if
Lord Essex quite approved of having his house turned
into a sort of State prison. While there, the queen em-
broidered a bed with her own hands, which is still at
Chartley. Queen Elizabeth came there, on her way to
Stafford, in 1575. Li 1781 the curious old manor house
was burnt down, while, about fifty years ago, the new
one caught fire. Abberley, who is now one of Lord
Bagot's keepers, and who lives at Abberley's house, on
the outskirts of Bagot's Wood on the Uttoxeter turnpike
road, remembers the fire, and was struck with the number
of old guns, pikes, bayonets, and the like, which came out
of it on that occasion.
" It is traditionally said," Mr. Redfern observes, '* that
liobin Hood found asylum at Chartley Castle, and its
founder, Randall of Chester, is thus named in con-
nection with the famed Robin, by the author of ' Piers
Plowman.'
"*I can perfitly my paternoster, as the priest it siugeth ;
I can rhyme of Robin Hood, and Randall of Chester.' "
Does the coupling together of these two names favour
the idea of a Robert de Ferrars being no other than a
Robin Hood ?
CHARTLEY. 137
From the Devereux the property came to the
Shirleys, from them to the Townsends, and so to the
Ferrars.
Apart from its historic interest, it is famous as the
home of the white cattle, akin to those at Chillingham,
and said to have been introduced by the Eomans. But
they are nothing like as wild as their kinsfolk in the
Cheviots, to judge, at least, by the Druid's description of
the latter, nor in the least dangerous.
But it is, perhaps, after all as the home of the fox
that it interests us most. Rare runs there have been from
it after its good, wild foxes. Its gorse takes a lot of
drawing, and requires a bold hound to face it. You want
a pack of " Linkboys " to make it fairly shake on a bad
scenting morning, and no doubt many a fox has been left
there lying j^erdu in its bristly fastnesses. Then there is
the Moss, a grand, wild, natural covert, full of heath, and
good rough lying, but a place where a wild fox is apt to
be off before any one can get to the distant farther end to
view him away. It is a queer place to ride through, like
an Irish quaking bog, and woe betide the unwary rider
who gets off the right path. Many years ago a pack
of harriers was kept at Chartley, and some of these sank
into the bog and were never seen again, while more than
one rider has had cause to thank his stars that he did not
follow them, when his horse, with wild eye, distended
nostril, and heaving flanks, has, by a series of herculean
efforts, extricated himself from the clinging morass which
threatened to engulf them both.
But the said Moss has brought us to the boundaries
of Blithfield, which of right claims a chapter to itself. Still
this account must not close without mention of two good
sportsmen, diametrically opposite one to the other, for
one is an out-and-out horseman, and the other an equally
enthusiastic houndsman. There was a time when, both
in Derbyshire and Leicestershire, Mr. Nuttall was always
in the front rank, and, given a horse he likes, and a good
start, he takes a good deal of catching to-day. If any one
138 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
goes away hungry or thirsty from his house, Park Hall,
it is the wayfarer's own fault.
He has had some capital horses in his stable, many
of which left it at high prices to go to other people, which
is the greatest criterion of merit. One of them, Walnut,
was good enough to win the Meynell Red Coat race with
that beautiful horseman, the late Mr. Harry Bird, in the
saddle, at Uttoxeter, in 1894. This was not exactly the
easiest horse in the world to ride, but he was very fast
and a capital stayer.
Mr. Radcliff, who lives at Broad Moor, Weston, is
devoted to hunting, knows every yard of the country,
and so sees most of a run without any unnecessary
jumping. He does his l^est in the interests of the Hunt
to keep wire down, and to have it marked where it does
exist ; and there is no more thankless task than this.
While dealing with this side of the country, Mr.
Harrison, living at Chartley Castle, must not be forgotten,
lor he is a capital fox-preserver, though he does not hunt,
and deserves all the more credit on that account. How-
ever, he is rej)resented in the field by his daughter, who
goes well, especially on her favourite chestnut mare,
]\ label, as good a hunter as any one need wish to ride.
A little further away, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy are settled
at Fradswell, and always have plenty of foxes both in the
Birch Wood and the Home Coverts, besides seeing where
hounds go when they run. Mrs. ]\Iurphy knows more
about hunting than most people, and wants no one to show
her the way over the country. They have both of them
had their share of falls, but it seems to make no differ-
ence, though broken bones have been the result of some
of them.
The Fradswell dumbles are very awkward places to get
over, unless you know your way about, ])ut, once clear of
them, you are in a beautiful country to ride across, go which
way you will, and it carries a good scent. Unfortunately
there is a good deal of wire on the North Stafl'ordsliire
side. The ]mlings in Chartley Park are a formidable-
1839] CHARTLEY. 139
looking obstacle, if tliey come in the way, but Mr. Power
proved they were jumpable one day. The horse was only
a four-year-old, but the pace was good, and he was going
just to his rider's liking. Thus a bold heart in both man
and horse, and active limbs, carried the pair over in safety,
and put a hundred and fifty pounds into the owner's
pocket that same evening over the dinner- table. Sir
Peter Walker being the purchaser.
To resume, however, the thread of our story, it is
necessary to go back to the years 1839-40. The principal
event of 1839 was the death of old Tom Leedham on
September 7th, and he was laid to rest in Yoxall church-
yard at the ripe age of seventy-three. He had been out
with the hounds the year before on a grey pony, and may
possibly have seen Abelard, by Lord Yarborough's Finder
out of Adelaide, giving some proof of his future excellence
in the Brakenhurst that same year, for they began cub-
hunting early. Had he lived a little longer he would
have heard some grumbling about his son, Joe, who
probably did not have the best of luck this season.
On March 24th, a complimentary dinner was given to
Mr. Meynell, by the gentlemen who hunted in the country,
at the King's Head, Derby, in recognition of the end of
his twenty-fifth season. About sixty sat down to dinner.
E. S. Chandos-Pole was in the chair, while Mr. Calvert of
Hound Hill acted as vice-chairman.
In the season 1839-40, frost interfered to a great
extent with hunting, and, so far as can be gathered from
all available sources, sport was only moderate.
On March 9th, however, they met at Black Slough
and had a memorable day, only marred by a serious
accident. It is thus described: "A fox was soon found,
and immediately went away at a slapping pace for the
Quartz wood, and, skirting by Lopland's farm, passed over
the Tacton Brook, which is at present swollen by floods.
Here, on the grounds of the Ixev. Mr. Colman, Mr. John
Harding, as gallant a sportsman as ever followed hounds,
was dangerously hurt l)y his horse catching his hind legs
140 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1842
in a gate, which snapped it short off, and the gallant rider
was thrown, and, I am sorry to say, is not expected to
recover, having received some internal injuries. He was
immediately carried to the Crown, Tamworth, and speedy
assistance given,
" The hounds followed and killed after an eighteen miles
run, which was done by a select few in an hour and a half,
over hard ground, wdth only one slight check, and, with
the exception of the accident to Mr, Harding, is one of
the finest runs which has occurred in this part of the
country throughout the whole season. During the whole
of the run the hounds were hunted by Mr. Joseph Slacker
in the most masterly style."
Who the Mr. Joseph Slacker here referred to was, the
author has failed to discover. It may possibly have been
a nickname for Joe Leedham, for writers for the sporting
press were allowed more freedom of speech than is con-
sidered proper nowadays, and Joe seems to have had his
detractors.
On Michaelmas day, 1842, just as the indoor and
outdoor servants were sitting down to roast goose in the
servants' hall, as the custom was, there came the news
that the old squire had succeeded to the Temple Newsam
estates in Yorkshire, and he ordered something good to be
served out to wash down the roast choose. " We had the
liquor after that," an old man told the writer, " but no
more roast goose, for the squire used to spend Michaelmas
at Temple Newsam." Sciatica, too, had him in its grip,
and he went hunting very little afterwards, his active
duties as master devolving on his brother, the Admiral,
and his son, the young squire.
On January 18 th, they met at Foston Hall, at the
time when Queen Adelaide resided at Sudbury, and several
of her distinguished guests attended the meet, which was
not a large one. A correspondent sent the following
account of the day's sport to Bell's Life: —
A fox was soon found and went away at a rattling pace, and, after a good
inn of forty-five minutes, was lost near Sutton, owing, we believe, to the flooded
Joe Leedham.
From a picture in the possession of
Miss Mills of Yoxall.
•rnBribaaJ aoL
to rioiggsssoq aril ni siutoiq b moiH
.fiBxoY to alUM aai/yi
1842] QUEEN ADELAIDE AT SUDBURY. Ul
state of the country, which also was the cause of many falls and duckings in the
course of the day. The field had not long to wait before a brace of foxes were
viewed away from Sutton Gorse. The hounds were again laid on, with a capital
Bcent, and Reynard, fortunately, took a beautiful line of grass, with regular, stiff,
and severe fencing, and such as none but those who were well mounted could get
on with. The pace, very good at first, soon became tremendous. Longford,
Thurvaston, and Radburne were passed without a check, and the gallant fox then
turned straight for Etwall, and led his pursuers across the well-known brook —
near that village — at any time a rum one to get over and now bank full. The.
run up to the brook was an hour and twenty minutes at racing pace, but, as soon
as the hounds were over, scent began to fail ; and, after a quarter of an hour of
slow hunting, the hounds were flogged oif, after as good a run and over as fine a
country as any sportsman may wish to see. From the severity of the pace and
the length of the run but few were with the hounds at the finish. Amongst the
lucky few were Captain Meynell, Mr. Meynell, jun., Messrs. Johnston, Bass,
Wilmot, Arkwright, Mouseley, and one or two others. Every judge of hounds
and hunting, who has seen Mr. Meynell's pack this year, has expressed an
opinion that there were few packs equal to them — none superior.
On February 28th tliey had another good day, described
by a " Lover of Fox-hunting," in Bell's Life : —
This gallant pack met at Sudbury, drew the Coppice and found lots of foxes ;
went away with a vixen, and, after a ring of twenty-five minutes, ran into her.
Drew Cubley Gorse blank {Proh Pudor !), thence to Bentley Car. Found a brace
and went away with a regular old Derbyshire fox sharp to Longford, thence to
Cubley Gorse, and hark away to Snelston, over Darley Moor— very heavy and deei>
— then, skirting Shirley and Shirley Park, back to Longford, skirting the Car away
to Bentley Car, and thence at a good hunting pace by Boylestono to Sudbury
Coppice, and, by the indefatigable exertions of the huntsman, Joe, backed by the
Earl of Chesterfield on his third horse, ran gallantly into him, after as hard a
day's sport as need be seen. Amongst the few, of a very numerous field, we
observed at the finish the Earl of Chesterfield, H. S. Wilmot, Esq., the Rev. G.
Buckston, and F. Bradshaw, Esq. Several of the horses were left in the fields,
dead beat, and one gallant mare has since died.
This must have been a most punishing run of at least
eighteen miles as hounds ran. The writer well remembers
telling Charles Leedham about a wonderful run with the
Hon. Mark Rolle's hounds when Stovin was huntsman.
They ran a regular old Dartmoor Hector till all the horses
were beat. Then Stovin took to his feet, the hounds
could not gain on the fox, nor the fox get any farther
away from the hounds. At last, the former sat down and
barked, the hounds lay down all round him, and the
huntsman knocked him on the head. Five horses died,
and hounds did not get back to kennels till two o'clock in
142 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
the mornino'. Charles's comment was, " I call that foolish-
ness."
Nimrod, junior, in BelVs Life, writes the following
graphic account of the same run : —
This crack pack met last Monday at Sudbury, and, notwithstanding the frost
in the early part of the morning, the ground was in very good condition. They
soon found, and after running round the coverts a short time, it was killed, and
proved, much to the chagrin of Joe Leedham, to be a vixen with seven cubs
in her. Lord Chesterfield being out, Mr. Meynell Ingram, out of compliment to
his lordship, trotted off to Cubley Gorse, a new covert belonging to his lordship,
but Pug was not at home. Bentley Car was then tried, and two of the " varmint "
were immediately on foot — the hounds close at the brush of one — and off we
went best pace. The crack riders, par excellence of the Hunt, the Rev. German
Buckston, and another reverend gentleman, Mr. Spilsbury of Willington, had
each a tremendous fall at the same fence, which they charged abreast here.
Fortunately, it only made their eyes strike fire a little, and no harm was done,
for they were soon up and oft' again. I need not trouble you with mentioning a
Ion"- list of places of which most of ; your readers are ignorant, but suffice it to
say that the run, without any material check, was witliin five minutes of three
hours. They took us through Snelston, up as far as a village called Wyaston, and
then turned back, leaving Shirley Park and Longford to our left, and ran
into Sudbury coppice, where we met in the morning. After running him in the
covert about ten minutes he was killed. He was so beat that he sat down many
times till the hounds were within five yards of him. At one time the field was
very select. Neither the huntsman nor whip were with the pack, and it was
only through the exertions of that famous sportsman, Mr. Trevor Yates of
Sapperton, that the hounds were kept to their work. There was a great deal of
hard riding at first, and it told on the bellows of the gallant steeds. Lord
Chesterfield and Mr. Massey Stanley were forward most of the way, till his lord-
ship's second horse threw a shoe, and he was obliged to ride " a young 'un " that
Tom Beal * was instructing. Mr. Massey Stanley was up at the finish, as was
also the Rev. German Buckston, Mr. R. Chawner, Mr. P. Waite, Mr. Wilmot,
and several others, Joe Leedham on Mr. Yates' horse, old Traveller, which he
had kindly lent him, and little Jack. The rest came in by various routes within
a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes after, except some few who were nowhere.
I was much pleased to see Mr. Hanison, junior, of Snelston Hall, riding
straighter than most there. I suppose he put on too much steam at first, as he
was not to be seen the last hour.
NiMKOD Junior.
The name of the Rev. German Buckston, now men-
tioned, was at one time a household word in Derbyshire.
His grandmother was a daughter of the great fox-hunter.
Sir Edward Littleton of Pillaton, so he had a strong
infusion of hunting blood in him, and we all know the old
* Lord Chesterfield's stud groom.
THE REV. GERMAN BUCKSTON. 143
proverb about " What is bred in the bone," etc., and in
the Eev. German Buckston it came out] very strono-
indeed. He came of a good old family, the earliest known
progenitor of which was Henry de Bawkestone, 1256, and
one Thomas Buxton was high sherift" of Derbyshire in
1415. But hfe immediate ancestor was Henry Buxton,
who was living at Bradbourne, in the seventeenth century.
From the last-named place, of which Mr. German Buck-
ston was vicar, he used to ride his hunter on in the
morning, even to the most distant meets on the Stafford-
shire side, hunt all day, ride him home at night, and the
" creeping parson," as he was styled, was never very far
from the hounds all day. He could not have said, like the
famous parson in the story, that he was never in the same
field with them. The story goes that once the well-
known Bishop Wilberforce remonstrated with a clergyman
in his diocese for going out hunting, and that the latter, in
self-defence, said —
" But, my lord, I saw that you were at a State ball the
other night."
" Perhaps I was," said the prelate, " but I can assure
you, I was never in the same room as the dancing."
" And I can assure you, my lord, I am never in the
same field as the hounds ! " was the clever retort.
The story is so venerable, that, on that account, at
least, it should command respect.
Possibly there was something in tlie air at Bradbourne,
which stimulated its vicar to indulge in the pleasures of
the chase, for as long ago as 1214, William, who was then
vicar, was accused in the court of Rome by his prior,
amongst other irregularities, of going a-hunting, and
neglecting his clerical duties. Not that the former by any
means presupposes the latter. From Bradbourne, Mr.
Buckston moved to his other property at Sutton-on-the-
Hill, of which he was Rector for some years. He died in
1861, in his 65th year. His son, who is as good a fox-
preserver as was his father, is still with us, living at
Sutton-on-the-Hill, of which place he is the rector.
144 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1843
BelVs Life, December 31st, 1843 : —
Mb. Editor, — This pack of foxhounds have shown remarkable sport, and on
the nine hunting days of the last three weeks, have killed their thirteen foxes,
after some of the best and fastest runs ever witnessed. Where all have been so
good, it is almost invidious to particularize ; but the runs from Blythfield, on
Monday the 18th, and from Longford, on Thursday the 21st, have seldom been
excelled. The hounds are in splendid condition, and many of them, particularly
Bome of the ladies, are equal in beauty, symmetry, speed, and stoutness, to any
hounds in the world. On Saturdaj', the 16th, Old Draco and two couple of
others got away from Brakenhurst with a fresh fox, and killed him, unassisted,
after a splendid burst of thirty-five minutes, and on that day three foxes fell
victims to these determined vulpicides. It was the fashion last season to say,
that Joe Leedham could neither ride to hounds, nor kill his foxes, but he has
shown them this year what he can do when properly mounted. The proverbial
kind-heartedness of Mr, Meynell Ingram may, in some instances, have been
carried too far, where he has been unwilling to discard an old and faithful slave,
80 long as he could enjoy the sport ; but neither Timothy, Old Pigg, nor Aaron,
could last for ever, nor can Joe, an old clipper, be expected to keep his place
\vith hounds when the pace is too good for thoroughbred ones. When mounted
on horses that can carry him, he has proved himself not only a bold rider to his
hounds, but also a clever and scientific huntsman ; the way he has handled his
hounds in difficulties having won universal admiration, whilst the musical voices
of Tom and Jack have resounded through the woodlands, in tones which Hen*
Standigl or Foruasari might envy. We are sorry that Mr. Meynell Ingram is
unable to join in the sport, from a sprain he received some time since, but
Captain Meynell has hunted regularly, and young Squire Hugo has not only
inherited the family love of hunting, but has acquired a dashing style of riding,
that is seldom to be found in any family. He knows the place of a master
of hounds is with the pack, and there you may always see him. May the con-
clusion of the season continue as prosperous as the commencement. — December
26th, 1843.
Unless tliey used the same names more than once for
horses, Timothy, Old Pigg, and Aaron, must have all been
well over twenty years old before they were discarded.
When Mr. Fort is mounted on one of his two marvellous
evergreens, Pugilist or Beaufort, who are about fifteen
years old, he sometimes says jokingly, that a horse is not
safe to ride over Derbyshire, till he has reached that age !
But Mr. Meynell went one better, or rather some years
better !
A complimentary dinner was given this year in honour
of Mr. Meynell Ingram, and a beautiful silver gilt
representation of the old oak below Hoar Cross, the
huntsman, and earth-stopper, was presented to him.
( 145 )
CHAPTER XIII.
THREE MEN OF MARK — MR. HENRY BODEN — MR. CLOWES'
DIARY, 1844-47 — MR. WILLIAM TOMLINSON.
]844.
One of those who was hunting with the hounds about
this time was Mr. Okeover, of Okeover, who will always
be associated in the minds of his contemporaries with a
famous black horse, whose picture hangs in the smoking-
room at Okeover. The latter is a charming place just
outside the boundaries of the Meynell Hunt, though, once,
at any rate, hounds ran there — on a foggy day in the seven-
ties— from Shirley Park. Not a soul was with them, and
the keeper shut them up. An account of it, therefore,
hardly comes within the province of this volume. As to
the Okeovers themselves, they have been there from time
immemorial. At the time of the Conquest, Ormus, or
Orme, was lord of Acover and Stretton, and from him the
Manor of Okeover descended in a right line to Thomas de
Okeover in the reign of Henry VI. Shortly before the
present owner* came to reside there, the place was let
to Mr. Robert Plumer AVard, — the talented author of
" Tremaine " — who married the widow of the Rev. Charles
Gregory Okeover. This was about 1839. The church
there is not only most interesting in itself, but its resto-
ration can claim to be the chef cVccuvre of an artist in
Gothic architecture — Mr. William Evans, of Ellaston, tlie
original of Adam Bede. In an account of an interview
with him, whidi appeared years ago in the Gentleman's
* AsLbourne and the family of the Dove.
146 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1844
Magazine, lie said: "To my feeling, the most complete
work, as a piece of art, I ever accomplished was the little
church of Okeover. . . . Mr. Okeover gave myself and
Gilbert Scott free hands to do as we desired ; cost was
nothing ; perfection and artistic beauty were to be all in
all ; we Avere bound by no contracts, and I put my whole
soul into it, and so did Scott. Yes," he continued, as if
speaking to himself, " I think that was the most beautiful
thing I ever did. But, then, Mr. Okeover is himself an
artist by genius, and he can comprehend art."
This Mr. Okeover was the predecessor of the present
squire. The surroundings of the place are a worthy setting
to such a gem, for the house itself, and the park nestling
under the hill, where the trees throw deep shadows on thelong
summer afternoons over the clustering deer, while the Dove
glides placidly through rich pastures hard by, is a thing to
dream of, amidst the rush and hurry of modern life, even as
one thinks of the "shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land."
No one can appreciate all this more thoroughly than
the owner of it, for he, too, has the artistic temperament,
and thus cannot fail to extract the greatest enjoyment
from the moving panorama of light, movement, and colour
into which his sporting tastes have continually led him.
Whether standing by the rushing river in Norway, or
walking through covert, or over turnips and stubble, or
heathery moor, no charm of colour or grace of outline
would escape his eye. He is a sportsman of the school
of old Christopher North, or Gilbert White of Selborne.
And when he and his sporting ally, Mr. Trevor Yates,
went out of a morning, with the harriers which the former
kept at Okeover, we may be sure .that, while both were
equally intent on the business in hand, there was always
present for the squire an aesthetic delight in the sky
over his head, in the harmony of the sounds around him,
and in the form and colour of everything on the earth
beneath his feet, of which his companion was unconscious.
Mr. Okeover is still with us, and, though he has passed
the span allotted to man's existence, he is as alert and
1844] MR. HENRY BODEN. U7
active as men who are many years his juniors. He stands
somewhere about six feet six in his stockings, and his con-
temporaries at Oxford tell a story of how he once went
to see a giant, and the latter sent him a private message,
askino- him to leave the room, as there could not be two
siants there at once ! As a matter of fact, Mr. Okeover
was requested to step on to the platform to illustrate the
height of the giant by walking under the latter's extended
arm without having to stoop.
This year was memorable for the famous dead heat for
the Derby between Colonel Peel's Orlando and the Hon.
E. Petre's The Colonel, and also for the dehut in the hunt-
ing field of a little boy of eight years of age, who was
destined to make his mark in after years. This was none
other than Mr. Henry Boden, who has by this time fairly
earned the reputation of being, perhaps, the best all-round
man of his age in England. On his sixty-second birthday
he walked from Derby to Foston (eleven miles in two hours
and forty minutes) to dine and sleep with Mr. Fort, and
offered, after dinner, to walk back again for a wager of
fifty pounds, which no one was rash enough to lay.
Whether he owes his remarkable staying powers to his
abstention from alcohol in any form, and almost entirely
from tobacco, can be left to the discussion of the curious in
such matters. He thinks nothing, now in his sixty-sixth
year, of riding from Derby to Sudbury — and a weary road it
is — fifteen miles, hunting all day, and riding home, perhaps,
seventeen miles at night. As to his nerve, it is as good
now as it was twenty-five years ago. He took to polo in
his sixty-fourth year, having never hit a ball with a polo
stick in his life before, and was very soon good enough
to play at Hurlingham, Eanelagh, and Rugby, while he
is a constant player at Elvaston. Since he first came out
hunting, in 1844, with the Donington Hounds, in the
mastership of Mr. Story, of Lockington, and Sir Seymour
Blane, Bart., of the Pastures, he has never missed a season,
and hopes to begin his fifty-eighth this winter.*
* He broke hia collar-bone out cub-hunting, with the Meynell, just before the
opening meet, and waa therefore unable tobe preaent on that occasion.
148 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
He won his spurs, too, between the flags, riding at
most of the old meetings, and winning over the St. Leger
course at Doncaster, besides carrying off the Ludlow Cup,
and the Harrington Cup twice. When Sir Peter Walker
started his point-to-point races in 1894, he was most
anxious to ride. But to do so he had, under the conditions
of the race, to be nominated by a lady, and the, perhaps,
wiser counsels of Mrs. Boden, who comes of an ancient
Derbyshire stock, the Holdens, prevailed.
In his younger days, before his marriage, he could
wield the willow to good effect, playing for his county,
and at the Oval, in most of the best matches.
Neither does he despise a day's shooting, and used to
enjoy it to the full in Scotland with his friend, the late
Mr. Hamar Bass, when many a brace of grouse, and many
a lordly stag, fell to the crack of gun and rifle. But,
perhaps, one of his greatest achievements was, in con-
junction with his brother Walter, in raising the Derby
meeting from the mire to the very pinnacle of racing
excellence, while the mention of " Boden's Thorns " sends
a thrill of delight through the veins of every hunting man.
His stable is always full of the best of horses, and as
empty on a hunting morning as the needs of his many
friends can make it, for he is not one of those churls —
" Who keeps for nought else, save to purge 'em with balls,
Like a dog in a manger, bis nags in their stalls."
A stranger coming here a year or two ago was at a loss
to know which to admire the most — the horsemanship or
the tout ensemble — and, of a surety, both are very hard
to beat. He might almost lay claim to be the original
of the following verses, which were written of the famous
Mr. Banks Wright, Sir Richard Sutton's half-brother : —
"At Styche arrives, and then bewitches
The ladies with his azure breeches :
The well-turned leg, the well-made boot,
The hat, the tie, all follow suit.
In fact, they all at once declare,
None in their Hunt so dehonnaire J^
Mr. Henry Bode n.
From a photograph
by
H. Walter Barnett.
^ M_ut^ li /y Henby Boden. /r^t'
\ Mr. Henry Boden, of The Friary, Derby, who died in
London on Saturdtiy after an operation for hip trouble,
was the oldest member of the Meynell and the Quom
Hunta. He had attended every opening meet of the first
named pack for 61 years, and he well remembered having
been out with the Quom at Bunny,|park in 1848, when
Sir Richard Sutton was the maslOT. Ho had hunted
with every master since then. As he spent every autumn
with the Devon and Somerset on Exmocr, returning
to Derbyshire for cub-hunting, Mr. Boden was one of the
few men who could claim to hunt every month in the
year except June. He left Rugby School in 1864,
and had shot and fished in Scotland every season since
then, while up to the dc^th of his son on the polo field
at Rugby in August, 1901, he played occasional games,
although he never hit a ball until he was 61 years of age.
Mr. Boden was also a patron of cricket and was president
of the Derbysloir© County Club for some years. He
got together teams representative of the Gentlemen of the
North and South in 1862, and was to have played, but
he was prevented from doing so by the death of hia
father. There was no more familiar figure in Midland
sport, and for many seasons Mr. Boden was a regular
visitor to Hurlingham on the occasion of all the important
polo matches.
In the social and political life of Derby Mr. Boden
wielded a remarkable influence. He entered the business
of his father, who was then a prosperous lace manufacturer,
and he became head of what is probably the biggest firm
of plain net maker^ in the world, employing many
hundreds of hands at Derby, Chard, and other places.
In hi? younger days he was a prominent Conservative in
politics ; but his wife and he being active Temperance
workers, he was led to throw in liis lot with Sir WilUam
Harcourt when he introduced his Local Veto Bill. This, and
social probleins generally, ultimately led to his becoming
an ardent Radical. It was common knowledge that Sir
WDliam Harcovu*t regarded him as one of his trusti&st
local advisers. Mr. Boden was a benefactor to the town in
many ways, and liLs contributions to various local
objects were on a generous scale. The Derby Temperance
I Society, of which he v/as president in 1 905, and the
Churches of St. Wosburgh and All Saints, Derby, have
' special reason to remember his liberality.
Mr. Boden married, in 1867, Jlias Mary Shuttleworth
Holden, a member of a weU-l-aio^vn Derbyshire family,
and she survives Iiim, together with three sons and one
1 daughter.
MR. HENRY BODEN. U9
Like the gentleman quoted above, Mr. Boden would
say—
" Of lengthy runs let slow ones prate,
Of foxes kDled by light of moon ;
Give me the sharp and rapid rate,
The burst that takes me home by noon."
Not that the last line is quite appropriate, for no day is
too long for him, but he prefers a short, sharp burst to
a long hunting run. Probably, in a lengthy experience,
no run has such pleasant memories for him as a regular
helter-skelter from White's Wood, Brailsford, about forty
years ago. There are not many alive now who remember
it, but those who do say that Mr. Boden had it all to
himself, and hounds fairly flew. It was on a Tuesday
early in November, after a meet at Kedleston, and the
few who remained out induced Tom to draw the covert
in question. Not thinking they were likely to find, he
threw his hounds into covert, though it was getting late.
They found, and away they went. Mr. Boden was riding
Dinah, a little blood mare, and he fairly sent her along
for all she was worth. There was no time to open a gate ;
the brook, in its serpentine windings, seemed to be always
throwing itself in the way, as they raced along it, towards
Sutton Gorse. Alone with hounds, and going that pace,
it is no time for '* peeping," and you cannot well take a
leisurely view of the situation, so it is not surprising that
the little mare was asked to jump it each time hounds
crossed it. Just before they reached Sutton Gorse Jack
Leedham, who had come best pace by the road, saw Mr.
Boden clear a scaffolding pole nailed to the top of two
gate-posts. It was a desperate jump, after coming between
five and six miles at racing pace, and Jack used to talk of
it to his dying day. A noble lord oftered four hundred
pounds for the mare, but nothing under a "monkey"
would tempt her owner, and the pair were not parted.
Donna Maria was another good one, and pretty nearly
invincible at the Midland meetings ; so was Clansman, a
three-hundred-guinea one, which came from Mr. Arthur
150 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
Markham, of Baggrave Hall ; and Tiptop, a Harrington
Cup winner, was a wonder. He had no stouter horse
than Dan by Daniel, which went to Mr. C. B. Wright,
of the Badsworth. But, when all is said and done, there
never was a better than the brown snaffle-bridle horse,
Knight Templar, now in his possession. He is up to
sixteen stone, never turned his head in his life, and jumps
the top twig on the end of a run just the same as he does
at the beginning. After some such eulogy as this, the
writer asked Lawrence, Mr. Boden's stud-groom, who was
quite a character, how many days a week the horse would
come out, and the answer was, " As often as you want
him." There was an emphasis on the " you ; " and in that
case the horse was a good one ; and, indeed, he looks it.
As a four-year-old he carried his owner through the great
hill run of 1894 : had twenty-eight miles home, and was
none the worse for it.
Mr. Boden has four sons, who are true chips of the old
block ; especially the three elder ones — Messrs. Harry, and
(the twins) Anthony, and Reginald. Of the former, a
local paper says, in a good run with Mr. Rolleston's hounds
on January 1st, 1881, from Farley's by Belper, by Denby,
by the Kilburn Colliery, by Horsley Church, by Morley,
and eventually by Horsley Car, to Coxbench Woods, back
by Horsley Car, finally stopping the hounds on the hills
above Morley after one hour and fifty-five minutes ; " that
Master Harry Boden, riding a very clever grey, rode
straight all the way." He was then only thirteen years
of age. The others were Lord Petersham, Mr. Palmer
of Stanton, Mr. Charlton of Chilwell, Mr. Feilden, Mr.
Sitwell, jun., Mr. Wright of Wollaton and his son, and
Mr. Canna. So the boy was in good company.*
But take any of these three, put them down in any
country in England, and they will give a good account
of themselves, and people will be sure to ask who they
* Since the above lines were penned a grievous loss has befallen Mr. and Mrs.
Henry Boden through their youngest son, John, meeting with a fatal accident
while playing polo at Rugby. He was a very promising lad, and a great favourite
with everybody.
1844J MR. CLOWES' DIARY, 1844-1847. 151
are, if they happen to be anywhere where they are not
known.
Thanks to the kindness of Captain H. A. Clowes, of
Norbury, the following interesting extracts from an old
diary of his father's can be published. It is a plain tale
of odd days with the Meynell — Mr. Clowes being at this
time established in rooms at Atherstone with a good stud
of horses, which he rode indiscriminately with all the
neighbouring packs. From the extracts it would appear
that there was some reason for there being so little mention
of the hounds in the current sporting literature.
Mr. Clowes' diary : —
1844.
February 24^A. — Rode from Appleby to Henhurst with !Moore. Hounds did
not come, though but six miles from kennels and a good da\'.
1846.
November 11 th, Meynell at Swarkeston. — Found in the Gorse, ran fast by
Osmaston, and ringing about the railroad to Arleston Gorse — forty-five minutes
out of covert. Pretty good. Back slow and lost at Swarkeston Gorse. I left
them, having to ride to Appleby. They ran a cub from a hedgerow and killed
in Arleston Gorse, from which seven foxes were said to go.
Thursday, December 10th. — After ball night. Meynell at Radbourne.
Found at Radbourne. ran a ring there, and lost near Mackworth. Hounds went
away as if there was a scent at one time. Rainy afternoon. Found again at
Breward's Car. Very cold, but hounds ran very like business for a few fields,
and then lost. N.B. — With a huntsman we should have had a run. Very cold
and hard frost next day, which lasted till the 19th.
Thursday , January 1th, Kedleston. — Drew all Kedleston blank. Fox jumped
up in a durable near Ednaston. Got away close at him, but at first check Joe
cast back among horses, and then hit him oft' forwai'd, ran well nearly to Hopton,
over a very rough and hilly country, and lost.
1847.
January dth, Swarkeston. — Gorse blank. Found in Arleston Gorse, but could
not run. Found there again, but no good. Joe Leedham very bad. Found
again at Potluck osier bed. Pretty find, and looked like a run for a few fields,
but soon got to slow hunting, and left off" at Swarkeston Gorse. A good many
falls, but no sport.
February 4th, Meynell at Radbourne. — Threw off at 1 p.m. on account of
frost. Found in osier bed. Very fast ring for about ten minutes to Parsonage,
then slower near to Sutton and lost. Second or same fox in Langley Common.
Ran some time in covert, then fast through Radbourne and killed. Thirty
minutes, but mostly in the Gorse. Cold. Rode Humbug. Freezing at night.
February 1th, Swarkeston. — Tollitt's chestnut horse ; a good hunter. Found
152 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1847
at Arleston Gorse. Ran a quick good ring to Osmaston and lost near canal.
Fox gone to Aston, I think. Second fox in Spilsbury covert, ran very fast past
Mr. Mosley's house, then a little to the left and up to Mickleover and to Rad-
bourne. Through that and Radbourne AVood and right away to Sutton, and lost
bej'ond Cooper's farm, near the brook. Twenty-five minutes to Radbourne with-
out a check, and to Mickleover very fast. I think we changed foxes at Rad-
bourne Wood, where I got wrong side of wood, and never caught them till near
Sutton. Capital day's sport. All in the rain to Mickleover. Large field. A
week's hard bright frost.
March Qth, Swarkeston. — Found at Potlnck osier bed, ran fast back to
Arleston, across Canal and down the meadows nearly to Swarkeston, then
back to Anchor Church, and across Trent, through Foremark to Repton Shrubs
and lost. I missed the first part by crossing railway. Forty minutes ; rather
good. Good ford at Anchor Church, but bad scent after crossing and going
down wind. Alfred Barton out.
March Wth, Ednaston. — Drew two small coverts, and then left off on account
of frost.
Thursday, March ISth, Spi-ead Eacjh. — Found in Spilsbury's covert, and ran
by Mosley's, very slow near to Park Hill, and lost. Drew Egginton and Potluck
blank and left ofl'. Very hot and dusty.
1847-1848.
Nove'inher lUh, Brakeloice. — Chopped a cub by river. Found an old fox in
Gi'ove, Avho stood still to be killed. Found again in Walton Wood, ran fast to
Catton Wood, hunted him back to Walton Wood and killed. Five or ten
minutes very fast. Saw all Derbyshire men, and BuUcr, Cox, etc.
January 7th, Radhourne. — Found in squire's Gorse. Fox got a long
start. Hmited him all round Radbourne and lost. They would not go to
Sutton, but made pretence of drawing some small spinnies near Langley, and
went home. . . . Mosse went day before. Boucherett went too. Large field
for Meynell. Frosty morning. Edwin Hill bad from fall day before.
February 8th, Meynell at Kedleston. — Blank day. Good lark from Kedlestoi*
to INIarkeaton. Staying at Radbounie.
February lOth, Radhovrne. — Found in Langley Gorse, ran a very fast ten
minutes towards Langley and back to the other gorse ; slight check there. Then
away half way to Longford, turned to the left down meadows and ran over the
grass very straight and well to Sutton without check. Twenty -five minutes from
last gorse and fast enough to shake field oft". Hunted him into gorse and back
ilown wind slowly to Radbomne, and, getting on better terms with him, hunted
beautifully nearly to Burnaston, and killed just before we got to an osier bed.
Altogether one and a half hours ; very satisfactory, I got a fall by my stirrup
coming ofi" at starting, but caught them at second gorse. J. Stanley and Lord
( 'hesterfield out. Banged Clerk's knees against a rail.
February 2\st, Drakelowe. — Found directly in Grove and ran a good twenty
minutes over a nasty country to Bretby, crossing a new railwa}', which gave
liounds time to settle. Lost in Bretby Park. Pace good enough for the heavy
state of the country. Found again in Repton Shrubs, where I left them. They
ran through Gorstey Leys, down meadows to Donington Park and lost.
February 2ith, Spread Eagle. — Found in Mosley's Covert, a brace. Went
away fast with one, through Etwall, a short ring, and lost near Burnaston.
1849] MR. CLOWES' DIAIIY. 153
Found again in Sutton new gorse, ran a small ring, and then prettj' fast across
brook pointing for Radbourne, and lost. Fair fifteen minutes. Drew Parson's
Gorse blank and left off.
March 2nd, Bretby. — Found a brace in Kepton Shrubs. Ran one round
wood and by house and lost. Foimd again in Ticknall Gorse and ran a good
ring, through a beastly country, by Several Wood and Hartshorn back to
Bretby and Repton Shrubs. Changed foxes and ran again past Ticknall Gorse
and Pistern Hills, hounds dividing in Several Woods, where another brace jumped
up. Left off, hounds, foxes, and men being all over the country. Good scent,
and lots of galloping, hunting, and halloaing, and a vile country. Horse tired.
Staying at Appleby these two days. Colvile there and out hunting. Wet ever.
1841).
November Stfi, Radbourne. — Found in Langley Common and ran hardish a
twisting fox, ringing about for twenty minutes, and killed. Drew Parson's
Gorse blank. Found again in Rough, ran slowly to Buckston's small gorse and
back to large gorse and killed a vixen, which would not go a field away. Plenty
of foxes. Five afoot at least. 0. Bateman out.
November 10th, Swarkestoa. — Found in gorse. Old fox went away directly,
but Joe stopped hounds and got away with a cub and lost him in four fields
with a fair scent. Found again at Arleston, a twisting brute, but a fair scent.
Ran him back slow to Swarkeston by old Abbey, over canal, and to Chellaston,
and killed. About forty-five minutes. Good for hounds. They would not
ilraw again. Fine day. Home early.
Decembe)^ I8th, Kedleston. — Found in Ranusdale Park, and went away well,
pointing for Bradley, but he tui-ned back for Broward's Car. At length got
away again with cold scent, but mended, got nearer him, ran a very pretty ring
up and down hill by Lilies to small covert near Famah, where they were in the
same field with him, but he got back to the Car, and he, or another, ran again to
Rannsdale and back to Car, all over foiled ground, and they left him. Every
one but me said they changed foxes. Train from Leicester with Dawson.
Latter rode my mare. Sir R. and two young Sutton's out, Okeover, two
Cromptons, etc., Maynard.
There was always, it seems, some difficulty about
preserving foxes, to judge from correspondence which
appeared from time to time in the papers, and in this
particular year there is a letter protesting very strongly
against the non-preservation for such a generous, courte-
ous, open-handed master as Mr. Meynell Ingram. Matters
did not seem to be much better over the border in the
Atherstone country. Moreover, there seems to have been
a good deal of fox-stealing going on. The following letter,
bearing on this subject and also on the arrangements iu
two neighbouring hunts, seems to be worth publishing.
154 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1846
Bell's Life, April 14tli, 1844 :—
MR. MEYNELL INGRAM'S HOUNDS.
Mr. Editor, — Mr. Meynell Ingram's hounds finished the season with a blank
day. Up to the frost no hounds in the kingdom could have shown more sport,
but after that period they did nothing particular, except meeting with a suc-
cession of blank days. With such hounds and so liberal a master this was truly
provoking. Owners of coverts should either refuse a master of hounds per-
mission to draw them, or should take care to preserve foxes for him, as a blank
day disappoints the master and the men, the hounds and the field, ah ! and I
think I may say the horses also. Arrangements have been finally made by those
two first-rate sportsmen, Sir Seymour Blane and John Story, Esq., to keep on
the hounds of the late Marquis of Hastings, under the name of either the North
Leicestershire or the Trent Vale, it is not yet quite determined which. That
prince of horse-dealers, Potter, of Talbot Lane, is prepared to horse the men in
first-rate style, and a brilliant season may be expected. The Atherstone hounds
have been purchased by the committee, but are at present without a master.
Several are talked of as likely, the latest being Mr. Lowndes. It is a nice
country for any man desirous to be at the head of a capital hunt, and few such
can be obtained wliere so little money is required. Should no definite arrange-
ment be come to, there is little doubt tliat George Moore, Esq., of Appleby, will
be master jjro tein., and a capital master of hounds he will make ; it would be
indeed desirable that he should take them into his own management at once.
The year 184G is remarkable for the entry of one of
the most famous of Mr. Meynell Ingram's hounds, Agnes,
to wit, and also of her scarcely less notable brother.
Adamant, who was used very freely later on. How much
the former was valued may be reckoned by the fact that
she remained in the pack till ten years later, and in the
entry for the season after that we still find her to the
fore with Absolute and Alice by Pillager. Through their
grand-dam on their sire's side — Adelaide — Agnes and
Adamant get two crosses of the Pytchley Abelard, a
hound to which Mr. Meynell Ingram seemed to be very
partial, and also go back to Bridesmaid, whose grand-
dam came direct from Quorn. A propos of this, it seems
strange that old writers should make so much ado about
the three or four hounds which are known to have come
from that fashionable quarter, if, as others assert, the
whole of the Hoar Cross Harrier pack was formed from
undersized drafts from the same source.
Whatever the cause, the records of the sport shown
become very meagre for some time, and it is not till 1850
1850] MR. WILLIAM TOMLINSON. 155
that any mention of them is to be found, when the follow-
ing occurs : —
BelVs Life, March 24th, 1850 :—
CAPITAL RUN WITH MR. MEYXELL INGRAM.
Dear Bkll, — Though no professional penny-a-liner, I cannot resist giving
you a short account of the run of the season. The meet was Snelston (near
Ashbourne), and in a very few minutes we found a brace of foxes, but in
consequence of the dusty state of the ploughed land we could not run. We then
drew Cubley Gorse, Eaton Wood, and Sudbury Gorse blank. Found at
Sudbury Coppice, and ran through the park towards Foston; when, not liking
the park palings, pug doubled back through tlie park, crossed the Uttoxeter and
Derby road, and followed the Valley of the Dove to Woodford. Here a quarter,
of an hour was lost, as the huntsman (and, in fact, all the field) supposed he had
crossed the Dove. But hitting him off again, we ran full speed through the
village of Doveridge, under Lord Waterpark's noble mansion, across the road,
and leaving Eaton Wood on our left, we ran into our fox near Snelston ; two
hours twentj'-three minutes, with but one check of any consequence, over a
magnificent grass country, and at a killing pace. In conclusion, I may say
that huntsman and hounds performed in first-rate style ; the fox was a good one,
and we separated at half-past five o'clock, leaving none more contented than
OxE WHO Followed at a Respectful Distance.
Mar, 14.
The exact date of a great hill run, which occurred
about this time, is unfortunately lost, but as Mr. William
Tomlinson of Bradley Pastures was the prime actor in it,
and as he has left us a brief account of it, it seems only
fitting to give an account of him here.
" When thickest the fences and quickest the burst,
'Tis a thousand to one that a farmer is lirst."
So sang Whyte Melville of a class, and in the instance
under consideration the couplet may well apply to the
individual. On green, young horses, probably not in
tiptop condition, Mr. Tomlinson, thanks to good hands,
a strong seat, and an iron nerve, could hold his own with
the best of them. His pleasant, weather-beaten face, with
its clear, keen blue eyes, was indeed pleasant to look
upon, though his back was what many of us saw the most
of when hounds ran. More than once he caught the
judge's eye between the flags at local steeplechases, and he
156 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
was a rare judge of stock, besides winning at the Eoyal
and other shows with young hunters of his own breeding.
He it was, too, who was chosen, as being the most fitting-
person, to make the presentation to Mr. Chandos-Pole,
when he retired from the Mastership of the Meynell in
1888. After Mr. Tomlinson's death in March, 1901,
the following notice of him appeared in the Derbyshire
Advertiser : —
By his death one of the best-known and highly esteemed agi-icultnrists in tlie
county has passed away, full of years and honours. Mr. Tomlinson belonged to
an old and respected Derbyshire familj', which had been settled at Sturston Hall,
near Ashborne, for upwards of three hundred years. The deceased gentleman fur
nearly fifty years occupied the large farm of Bradley Pastures, near Ashborne, having
succeeded his father in the year 1851. Unflagging industry, fine judgment, and
a minute knowledge of every branch of farming (to which may be added inflexible
integrity) made him not only a successful but a distinguished farmer, who
battled with difficulties and bad times on a large and highly-rented holding, as
few could have done. He was a keen sportsman, and rode well to hounds, being
often seen (up to the age of seventy-two) in the front rank with the Meynell Fox
Hounds, with which pack he hunted regularly for over fifty-five years. He was also
a large breeder of hunters, several of which lie himself rode, not only in the hunting
field, but at sundry local steeplechases and flat races, when be ran side by side,
and often to the winning post, against such veterans as the late Sir Matthew
Blakiston, Bart., and Mr. Lucien Mann, and other notable men of fifty years ago.
His services were in frequent request as a judge of hunters at the various shows,
where his keen discernment and long experience as a breeder made him quite at
home in tliis capacity. In politics he was an energetic Conservative, and in his
time did good service for his party in many a hard-fought election contest. In
private life he was a warm-hearted, genial character, ever showing marked zest
in the vast range of conversation (and public meetings) in which he took part.
He was a true friend and sympathetic adviser to all who referred to him and
came in contact with him. His hospitality was unbounded, and everybody Avas
made at home when they entered the house at Bradley Pastures. Loved, too,
he was by his servants, some of whom lived with him as much as forty years ; for
in him they ever found straightforward dealing and kindly consideration. His
life was happily participated in by a wife, who entered heart and soul into all the
events of the day. She gave a cheerful welcome to all visitors, and brightened
the ever lively home. By his death we have lost one who reminded us of days
that are gone. He was a devout Christian and a staunch Churchman. His wife
pre-deceased him only last year. She was the daughter of the late Eev. John
Hides, vicar of Greasley, Notts, and was the mother of six sons and three
daughters.
The following letter, written a few years before his
death, which his sons — the Rev. F. Tomlinson, of Long
Eaton, and Mr. T. H. Tomlinson, of Willington — have
kindly placed at the writer's disposal, is interesting : —
Mr. W. Tomlinson.
From a photograph
by
W. W. Winter, Derby.
n o « fi I i ffi •>' i - »• '
riqB^^"♦tor?r? p. mo. .
MR. WILLIAM TOMLINSON. I57
Your Mother tells me you wish me to send you some particulars of a good
run with the Meynell Hounds over some of the same line as the grand run they
had from Brailsford Bridge last week (January, 1896). It is now nearly fifty years
since, so I cannot remember very accurately, but I well remember I was riding
" Modesty " to gather Income tax for Father, and had started as far as the Hall
Ground, when I met the Revd. Hugh Wood, Rector of Blore at that time,
coming galloping down the road. He said the hounds were here from
Kedleston, and immediately they came streaming towards us as we stood in the
road, and through the gate into Bather's ground. I followed them for the Jack
Fields. Hounds were making for the Limekiln Rough. The fox crossed the
(Henmore) brook, and went up the hill to the right of Hall Fields House and on
to Atlow Winn, crossed the road and went for Heaven Hill by the White House
beyond Kniveton. Mr. Meynell's hat was knocked oflF in going over a fence
under an oak tree, but he could not stay to pick it up, and Jack Leedham got oft'
his horse and picked it up, and shouted to Mr. Meynell to stop, for he should
never be able to catch him again. The hounds went through the Plantation
[probably Heaven Hill Wood] and I, knowing the country, was first over the
hill, and crossed the brook at Bradbourne mill. Hounds were racing their fox up
the Gorse Hill field, and then turned to the right for Shaw's farm and pulled the
fox down a little beyond Crakelow. Only a very small number were up at the
death. The pace had been very fast all the way from Kedleston. It was
considered the best run of that season. You see / only found them at Bradley,
and more than half the field gave up pursuit before they got to Atlow Winn.
Another most extraordinary run was from Ravensdale Park, Mugginton, by
Bradley, Atlow Winn, by Carsington, Hopton, Kirk Ireton, Biggin, and Hulland
Ward, when the fox was killed on his way back to where he started from.
Hounds were about half a mile before the horsemen when I foimd them at
Bradley in pursuit and no horsemen were with them, when the fox was killed
and eaten; and Mr. Sampson of Langley and myself took them to Kedleston
and had them put in their place at the Inn nearly an hour before the huntsman
and whips arrived. They had never been able to catch the hounds after
Bradley had been reached, and Sampson and I just happened to be fortunate in
taking the road to Callow to the right from Knockerdown. We never saw the
liounds after they got to Beeston's of Woodhead. When we got to Callow we
had given up all hope of getting to the hounds, when, seeing two men standing
on a wall near a stone quany, I said to Sampson, " Those men are looking
towards the Petty Wood. I wonder if they have heard or seen the hounds. I
will just go and ask them." They told me they had heard them, and they
thought they were coming towards us, as they could hear them better ; and,
strange to say, we stopd with our horses until the hounds came nearly to us, but
we had never seen the fox. So that was the cause of us two being the only
horsemen in the hunt. When I was coming away from Kedleston I met the
huntsman. I said to old Tom, "Where the deuce have you been to?" and he
replied, " We could never get anywhere near the hounds after they left Bradley."
After leaving Hopton they had given up trying to get to them, and this
country was so difficult no horses could live with hounds. Stephen Sampson
often speaks of us two being Huntsman and whip and taking charge of the pack
to Kedleston.* Poor old Bob [a favourite hunter] galloped all the way up the
hill to Atlow Winn, and after we got to hounds went first-rate. Tom Smith of
* This was on February 6th, 1869.
158 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
Clifton bid me seventy pounds for him about a couple of months before I lost
him from disease of the kidneys.
Another good run with the Meynell was with a fox from Lime Kiln Rough
and I was on old " Utilis." He had been only taken up one night and I never
thought of following them until the old horse began to pull at me and ivanted to
go, for I was in everyday attire. [The Rev. F. Tomlinson says, " As told in
conversation Father was wont to describe himself as saying to the old horse,
• Go, then, you old fool ; if you want to go, go.' "] The fox ran for Atlow,
Ilognaston, back over Atlow Winn, Nether Bradbourne, through Brassington
churchyard, and up the steep hill above Brassington. Then for Ballidon, and
Royston Grange. Then making in the direction of Newhaven, when he was lost.
The Duke of Portland was with them. When returning back near the Grange
above Brassington, I heard a gentleman asking Mr. Tom Smith of Clifton how
far we were from Bradley where the fox was found. Mr. Smith said, that
person (myself) could tell him better than he could. So the gentleman asked
me if I could say what distance we were from Bradlej'. I said we were about
six miles as the crow flies. He said, " We have had a splendid run," and then
remarked jocosely, that my throat strap to my bridle was undone, and told me
to mind and not lose the bridle. The gentleman, as I found afterwards, was the
Duke of Portland. His coat bore evidence that he had been down. I did not
know I had been talking to the Duke until Tom Smith informed me.
This calls to mind an amusing story of a farmer who
rode up to the Duke of Bedford out hunting, not knowing
who he was, and asked if his cob was for sale.
" No, it isn't," the Duke said.
**Well, never mind," said the farmer. "There's no
harm done. My name is Atkins, and I live at Farleigh.
There's a pretty good tap there, if you like to call."
To which the Duke replied by handing his companion
his card, adding, " There's a pretty good tap there too, if
you care to call ! "
Another rather good case of the same kind happened
to the late Mr. Arnaud when he first came to the Grafton
country. He had lost the hounds in Whistley Wood — no
uncommon occurrence with any one — and found an old
gentleman standing quietly by a hunting-gate, of whom
he inquired where the hounds were.
'* Oh, they've been gone some time," said he.
"Then, what the dickens are you doing standing
here ? " Mr. Arnaud asked testily, in the sort of humour
in which a man usually is when he has lost the hounds.
The old gentleman proved to be the noble Master, the
late Duke of Grafton.
( 15"-> )
CHAPTER XIV.
BLITHFIELD — SPORT IN 1844 — THE HORN DANCE.
1844.
The very name of Blithfield cannot fail to conjure up
pleasant recollections in the mind of any follower of the
Meynell hounds, for where in this delightful country are
you more sure of a fox — nay, of foxes enough for a dozen
days' sport — and of a line unsurpassable anywhere to hunt
one over, not to mention the woods, which are the p/ec£? de
resistance of cub-hunting. And for all this we are in-
debted to the Bagot family. How long that same family
has been settled there and thereabouts is uncertain, but
that it was at Bagot's Bromley in 1086 is proved beyond
all fear of dispute.* In the general survey of estates
made by command of William the Conqueror, they are
recorded as possessors of a moiety of Bagot's Bromley,
which they held of Robert de Stafford. In those days
Bramelle stood for Bromley, and StafFordcire did duty for
the Staffordshire of to-day, while the Bagot in question
spelt his name with a " d " instead of a "t."f In the reign of
Edward III., Sir Ralph Bagot, Knight, married Elizabeth,
daughter and heiress of Richard de Blithfield, a very
ancient family, seated on the manor of that name, within
two miles of his residence at Bagot's Bromley. With her
he became possessed of the estates at Blithfield and Little-
hay in Colton, which had been in her family from the
Conquest. It appears most probable that on his marriage
* " Memorials of the Bagot Family." t Ibid.
160 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
he quitted his mansion at Bagot's Bromley and came to
reside at Blithfield. Some of his descendants appear to
have resided at Field Hall, for Sir Hervey Bagot died
there in the time of Charles II.
In 1811 Lord Bagot pulled down the old farmhouse
within the moat at Bagot's Bromley (where had been the
ancient residence of the Bagots), when he discovered con-
siderable remains of the old mansion; and with the
foundation stones (of what appeared to have been the
Hall, and upon which rested many oak carved pillars)
built a monument in the form of a pillar.
In the time of Edward the Confessor (vide Domesday
Book), Blithfield was the inheritance of one Eadmund, but
was at the Conquest given to Roger de Montgomery, Earl
of Arundel and Shrewsliury. It was held under him by
one Heremannus, who was succeeded by his son, William.
This William had three sons ; Amalric, the eldest, was
lord of Hulcrombe (now Hill Crombe, the seat of the Earl
of Coventry) in Worcestershire ; John, the second son,
received from his father this manor of Blithfield, and there-
upon took the surname of Blithfield, and, as I have read
somewhere, " The arms of the (then) extinct family of the
de Blithfields."
From him was descended Elizabeth, who brought
Blithfield to the Bagots.
There were five townships in the Parish of Blithfield,
viz. Blithfield, Admaston, Newton, Bold (now Booth), and
Hampton.
St. Stephen's Hill, which so pumps our horses to-day,
when hounds scurry merrily up it from Blithmoor, once
boasted a hamlet, and was the residence of the family of
de Stevinton. It was also known as Stean Wood or Stean
Hill. Admaston used to be called Edmunds-town.
About the year 1588, Fulke Greville (afterwards the
first Lord Brooke) received a grant of all the lands, woods,
iron works, etc., formerly belonging to the Lord Paget of
Beaudesert, and forfeited to the Crown on his attainder.
For his iron works at Abbot's Bromley he cut a canal.
BLITHFIELD. 161
which can still be traced, from Blithmoor to the Forge
farm, which latter no doubt takes its name from the works.
Perhaps the most amusing incident in the Memorials,
from which these extracts are taken, is the furious letter,
dated February, 1589, from Lord Stafford, grandson of
the Duke of Buckingham, to Richard Bagot. In it he
falls foul of Mr. Bagot in no measured terms, while the
reply is both moderate, courteous, and convincing.
Of this letter. Lord Bagot, the author of the
Memorials which, by-the-by, were written in 1823, says : —
It certainly stands pre-eminent for insolence ; and for ignorance (if ignorance
could be supposed) most unbounded. For possessing as he did all the " faire
recordes " as well as the great Cartulary of Stafford deeds, and asserting that the
name of Bagot is nowhere to be found in them, is most wonderful ! INIy
surprise, however, has been lessened since the Stafford MSS. came into my
possession, for I find that the name of Hervey Bagot has in many, if not all, the
places in which it occurs been blotted out with a pen — doubtless by Edward,
Lord Stafford at this very time. I shall here introduce both Lord Stafford's
letter and Richard Bagot's answer to show the different characters of the men —
the violence and folly of the one compared with the quiet, composed, gentleman-
like firmness of the other.
Like as the High Shreef of this Shyre told me that you pretend my name to be
Bagot and not Stafford, which untrew speeches you have said unto dyvers others,
although some dnmken, ignorant Herawld, by you corrupted, therein hath
soothed your lying. I do therefore answer you, that I do better know the
descents and matches of my own lyneage than any creature can inform me ; for
in all my records, pedigrees, and armes, from the first Lord Stafford that was
pocessed of this Castle, afore the Conquest, bearinge the very same coate that I
do now. The Feeld Gould, a chevron Gules. I cannot finde any Stafford hatli
married a Bagot, or they with him. I have faire recorde to prove that the lords
of my hows were never without heirs male to succede one after another, and
therefore your pretens, in alledginge that Bagot married an ancestor of mine (as
peradventure she married her servant), yet will I prove that neither she nor no
wydow of ray hows did take a second husband before they were grandmothers by
the children of their first husband ; and therefore the lady of my hows was too
old to have issue by yours. Besides this, we have been nyne discents Barons
and Earles of Stafford before any Bagot was known in this shire ; for Busse,
Bagot, and Green, were but rayzed by King Richard II. And to prove that you
were no better than vassals to my hows, my Stafford Knot remeyneth still in
your parlour ; as a hundred of my poor tennants have, in sundry shires of England,
and have ever held your lands of my hows, until thateynder of the Duke, my
grandfather. Surely I will not exchange my name of Stafford, for the name of a
" Bagge of Gates," for that is your name, " Bag-ote," Therefore you do me
a great wrong in this surmyse as you did with your writing to the Preevy
Counsaile to have countenanced that shame-fast Higoiis to charge me with
treason — whereof God and my trawtlie delivered me.
Your neighbore I must be,
Edward SxArFoiiD.
VOL. I. M
162 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
It is interesting to note here that Hervey Bagot, in
the third generation from the Bagod mentioned in Domes-
day Book, married Millicent de Stafford, daughter and
sole heir of Robert, the last Baron Stafford. The present
heir to this title is Mr. Francis Fitzherbert of Swynnerton,
through his mother.
The answer to the above letter runs as follows : —
Richard Bagot, Esq., in answer to Lord Stafford.
Right Honorable,
I perceave by your letters delivered to me by your Chaplen, Mr,
Cope, on Monday last, your lordship is greatly discontented with some, my
speeches used to Mr. Stanford, in pretending your honour's surname to be Bagot,
I do confesse, I spake them ; and not offending your lordship (as I hope you will
not), with troth, I do avowe it. Not upon any " Dronken Herehaught's report
by me corrupted to soothe my lieing," but by good records and evidence, under
ancient seals, the four hundred years past. And if it may please you to send
any sufficient man as Mr. Sheriff, or Mr. Samson Eardswack, Gentillmen, of good
knowledge and experience in these ac'cons ; I will shew them sufficient matter
to confirme that I have spoken ; being very sorry to heare your Lordship to
contemne and deface the name of Bagot, with so bad tirmes, and hastie speeches,
as you do : more dishonourable to yourself tlian any blemishe or reproche to me.
And therefore if your Lordshipe take it in such disdaine, that I touche you ether
in credit or honor, you may (if you please) by ordinary proces, bring me before
the Right Honorable the Erie Marshall of England, Chief Judge in these causes ;
when I will prove it — or take the dis-credyt, with such further punishment, as
his honour shall inflict upon me.
Thus humbly desiring acceptance of this my answer, in good part, till a
further triall be had herein, I do comyt your Lordship to the protection of
Almighty, this first of March, 1589.
Your Lordship's at commandment.
If you please,
Richard Bagot.
Here, apparently, the matter rested, for there seems to
be no more mention of it in the memorials. But, whatever
Lord Stafford may have thought of it, the name of Bagot
has always been held in estimation in Staffordshire, and
has been prominent in its annals for centuries. Whether
as soldiers, statesmen, or churchmen, they have always
kept their good name unsullied, and, to judge by old
letters, etc., have done themselves credit in whatever
position they found themselves.
There is no more charming place than Blithfield itself ..
BLITHFIELD. 163
As you come into the park from the Uttoxeter-Abbot's-
Bromley turnpike, you canter by the side of the drive over
down-like turf, which rides springy and elastic in the
driest weather, till you come to the gate into Duckley
wood, lovely in the summer-time from its masses of
rhododendrons, and a sure find from cub-hunting till the
end of the season. The drive takes you on, with Stansley
wood on your right — another good fox covert — through
the undulating, beautifully timbered park, by what will
some day be a fine beech avenue, to the bridge over the
north fork of the Blithe. Thence under a charming over-
arching avenue of vigorous oaks to Blithmoor, and the
bridge over the southern fork of the river, whence you
ascend the hill to the house itself Looking back from
the eminence on which it stands, you seem to be gazing
into the depths of a vast forest, for the tops of the trees
of Blithmoor hide the space between it and Duckley wood,
which frinofes the horizon. A ha-ha divides the lawn in
front of the house from the park, in which stands a group
of noble oaks, older than the house itself, great thorns
and a wide-spreading Spanish chestnut. At the back of
the house are the gardens, a favoured haunt of foxes, and
the whole is backed by stately trees, which surround the
house and gardens on all sides except in the front. In
the gardens stands the church. The house itself is built
of stone, now of a very dark colour, and is wonderfully
picturesque on account of its quaint nooks and corners,
noble chimney stacks, and oriel windows, all of which give
an air of irregularity, which is in charming contrast to the
stiff, straight fagade of some houses. It is built round a
quadrangle, which not only adds to its beauty, but is a
sign of its great antiquity, for in old days a man's house
had often to be literally his castle.* The front of it is
covered with the foliage of the American creeper, which in
the autumn is a most lovely sight, showing crimson against
the old grey walls. Many a member of the hunt must
* This w:i8 the case with Blithfield in the time of Charles I., when the
Parliamentarians besieged it.
164 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
have turned round to admire it, after passing from the
back through the stable yard, to the front of the house.
The Bagots may claim the honour of having founded
the oldest known hunt in Staffordshire, for they established
one styled the Blue Coat. So far as the writer is aware
there are no records of its sport in the field, but it showed
its keenness for the Pretender, in 1745, by assembling
and drinking deeply to his health in Uttoxeter and other
places, and its members were once very nearly caught,
flagrante delicto, with all their treasonable papers on the
table. Luckily, however, they were warned in time, and
the papers were consigned to the flames just before the
arrival of the king's messenger to arrest them.
The fact of the late Lord Bagot having been chairman
of the committee of the Meynell hunt from 1873 to his
death in 1887, showed the interest he took in it. In 188.5
his son, then the Hon. W. Bagot, succeeded Lord Water-
park on the committee, becoming vice-chairman in 1891,
and chairman in 1897, which office he still holds.
There is still a smack of feudalism about Blithfield, as
the Copes, Abberleys, and Hollingsworths of Dunsfields,
came there with the Bagots, and are there still, as it
were ascripti glebce.
But what has all this to do with the Meynell hounds ?
the impatient reader may reasonably exclaim ; but let him
have patience and remember that this humble work
purports to be a history of the Meynell country as well
as its hounds, and to those who love that country and all
that is in it, these details may be of some interest, if they
know them not already, while if they do know them, or do
not care about them, nothing is easier than to skip them
and turn to subjects more purely venatical.
Take the coverts for instance, which, at least, must
each contain a memory of some cheery gallop. First and
foremost are there not the woods, beloved of the few,
detested of the many. Charles used to say that, in old
Hoar Cross days, when there were hounds and horses with
a bye day in them, it was always, " Let us go and have a
Blithfield.
Lord Bagot's Staffordshire seat.
From a photograph
by
H. J. Whittock.
.iti9^ 3niri8bnot!Bt8 a'Jo^jBa bioJ
riqBisoioriq b monR
^
BLITHFIELD. 165
day in the woods." The rides are deep, it is true; but you
need not stick to the rides, if your horse is handy. And,
if he is not, a gallop through the trees, with unexpected
ditches confronting him every minute, will soon make
him so. With a scent it is rare fun. Without one it is
not so good, as hounds divide and give no end of trouble.
The deer, too, are a source of annoyance, especially in
cub-hunting time, when the leaf is on, for then even the
old hounds are apt to indulge in a romp with the forbidden
game when no one can see what they are up to. Like a
great many other people, they are only good when they
have to be. Woodland foxes, too, take a lot of catching,
and, when they have had enough of the woods, they are
off to the park, where scent always lies ; but what is the
good of that, when hounds run best pace to the foot of a
giant oak, and stand with their tongues out, looking
foolish, while their quarry chuckles inside. Sometimes
you can spy him high up in the fork of the tree. But,
even if you dislodge him thence, you do not alw^ays catch
him. Both Tom Leedham, who would never go into the
woods on a very windy day, and his nephew Charles, were
quite at home in them, and their splendid voices were of
great service. With the exception of Colonel Chandos-Pole
there never was a quicker man through the woods than
Charles, and there was not much to choose between them.
They both had the knack of keeping going without pulling
their horses about.
Then there is Duckley Wood, the Square or Rhodo-
dendron Covert, Stansley Wood, the Gardens, Blithfield
and Newton Gorse, all good holding coverts, in the middle
of a capital country, go which way they may, with no
danger of wire and the best of gates to open, all over the
Blithfield estates, and now that ill-health keeps the owner
of it out of the saddle so that he cannot participate in
the sport himself, how grateful we feel to him for his
unselfish goodwill.
To turn to the sport of the year 1844, which would
seem to have been a first-rate season.
166 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
BelVs Life, January 7th, 1844 : —
MR. MEYNELL INGRAM'S HOUNDS.
Mk. Editor,— On Tuesdaj', the 26tli ult., these hounds met at Catton, and
had a blank day. There is no doubt many foxes have been stolen from this
country this season, but with such a pack of hounds and so liberal a master, the
carelessness in preserving foxes is really too bad. On Thursday, the 28th, met
at Ingleby, had a fast scurry to Bretby, where they unfortunately changed foxes,
and had a slow hunting run through the strong woodlands of the Marquis of
Hastings's country, finally losing him at the Upper Lorent Wood. Saturday the
30th at Henhurst ; had a good burst round Sinai Park, to East Hill, and back to
Henhurst, from thence not very fast to Rolleston, where he got shelter in a drain.
On Monday, the 1st, the Marquis of Hastings had no sport from Moira Baths,
having unfortunately chopped two foxes, one at the Reservoir Head and another
in Several Wood. Pug was not at home in any of the other coverts. On
Tuesday and Wednesday it appeared set in for a determined frost ; the weather,
however, gave way again on Wednesday night, and it is now raining delightfully.
We are happy to hear that Lord Chesterfield is likely to come to Bretby again,
to finish the season with us. — January 4, 1844.
BelVs Life, January 14th, 1844 : —
MR. MEYNELL INGRAM'S HOUNDS.
Mk. Editor, — On Thursday, January the 4th, these hounds had a good run
from Langley ; not being present, we can only say that it was described to us as
a capital ring of an hour and five minutes, and a splendid kill at the end. On
Saturday, the 6th, in consequence of the lamented death of Sir George Crewe,
Bart., the fixture was changed to the Spread Eagle, where an immense field
attended, including many of the crack men from the Marquis of Hastings' and
Atherstone Hunts. A fox was found in Mr. Mosley's gorse, and after a fast
scurry round Burnaston, went to ground in a drain. He was soon bolted by
a little terrier, and after a pretty run, took shelter, dead beat, in a privy at
Mickleover; here some brute, in human form, cut off the brush and part of his
behind whilst the poor animal was alive, and threw him into the soil. We only
wish the rush of the varmint pack had hurled the miscreant in after him. The
country was awfully deep, and the fences very awkward, so that the falls were
numerous. Another fox was heard of at the gorse, but he had been gone too
long to do any good with him. We have not been out with them during this
week, so have not heard of their doings. — January 11, 1844.
BeWs Life, January 21st, 1844 :—
MR. MEYNELL INGRAM'S HOUNDS.
Mr. Editor, — This crack pack had a capital day's sport on Thursday, the
11th inst. The meet was at Bradley, and the field more numerous than usual.
The coverts at Bradley were drawn blank, as also was Jarrat's gorse. The
hounds then went to Ednaston Lodge, and from the second covert a fox broke
away as if making for Shirley Park; he was, however, headed by some of
the sportsmen, who were rather too eager to get a start, and he turned back
SPORT IN 1844. 167
through the Ednaston coverts, and went at a fast pace over some deep and
boggy ground below Birch House, crossing two brooks, the second of them
a poser to many of the field. The pace soon became very severe, and they ran
by Mansel Park to the Intack Chapel, bearing to the right up the steep hill
by Ravensdale Gorse, and came to a check gf some duration near the Lilies. The
field had now an opportunity of getting up, the thirty-nine minutes to the check
having reduced it to a very select few. Some slow and difficult hunting now
took place, displaying to great advantage the science of the men and the staunch-
ness of the hounds, and many of the field left, quite satisfied with what had been
done. The fox broke away from Handley Wood ; the pace again became good,
and he took a wide circle towards Wirksworth, over Alderwasley, and on by
Quorn Common to Mackworth, where he turned short back, and was run into
in the most brilliant manner at Kedleston, after a chase of three hours and forty-
two minutes. The distance ran over has been computed at not less than thirty-
five miles. The hounds had about twenty weary miles to travel home to their
kennel, and did not arrive till near nine o'clock. — January 17, 1844.
This is probably the run of which Mr. Walter Bodeu
has often talked to the writer, while hounds were drawing
the oak coppice at Ednaston, from whence he said he had
heard there was such a run, before his time. Hounds
went, he had been told, round by Crich Tower and back to
Kedleston — which would be something like the line
mentioned above — but ran clean away from every one, and
were not seen again except by some sportsmen who were
returning home by Kedleston. These may have been the
ones, who, according to the account in BelVs Life, left
hounds between the Lilies and Handley Wood.
Bells Life, January 25th, 1844: —
On Monday, January 15, notwithstanding the frost, this crack pack had a
very pretty day's sport in the woodlands. The meet was at Hoar Cross,
and they had very pretty scurries with four foxes, killing one in good style.
Though possessing no very remarkable features, it was altogether a very
pretty hunting day, and displayed the quality of the hounds in a most satisfactory
manner.
On Thursday, the 18th, Sudbury ; the ancient seat of Lord Vernon, but at
present occupied by Henry Clay, Esq., a wealthy banker. The young master,
Squire Hugo, was absent on a journey, and Joe Leedham, the huntsman, was
confined to bed with the prevailing influenza, or as it is more commonly called
here, " this complaint which goes about." The field was, however, a very large
one, many of the Derby and some few of the Leicestershire men being out.
Mr. Clay, hke a good brother sportsman, had a capital spread for those
who wanted luncheon, but, alas! all the coverts were drawn blank — a very
unusual circumstance at Sudbury. We then trotted on to Eaton Woods, to be
again disappointed. The scarcity of foxes, and the inattention to their preserva-
tion by some owners of covers in this country, is, with so excellent a pack, and so
168 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
kind aud liberal a master, to say the least of it, very provoking. At Cubley
Gorse we found a fox, and went at a good pace to Bentley ; had a short ring
from there, and he got to ground in Bentley Car, the maui earth having
been badly stopped. There is every reason to believe it was a vixen, and
us these hounds have had blood enough this season, in all conscience, it was
a fortunate circumstance she escaped.
Saturday, the 20th, was a regular clipper; mdeed, few better runs were ever
witnessed. A fox was found directly in the wood at Chartley, aud after
dwelling for a less time than usual in those strong woods, went away at a
tremendous pace, and after a splendid run of three hours and a half, got to
ground dead beat, in a re-opened old earth at Warren Hill, Blythetield. This
run was the perfection of a fox-hunt, for there was in it racing for the steeple-
chasers, steady hunting for the true sportsman who loves to watch the sagacity
of the hounds, and some very comfortable nicks for the slows. Joe, though
more fit for bed, was out, for he is too game not to be at his post if able to mount
ills horse.
Monday, January 22, at Rollestone, got away from the Falling Pit Gorse, on
rather a stale scent, ran fast to the turnpike road, and got a check which could
not be recovered. It afterwards appeared the hounds had been over-ridden, and
pug had got shelter in a drain under the road, from whence he was some time
after seen to make his escape. Found a fox at Castle Hays, but soon lost him.
Drew Forest Banks blank till we got to Woodford ChfF, where a brace of foxes
were found ; had a pretty run with one through the woodlands, in and out, till at
last he Avas forced into the open, and run into most splendidly in the middle of a
wheatfield.
Thursday, the 25th, the meet was at Ingleby, but in consequence of the
death of Sir Francis Burdeit, who was the owner of the coverts, it was changed
to Swarkestone. In a few weeks death has deprived us of three good sportsmen
and staunch friends of fox-hunting — Sir George Crewe, the Marquis of Hastings,
and Sir Francis Burdett. Sir Francis was a capital sportsman, and a bold rider ;
indeed, we remember, when in his seventieth year, we believe, he was riding and
making a young horse by Battler, and popping him over all sorts offences, as if
for a lark. Found a mangy fox at Swarkestone Gorse, and after a quarter of an
hour's scurry, marked only by the largeness of the field and the vast quantity of
falls, killed him. Found again in Mr. Assheton Mosley's gorse — our never
failing fis aller, and after a very brilliant burst, and some verj^ pretty hunting,
HnaUy lost him at Badbourne. Charles Allsopp, Esq., on his grey, went most
splendidly, showing what a heavy weight, well mounted and with plenty of nerve,
can do. M. T. Bass,' Esq., also took some extraordinary leaps, and went in
a way to excite the envy of those not quite so well mounted. Altogether it was
a capital day's sport.
This chapter began with Blithfield, and would hardly
«eem complete without some mention of a very curious old
custom, which still survives at Abbot's Bromley, called
"the Horn Dance." This is performed at the annual
wakes. There are six reindeer skulls, with antlers attached,
which are the property of the vicar for the time being, and
which used to hang in the belfry of the parish church.
THE HORN DANCE. 169
Three of them are painted white and three red, with the
arms of the chief families who have been landowners
in the manor. In the horn dance these heads are mounted
on poles and carried about by men in fancy dresses, who
cut various antics to lively dance music. Behind them
another quaint figure rides on a hobby horse and whips
up the deer, while last of all follows a man with a bow
and arrow, with which he makes a curious clacking noise.
170 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
CHAPTER XV.
MR. a A. STATHAM, M.R.C.V.S. — GOOD RUN IN THE WALTON
COUNTRY — GREAT RUN FROM BIRCHWOOD PARK — DEATH
OF JOE LEEDHAM — A FAST RUN.
About the year 1851 there arrived in Sudbury a young
man of the much respected old Derbyshire family
of Statham, who was destined later on to be known
far and near, to rich and poor, by the familiar
soubriquet of the " old Doctor." He and his cart
became as much a feature in the country as Hanbury
Church Tower or the hounds themselves. It seemed,
indeed, as impossible to imagine the roads for miles round
Sudbury without the frequent appearance on them of
George Statham in his cart, as to think of the country
without the roads themselves. In the hey-day of his
youth he was a tall, handsome man, with a herculean
frame, almost unequalled for pluck and endurance. And,
even in his declining years, when the once tall figure was
bent through rheumatism, the flat back rounded, and the
active limbs crippled, there was something left to suggest
the ancient strength, symmetry, and vigour. His still
handsome face was good to look upon, with its kindly
expression and the smile of infinite humour which lit it
up as he brought out some of the dry sayings, for which
he was famous. He was something of a hero too, this old
doctor of animal ills. In spite of intense suffering, he was
out in all weathers, with a Spartan disregard of discomfort,
which set a noble example in this luxurious age. To the
very last he despised what he called " coddling." His
friends — and enemies he had not — begged him to accept
fur coats, warm driving boots, and so forth ; but he would
Mr. George Statham, M.R.C.V.5.
.^.V.^.5I.M ,mRt\itii^ a^-ioaO .nM
WttOi/i, ^r&^>€iJ. '(/H. . ye.
MR. STATHAM. 171
none of them. A light overcoat and a handful of straw
in the bottom of his cart was enough for him. And thus
clad he drove as many miles as ever walked the Wandering
Jew, to relieve suffering in the brute creation, and all for
what ? For pure love and a sense of duty, for he never
sent in a bill, and, when he lay on his deathbed, he gave
directions that none of his accounts, which must have
amounted to thousands, were to be collected. The poorest
cottager's cow or pig was welcome to his services, which
were given ungrudgingly, but his heart was in horse and
hound. He had his favourites, human and equine, and
for these there was nothing he would not do. In his last
illness he sent for Taverner, the famous blacksmith of
Marchington, second to none in his profession, and very
much such a man as himself, and said to him, " I want
you to tell me about the horses. They all come and talk
to me about myself. It is very kind, but I don't want
that. I want to know how the horses are, and whether
any of them want me. You see, I might send something,
or prescribe, though I can't go." Verily the ruling spirit
strong in death. To the very end he struggled on. He
could not bear to give up. At last the doctors told him
that, in the state of his heart, it was not safe for him to
go, and that he might fall down dead at any time, hobbling,
as he used to do, on his stick, even the length of the stable.
Even then he must needs have one try more, but such
a dizziness and giddiness overtook him that he recognized
the truth of the verdict, came home, took to his bed, and,
like Hezekiah, doubtless turned his face to the wall in the
bitterness of his soul. But he bore his illness and intense
suffering like a hero ; there was always a cheerful word
and a kindly smile for any of his old friends, and an
inquiry after some one of his equine patients that happened
to be in their neighbourhood. Probably one of the last of
his friends that he ever saw was Mrs. Fort, " but then," as
he said to the writer, " Mrs. Fort is one in a thousand."
For years and years before this, however, his life had
been one long round of usefulness. He was a sort of
172 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
peripatetic stud-groom to the whole neighbourhood. The
first thing nearly every one did on bringing a horse in
lame was to send for the " doctor." This reminds the
author of a rather amusing experience. Bonner came to
his house at Hanbury one morning with the hounds. A
lady staying in the house happened to be ill. " Would
you mind, as you go by, asking the doctor to come up as
soon as he can ? You will pass his house on your way
back to the kennels," he said to Bonner, as the latter took
his leave. No doctor came that day, but early the next
morning Mi\ Statliam came driving into the yard, and
inquired anxiously what was the matter, saying that he
had received a summons to come up at once, and was
afraid the matter was urgent !
The kennels in Charles's time claimed a good deal of
his time, and at least once a week the huntsman used to
go and spend two or three hours with him of an evening.
On one subject they always differed, and that was about
the famous hound Colonel. The old doctor never could
stand the dog's head. That prevented him seeing any
merit in him at all. One day, in administering chloroform
to a hound called Ladas, he sent him to sleep so effectually
that he never woke again, which grieved him sorely.
His store of anecdote and memories of old days was
simply inexhaustible. If only he and Charles could be
set talking at this moment, how much more interesting
would this chapter be. That being impossible, nothing-
remains but to jot down a few notes taken about three
years ago. The old man sat in his cart just by what used
to be the Tollgate between Densy and Draycott, and
talked away, as he so loved to do, about old days, men,
and horses. As it so happened, the conversation, or as
much of it as could be remembered, was committed to
paper immediately, and this is the gist of it. He began
with the run of 1868.
" I remember both the horses Tom rode that day.
His first horse was a big thoroughbred one, vicious in
the stable. A horse with a big belly, no flesh, no
MR. STATHAM. 173
quarters. He carried Tom sixteen seasons, and, wlien
he died, he was full of tallow as white as a sperm candle.
A very stout horse he was too, but stopped, done to a
turn, in Kedleston Park that day — stopped and neighed.
The second horse, the one that died, was bred by Sir
William FitzHerbert — a chestnut horse by Knight of the
Whistle (owned by the racing Lord Chesterfield), a rare,
good-looking quality horse, up to fifteen or sixteen stone.
Mr. Henry Evans bought him of Sir William at the King's
Head, Derby, could not ride him, and eventually Mr. Hugo
Meynell Ingram got him for fifty pounds. They had him
out hunting two or three times and he went lame, and
was so for two or three years. Gentlemen did not mind
keeping a valuable horse for a bit in those days," he added,
with a quizzing look at the writer. " They weren't so
impatient, and did not expect a horse to be sound in a
week. They blistered him for lameness in the roundbone
and messed about with him, but did no good. At last
they said I could take him in hand and see what I could
do. I was to be at Hoar Cross by ten o'clock. It was
about a minute past the hour as I rode up. Old Tom was
as punctual as the clock. 'Just saved your bacon, my
lad,* he said. ' How so ? ' I said. ' Why, I'd made
up my mind to shoot him, if you were not here by ten
o'clock, and then I said I'd give him five minutes' law.'
I put in a couple of setons — we had to throw him — how
he did fight ! — and he got quite sound, and Tom rode
him for two or three seasons, till he died in this run, and
they say old Tom cried over him.
*' Mr. Frank Wilmot ? Oh yes. He rode very hard.
1 remember a farmer — you'd remember his name — what
was it ? I've forgotten. But he lived at the Spath farm.
He said he was standing on the hill by Longford Rectory,
and he heard the hounds coming. And he looked across
the valley and saw three men galloping for dear life, and
he said he never saw any men riding ' so resolutely and
so determinedly ' one against the other as these three,
and they were Mr. Frank Wilmot, Sir William and Colonel
174 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
FitzHerbert. Mr. Wilmot had a wonderful horse they
called Jesuit. He sold him to Captain Drury, a hard-
riding heavy-weight, who lived at Hilton Cottage, and
then he gave up hunting and went to live at Bradbourne,
near Ashbourne. So I bought Jesuit. He was by the
one-eyed Doctor Foster, out of a half-legged mare, and a
wonderful performer, could go a fair pace, and keep on all
day, but he wasn't much to look at — a narrow animal
with a ewe neck, straight shoulders, and a short back. I
rode him once. That was enough," he said dryly, with his
eyes twinkling.
"Why?"
" Well, I was in bed for three days afterwards. He
ran away with me, and he jumped in and out of a planta-
tion, whether or no, without with your leave or by your
leave. I never was so stiff and sore and bruised in all my
life. So I entered him at Derby for the Midland Steeple-
chase (seventy -five pounds — a good stake in those days).
There were a lot of good horses running. W^ill Archer, father
of Fred, was riding mine, and all the others refused at the
brook. It was a great, wide place, with a tremendously
big hurdle in front of it. Jesuit came tearing at it, pulling
very hard, and shaking his head which he carried right up
under his rider's cap. Every one thought he must fall ;
but, at the last moment, he steadied himself, landed well
over, and was away again in a moment. He always gained
ground at his fences. Archer saw his advantage, kept
pegging away, and won."
This is the only scrap preserved of memories which
would have proved a veritable gold mine.
The following accounts of the actual sport of these
years have been selected as the most interesting.
BeUs Life, December 26th, 1852 :—
Mr. Editor, — Athough a novice in the art of writing, and fearing to prove
wearisome both to yourself and your readers, I cannot let pass a very magnificent
day's sport I had the pleasure of witnessing with Mr. Meynell Ingram's hounds
on Thursday, December 16th. The meet was at Drakelowe, and the known
hospitality of its kind master and mistress, as well as the great favour these
hounds have obtained through their late prowess in the field, assembled a great
1852] GOOD RUN IN THE WALTON COUNTRY. 175
number of red, black, and green coats, and others of doubtful hue, most of the
owners of which partook of the good cheer always prepared for them by this true
lover of the noble science. " Gentlemen, I can give you no more time," exclaims
the master of the pack, mounting his gallant grey. •' Will you first draw the
Grove," says the captain, the fox-preserving owner thereof — so, to the Grove we
went, where pug, wondrous to relate, was non est. " Why, the train was
late to-day," observed a waggish Lifeguardsman, as Joe called the hounds away.
" The varmint will arrive in time," was the captain's reply, " and make you look
rather blue before the end of the run." The captain was, sir, what few men are,
a prophet in his own country. The words were scarcely out of his mouth when
Tom Leedham's joyous " Tally-ho " gladdened the hearts of all, and the captain,
in his best and most sarcastic manner, said, " They have turned him out well,"
which made some of the oi jwlloi really believe that a commercial gentleman had
just been enlarged. Were I to describe the distance we went, by Seal Wood to
Lullington Gorse, leaving Rosliston on the right, and Catton on the left, finishing
a most tremendous ring of twelve miles at the place we found him ; or the
numerous falls, the extraordinary pace, the fences that were jumped, the brooks
that were floundered into and over, I should fill, dear Bell, many sheets of
foolscap, which you would think more suited to my head. Still this gallant fox
held on, and skirting an osier bed by the river Trent, gave us a glorious oppor-
tunity of viewing him, and judging whether he was fresh or beaten ; and on
hearing a heavy-weight exclaim, " A fresh fox for a hundred ! " I could not help
thinking of these appropriate lines : —
"From Drakelowe's plantation he broke cleanly and dry,
I've heard it before, ' A fresh fox ! ' was the cry.
The gentleman wished to be knowing, of course ;
And perhaps he was fresh when compared to his horse."
But fresh or beaten, his days were numbered, and after ringing round about
the plantations for an hour or more, he fell a victim to the energy and stoutness
of the gallant pack, thus winding up a run of two hours and twenty-five minutes
(the first hour of which was tremendously fast) over one of the deepest and
stiffest countries a fox ever crossed. Whilst we were breaking him up, three
foxes went away from a neighbouring cover, which is a proof of the vigilance
with which they are preserved in that part of the country. Whilst riding home,
I heard that many of the feathered pets belonging to the charming mistress of
this domain had fallen victims to the incursions of bold Reynard, and was
tempted to exclaim with the poet —
" For these nocturnal thieves, huntsman, prepare
Thy sharpest vengeance ! "
Yours, &c.,
HUMPTY DUMPTY.
"The hounds closed the season of 1853-54 on
Thursday,* March 30th, earlier than usual by a week or
two, on account of the spring being early. The meet on
this occasion was the keeper's lodge, Chartley Park, and it
is only due to Mr. Wilcox to say that, whether his noble
* This account is copied from a manuscript in the possession of Mr. Henry
Charringtou of Tutbury.
176 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1854
master be at home or abroad, there is always a crust of
bread and a glass of grog for those who like to accept of
his hospitality — and, what is still more to his credit, there
is always a fox to be found at home, and that, in a short
time, without knocking horses about all morning from
cover to cover. At the first meet of the season there, we
found in less than ten minutes and killed after forty
minutes without a check, and another day we found in
the gorse to the north of the park, and killed after thirty
minutes without a check ; and I believe this meet, which
has become a favourite one, afforded a run not only on
every occasion of the hounds throwing off there throughout
the season, but on other days when they met elsewhere.
" On the present occasion the hounds were trotted off
at once across the park to the Birch wood Park covers, and
were no sooner thrown into the plantations than 'Tally-
ho ! ' — ' Gone away ! ' was heard from the well-known
voice of that gallant sportsman, Mr. Craven, of the Birch -
wood Park farm, and away we went through the planta-
tions, past the gorse, and on towards Sherratt's Wood, but
he turned to the right as though he meant visiting Heath
House or Carry Coppice ; but, after crossing a few fields
in that direction, a second thought struck him, and, turning
round to the left, he passed Middleton Green and to
Draycott Woods, which he reached at his best pace,
scattering a very large field in all directions. Having
entered Bromley's Wood he bore to the right, and the
pack being well together, and on excellent terms with
'the rascal,' we were not long in reaching the Cheadle
and Sandon turnpike road, and it is here worthy of remark,
that, so often as I had seen these hounds bring their fox
from Chartley up to about this point, I never remember
to have seen them on any former occasion get beyond here
without a turn towards home again, from some cause or
another."
(In the manuscript there is here a query interpolated in
a different handwriting, "Were not the hounds stopped
on some of these occasions ? ") " The case was different.
1854] GREAT RUN FROM BIRCH WOOD PARK. 177
however, tliis time, for not half the run had been gone
through, when, having carried the scent well over the pike,
we were streaming away across the open tract of country
lying between Creswell station, on the North Staffs, line,
and Stallington Hall, the late residence of that true friend
to foxhunting, Richard Clarke Hill, Esq., now, alas ! no
more. Here we had a deep drop into the lane leading up
to the hall, which caused a temporary delay to some of
the horsemen, but not so to Tom Leedham and his hounds,
for by some contrivance he let himself down, and, having
crossed the water meadow behind the hall, he was soon
over the next road and in full cry for the Marquis's
plantation on Mear Heath ; but here our fox did not deign
to seek for shelter, but still kept the open, and bore away
for the right down to the Grange Wood, which he passed
through and set his head towards Mr. Bernard Hallow's
new gorse cover at Stallington Grange. But here again,
as if determined to show sport as a wind-up to the season,
he declined a shelter, and bearing to the left, reached the
Newcastle and Blyth Marsh road, and was presently across
the pottery branch of the N.S.R.
" Here he might have concealed his head for a moment
in Caverswall Park ; but, still bent on mischief, he left this
cover to the right, and soon reached the grounds of Charles
Coyney, Esq., of Weston Coyney, who (fortunately for
his larder and ale cellar, but unfortunately for himself, as
no one loves the sport better) was from home with his
family. But this mattered little, for we were not at the
end of our voyage, and having had no check as yet worth
mentioning, we were soon across the Leek and Sandon
turnpike, and presently found ourselves in front of Park
Hall, the residence of Thomas Ha we Parker, Esq., in close
proximity to the Staffordshire Potteries. Here, for the
first time, we came to a most complete check, having
hitherto had nothing but regular hard riding over very
rough country, and, although the greater part of this run
had been across the roughest part of the North Stafford-
shire country, our fox, until now, had scarcely deigned to
VOL. I. X
178 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1854
look at a cover, with the exception of Bromley's Wood
and the Grange Wood. But here, whether because he had
reached his home, or whether because he had gone as long
as he could, and could crawl no further, he coiled himself
up and squat down in a little thicket, and kept us quite at
fault for at least twenty minutes, and, be it here observed,
that, up to this point, many had gone well, but none
bette rthan Lord Talbot of Ingestre, on old ' Blarney,'
the Marquis of Stafford, Mr. Kendrick of Tittensor
Common, the gallant old Admiral Meynell, and last, but
not least, for she was first amongst the foremost, that
celebrated horsewoman, Miss Meynell, of Hoar Cross, who
was now between thirty and forty miles from home, two
other ladies, Miss Chetwynds, were also seen to go well in
the early part of the run — one of whom got an awkward
fall at the top of Bromley's Wood. Of course the twenty
minutes' check was not spent in standing idle, although
men and horses had well-nigh had enough ; it was, as well
may be supposed, spent in every possible effort to recover
the lost game. Sufficient, then, to say that Mr. Reynolds,
in due course, having refreshed himself for the finish of
this gallant run, jumped up in the midst of the pack and
gallantly faced the hills above Park Hall, and bore away
towards Wemington, leaving the Staffordshire Potteries in
the rear on his left, and finally, winding his course to the
right towards Hulme, fell a victim to his pursuers, and to
his own gallant determination to show sport, in a farmyard
at Bolton Gate between Weston Coyney and Wetley Rocks,
by the side of the Leek and Sandon turnpike road. Of
course the check at Park Hall let in many stragglers to see
the wind-up of this famous run, which was not without
its incidents and accidents. Mr. Hugo Meynell, who
had been well with hounds up to the Grange Wood, there
discovered that his horse was badly staked in the chest,
and retired with him to the Stallington Grange farm in
care of Mr. Walters of Checkley, who had himself been
' knocking along ' famously. Mr. FitzHerbert of Somer-
sal, than whom no one rides bolder or straighter, was
1855] DEATH OF JOE LEEDHAM. 179
obliged to retire from the run early, and got to the
village of Tean, from whence he was conveyed home in a
carriage, and many a gallant steed was only heard of for
some time after this day's work.
** Hsec olim meminisse juvabit."
"When Time, who steals our years away.
Shall steal our pleasures too,
The memory of the past shall stay
And half our joys renew."
This was the last day of Joe Leedham's last season,
and a very good ending too, for the run was a good
thirteen miles from point to point, and nearer twenty as
hounds ran. Those who have seen Joe Leedham in the
field speak of him as a competent huntsman, but for
the last season or two he was not at his best, being given
to nicking along the roads, and not always casting up
when he was wanted, in which case Tom or Jack did duty
for him, as Tom evidently did in the run just described.
Joe died on April 3rd, 1856, at the comparatively early
age of fifty-nine, and was buried by the side of his father
a,t Yoxall. He was succeeded by his brother Thomas, a
nice light weight, with a neat figure on a horse, and,
perhaps, the best horseman of a family of good riders.
The season of 1855 is very barren of records in the
public prints, and, unfortunately, there are only a few
private diaries extant of these earlier dates, while the
ones that do exist contain absolutely nothing of any
interest to any one but the writer. There is, however, an
account of a day in March in the Field, which, from this
date, is the leading paper for all hunting news.
Field, March 24th, 1855 :—
To the Editor of the Field.
Sir, — On Saturday, March 10th, this gallant pack met at Aston Hall,
Derbyshire, the seat of E. A. Holden, Esq. When the "meet" is at Aston
the " field " is generally large (as it was on this occasion), the " find " pretty
ceiiain, and the sport good. So it proved on Saturday. Upon the hounds
being thrown into the covers, a fox was soon on his legs ; and, making for
180 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1855
Weston Cliff and the Chellaston gypsum pits, ran a very smart ring for
about twenty minutes. Here it was discovered that the fox was a bitch, and
the hounds were whipped off. A gentle trot, of perhaps a couple of miles
as the crow flies, brought the " field " to Arleston Gorse. This cover lies
high and dry, and furnishes a capital bit of lying gi-ound for the " wily animal."
Arrived here, the hounds had scarcely entered, when they unfortunately
chopped a bitch fox with cub of three young ones ; but a dog was soon started,
and away he went in gallant style, over a capital hunting country, at a good
hunting pace, and was run into after a chase of an hour and forty minutes. I
believe that this was one of the best days Mr. Meynell has had with his
hoimds this season.
RiNGWOOD.
In the past season the hour of meeting had been
changed from 10.30 to 10.45 ; there had been long and
very severe frosts, so much so that people use the
term a " Crimean winter " as a synonym for a hard one
to this day.
The season of 1856 seems to have been a brilliant one,
to judge from " Rover's " letter, and the new huntsman
to have given great satisfaction. Poor old Joe, his father,
only just lasted out the season. Jack Leedham and young
Tom, Charles's brother, were whippers-in. Charles himself
was riding second horse for *' Squire " Selby Lowndes. The
one topic of conversation in January was the infamous
case of Palmer the poisoner, of Rugeley, who was fast in the
toils, and, in fact, paid the penalty for his many crimes.
There is an amusing story told of Tom Leedham about
this time.
A thrusting stranger, who had been making himself
very conspicuous all day, and who had been rather too
close to hounds on more than one occasion, rode his tired
horse at a fence towards evening, and the animal stopped
short and shot him over his head into the middle of the
hounds, as Tom was casting them into the next field.
Old Tom looked at the stranger as he lay on the ground,
and remarked, " Theer, ar towd the' the's bin in to' mooch
of a hurry all day, and now, dom the', the's in sooch a
hurry the' canst na wait for th' 'oss."
In the run which is so amusingly described below, the
field encountered something which would wait for nobody,
and which must have caused considerable consternation.
1856] A FAST RUN. 181
Field, February IGtli, 1856 :—
To the Editor of the Field.
SiK, — Well knowing your willingness to chronicle any event connected with
field sports, and more especially the good old sport of fox-hunting, I gladly send
you an account of a remarkable run which took place recently with Mr. Meynell
Ingram's hounds. And, by-the-by, I may just remark en jMssant that the run
which I am about to describe is only oue of a series which this gallant pack
{under the able mastership of their respected owner) has had this season.
On Saturday, the 9th ult., the meet was at Elvaston Castle, Derbyshire (ui)on
the unique gardens belonging to which the late noble owner lavished so much
taste and treasure), the ancestral seat of the Earls of Harrington. After partaking
of the hospitahty of the noble earl, "the field" trotted off to the covers of
E. A, Holden, Esq., of Aston Hall, which, contrary to the usual luck, were this
time drawn blank. Thence the pack proceeded to Arleston (an almost sure
find), where an old game fox, one of the right sort, soon broke cover. He
started as if he meant to cross Sinfin Moor; but, taking a new thought into his
head, doubled to the left at the back of Stenson village, and went for the Derby
and Birmingham Railway, the gates to which were found locked up. Perceiving
that if they were to catch sight of the pack any more that day some risk must be
run, a considerable part of the field got upon the railroad with the intention of
crossing, " Tom Leedham " (the huntsman), followed by Mr. Richard Ratcliffe,
having charged the rails.
Here an amusing scene ensued. Some one raised the cry of " Train coming
up ! " which, as a matter of course, quickened the motions of those on the load.
There was before them a choice of two not very agreeable predicaments to be
placed in : either, on the one hand, to remain until the train passed, or charge a
thundering drop leap across an awkward flight of rails. Some took the leap,
others got off their horses, and all parties recovered "their propriety " as well as
they could. We believe some little incidents occurred worthy of having been
delineated by a Cruikshank. The railroad passed, away went the pack across
Hell Meadows, leaving Findern village to the left, and the residence of Sir
Seymour Blane, Bart., to the right, and on in the direction of the Asylum at
Mickleover — the gi-ound being awfully deep, and giving the horses " bellows to
mend." Then the hounds went directly on to the Derby and Burton turnpike
to the Asylum, by the bottom of Burmaston, doubling again, and running up
to Mr. Ashton Mosley's house, where the scent became a little more difficult.
Tom Leedham, however, persevered with his hounds, and again they went across
the Etwall road, where Master Reynard turned again to the left in the direction
of the covers. There he ran to ground in a plantation near Mosley's house.
It is generally beHeved that, considering the state of the ground, this run was
one of the fastest things ever known. Time about forty-eight minutes, without
a check ; the run at racing pace from end to end. The distance has been
supposed to be little short of twelve miles. Amongst the " first flight " men
were Lord Stanhope (who rode his favourite mare, " Mad Moll," in his usual
manner, "straight as a bird"); Mr. Hugo Meynell Ingram, "Tom Leedham,"
the Rev. James Holden, Lord Cavendish, Mr. Richard Ratcliftj Mr. Audinwood,
and Mr. Cocks.
ROVPZK.
182 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
CHAPTER XVI.
LORD BERKELEY PAGET — A BRETBY DAY — CHARLES AND
LORD SOUTHAMPTON DAY ON CANNOCK CHACE —
CAPTAIN DAWSON — MR. H. F. MEYNELL INGRAM'S DIARY
ASHBOURNE HALL.
1859.
" I REMEMBER seeing the famous Lord Anglesey ride his
hack at that pace (a canter) nineteen times out of
Piccadilly into Albemarle Street before it turned the
corner exactly to his mind. The handsome old warrior,
who looked no less distinguished than he ivas, had, as we
know, a cork leg, and its oscillation no doubt interfered
with those niceties of horsemanship in which he delighted.
Nevertheless, at the twentieth trial he succeeded, and a
large crowd, collected to watch him, seemed glad of an
opportunity to give their Waterloo hero a hearty cheer
as he rode away." So wrote Whyte Melville in his
" Riding Recollections." This was the grandfather of
the nobleman whose name heads this page, so it looks as
if the grandson inherited that horsemanship for which
he became so famous. Of him Sir Richard FitzHerbert,
whose opinion is worth having, always says, " He was
quite one of the quickest men to hounds I ever saw."
But perhaps the best criterion of the estimation in which
he was held by his contemporaries is this. If you ask
them who were the best men with the Meynell in their
day, the combination of names may, and often does, vary,
but one name invariably occurs in it, and that is Lord
Berkeley Paget's. The following is a rough outline of
his career, and it is worth noticing that he began really to
Lord Berkeley Paget.
From a photograph
by
John Edwards.
rlqfii^oioriq b mcnR
.ftb-8ijwb3 nriol.
LORD BERKELEY PAGET. 183
ride ait an age when most boys are seen poking about witb
the family coachman or their father's second horseman : —
He first came into the Meynell country as a boy,
when his father, Lord Anglesey, succeeded to the Beau-
desert estates in 1854. Beaudesert and Cannock Chace
were then in the Meynell country, and they always used
to meet there and hunt it in the spring. It still belongs
to the Meynell, but some years ago (in 1868) they lent it
to the South Staftbrd, who hunt it at the present time.
Lord Berkeley soon took to hunting, as the following
cutting from a local paper of that period (1858) will
show : —
MR. MEYNELL INGRAM'S HOUNDS.
We have much pleasure in recording a brilliant run of fifty-five minutes with
Mr. Meynell Ingi-am's hounds on the 5th inst., when the accomplished and
juvenile (sports man we must say), Lord Berkeley Paget, a boy of only fourteen
years of age, led a field of about two hundred horsemen, and amongst them some
of the hardest riders in the country. The hounds were in the neighbourhood of
Derby, near to Lord Scarsdale's. Off they went across a fine grass country,
equal to any in Northamptonshire, and away went the little lord, well-mounted,
and looking the leau ideal of a British Nimrod — spurs, boots, and breeches. All
started together, his lordship leading, and being soon twenty minutes ahead of
them, crossing two big brooks, lots of bullfinches, ox fences, posts and rails
innumerable, including formidable jumps, riding hard and well, and in at the
death after a ride of fifty-five minutes. Lord Alexander, his brother, being a good
fourth. During the run his juvenile lordship was literally ridden down by a stout,
heavy yeoman ; both horses fell down together. Lord Berkeley was the first up,
and rather remonstrated with the awkward countryman. No matter, he suc-
ceeded in adding to his reputation as the best juvenile shot in the country, by
showing those of riper age that he is also good across countrj', and, like his father,
a true lover of English sport.
He hunted from home up till 1869, when his father
died. That year he and Lord Waterpark went to
America and shot on the plains and in the Rocky
Mountains. On his return, he and his brother. Lord
Alexander, took Field House, Marchington, and con-
tinued to hunt from there. During these years he had
some remarkably good horses, worth anything you please,
though the actual cost of the three best, First Flight,
Quicksilver, and Apethorpe, was but two hundred and
seventy pounds for the lot ; in fact, the last-named was
purchased for thirty-five pounds from Lord Westmorland,
184 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
who had bought him to go in a dog-cart. The recol-
lections of the older Meynell men teem with anecdotes of
the feats performed by Lord Berkeley on these and other
hunters. Noteworthy amongst them was his great jump
over the Mease in flood on Quicksilver, a little mare, only
fifteen hands, one and a half inches, but an extraordinary
water jumper. The river was in flood at the time, and
most Meynell men know its ordinary width. When he
jumped it he was hunting with the Atherstone, and
Dickins, the huntsman, as bold a rider as any, did not
think it feasible, and shouted out to his lordship, " You
cannot get there," as he himself galloped off" for a bridge.
Tradition asserts that a Lord Lichfield jumped it at nearly
the same place many years before, and Sir William Fitz-
Herbert, too, had a crack at it. His horse got in, though
he landed dry himself. Henry Turnor used to tell a story
of how Tom Sebright, after " Squire " Osbaldeston, was
" outlawed," as he called it, or warned ofl", as we should
term it, jumped out of Bagot's Park over one of the great
gates. So he naturally went to measure the place where
Lord Berkeley, for whom he had a great admiration,
cleared the deer fence in Blithfield Park. It was not quite
equal to the park gates, but five feet six of solid timber is
high enough for most people. It was too high for any
one to follow the leader that time, and he had hounds all
to himself for at least twenty minutes. But it is im-
possible to give in detail all the feats he performed.
Every one who knows him can supply half a dozen. It
is curious, though, how one man sometimes gets credit for
what he has not done, while another gets none, do what
he will. For instance, in the great Sudbury run of
January 27th, 1873, an eye-witness told the writer that
he saw Mr. " Dick " FitzHerbert, and Mr. Walter Boden,
with a long lead of all the field, going across the meadows
by the Dove, the former well to the fore. It transpired
that Mr. FitzHerbert was not out at all that day, and that
it was Lord Berkeley who had the long lead. He was
riding Jabbawock, one of Mr. Arthur Bass's (now Lord
LORD BERKELEY PAGET. 185
Burton's) horses, which he had never seen before he got
on him at the meet. They were well acquainted before
night, for, in the words of Mr. Godfrey Meynell, the horse
got an unusually good hustling, and jumped down into a
fearful-looking dumble, where no one else followed. And
it may have been here that his lordship got his long lead.
Not that there was anything uncommon in that, as all his
contemporaries will allow.
The great feature of the sport with the Meynell in his
day was the wildness of the foxes and the long points
which they used to make. For instance, there was the
run just mentioned with at least an eleven-mile point, and
three in the same season from Loxley of ten miles and
over. These last were probably all with foxes of the same
litter. Hounds pulled down the first by themselves, near
Dilhorn, the field having been all stopped by the River
Churnet, and having to make a wide detour. When they
did get up, there was not much left of the fox.
The following extract from a newspaper is too
characteristic to be omitted : —
NARROW ESCAPE OF LORD BERKELEY PAGET WITH THE
CHESHIRE HOUNDS.
Lord Berkeley Paget, who is hunting with the Cheshire hounds, has had a
narrow escape of his life. His lordship was leading the field, when the hounds,
pushing the fox, drove him across the river Weaver, which is considerably
swollen. Lord B. Paget, without hesitation, plunged into the river and en-
deavoured to reach the opposite bank with the hounds. The cun-ent was
running too rapidly for this to be effected, and horse and rider were washed
down the stream. Lord Berkeley Paget thus became unseated, and a scene of
excitement ensued; the huntsmen thronging the bank to assist his lordship,
who, after a protracted struggle, effected a landing, though much exhausted in
the effort. His hunter was also recovered shortly afterwards. Beyond the
unpleasant effects of a prolonged immersion, Lord Berkeley Paget has happily
taken no harm from the alarming accident.
This short notice of one, who has been a leading man
over every country that he has ever been in, would be in-
complete without the tribute which " H. H." paid to his
prowess in his account of the Quorn in 1867. He says —
I have now, I think, said everything needful as regards the horses and
hounds. Of the men who follow them I can say but little, as many have not
186 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1857
yet reached their hunting quarters, and most of those who have done so were
not out on Tuesday. Of one of them, however, I think I may predict, in the
words of the poet, from liis style of going that day, that during this season —
" What gallant runs the brave Meltonians share,
He ■will bo forward, or the foremost there."
I allude to Lord Berkeley Paget, who goes as straight as a man can do.
The name of a new writer appears in this year, who
gives a capital description of Bretby and of a day's sport
there, which seems worth preserving, as tending to show
the popularity then of what is rather an unfashionable
quarter now, though the capital run of this year (1901)
may change that.
Field, January 10th, 1857 : —
Sir, — ^Thursday, January 1st, 1857, was a red-letter day in the calendar of
sportsmen connected with Mr. Meynell Ingram's hunt. On that day the gallant
pack of that gallant sportsman met at Bretby Hall, the hospitable mansion of the
Earl of Chesterfield, where a splendid breakfast was provided. It so happened
that an illustrious circle of friends was staying at the Hall, and the " meet " on
the morning above-mentioned was one of the largest and most interesting that
ever graced the lawns or parks of the midland counties.
The weather was all that could be wished. Although mid-winter, a glorious
sun gleamed on the old brown woods, and the fair maid Morn tripped forth with
as bright an eye, or as glowing a cheek, as when she revels amongst May flowers.
Even the very birds seemed to assume a more joyous manner, and some of them,
gladdened by the exhilarating character of the season, gushed into song. How
lovely looked the old park of Bretby on that occasion — an occasion long to be
remembered by those who are enamoured of sylvan scenery and who delight to
see the nobility and gentry of England devoted to the chase. Utilitarians may
say what they will ; but distant be the day when a love for the noble science of
fox-hunting shall wax less strong than it is now. At the appointed time let
" Sam " still bring out the old bay mare ; let me see the old squire trot quietly
to the cover side ; and, as long as age permits, join in the pleasures of the chase.
Still let the hunting-6eld be the nurse of high spirit, endurance, decision, and
self-reliance, foster the amenities of life, and cradle those mental and physical
qualities which shine so conspicuously upon England's battlefields. But my hobby
has got the bit between his teeth ; I must " hold hard."
Well, it was a treat of no ordinary character to see the old park of Bretby on
the morning alluded to. Here and there lay patches of dark brown fern, between
which grazed the dappled deer, and beyond which lay noble woods apparently
waiting to echo back the sound of the hunter's horn. There stood in the morn-
ing sun the battlemented hall, having in its aspect a touch of feudal grandeur,
whilst on the lawn before it a noble and picturesque cedar added an appropriate
feature to the scene. Near the hall and about the stables loitered some of the
best blood of England, and the scene was rendered animated by fine horses,
scarlet coats, and, toward the period when the hounds departed, gay equipages
containing the fair daughters of nobility, all combining to make it a spectacle
which one might live half a lifetime to see.
1857]! A BRETBY DAY. 187
Somewhere about twelve o'clock — I cannot say to a trifle, for I took no note
of time — the " tield " turned out, comprising nearly two hundred horsemen, most
of them in scarlet, besides several ladies on horseback, and foiu- carriages filled
chiefly with ladies. Amongst others the following were guests at Bretby, and
some of whom partook of the chase : — The Earl and Countess of Derby and
Lady Emma Stanley, the Earl and Countess of Wilton and Lady Egerton, the
Countess of Glengall and Lady Margaret Butler, Viscount and Viscountess
Newport, Lord Burghersh, Lord Ashley, Lord Henry Lennox, Sir Robert and
Lady Emily Peel, Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Bart., Count de Jancourt, Miss
Anson, Mr. and Lady Sophia Des V^us, Mr. Norman Macdonald, Colonel
Macdonald, Mr. H. Meynell Ingram, Mr. Sturt, etc. Amongst the neighbouring
nobility and gentry at the meet were the Earl FeiTcrs, Mr. J. B. Storej' (Lock-
ington Hall), Mr. George Moore (Appleby), Mr. Clement (Snareston), Mr. Sutton,
Mr. Briscoe, etc.
The "field" proceeded to draw Hartshorn Gorse, and the result was a
beautiful find ; Master Reynard went away nearly in view of the whole field. A
brilliant twenty minutes over a stifl" countr}', with a rattling scent, ensued,
Reynard taking the direction of Smisby and Pistern Hills ; he was run into in tlie
middle of South Wood in capital style — at one time huntsman, dogs, and fox being
within, perhaps, two hundred yards of each other. The pack found again at
Repton Shrubs, and were led a smart chase to Repton Hays, the residence of
Mr. Crewe, where they again killed their fox.
During the first run the pack skirted the village of Hartshorn, and some
young ladies, evidently excited by the sport, were seen footing their way over
some ploughed fields almost knee-deep. Their perseverance was remarkable.
Nf.edwoop.
Field, January 24th, 1857 : —
On Saturday, January 18th, Jack Frost, who had so long put his veto
on our engagement, relaxed his iron grasp ; and every one who had a day to
spare or a horse to ride, '' tired " in hunting order to Elvaston Castle. The
description of this extraordinary place, with its miles of clipped yew and holly
hedges, its unique collection of pines, and statues with gold hair and beards,
belongs rather to a gardening than a sporting chronicle. The noble owner of
Elvaston having dispensed his hospitality in that way which barons and earls in
olden time were wont to do, we went through the form of drawing the pleasure
grounds, but Deodara cedars and monkey puzzles, as a certain quaint pine is
called, proved no fit place for the wily Tod. W"e therefore proceeded to Mr.
Holden's coverts at Aston, where we found two foxes and ate them ; and then
some six miles off to Sir John Crewe's covert at Apleston (? Arleston), which we
drew blank. From there we journeyed to Mr. Spilsbury's small but well-tented
covert, where we at once discovered that essential ingi-edient of sport, a wild fox.
After one false start, away he flew in a direct line for Burnaston Hall, crossing
the Derby and Burton road at the Spread Eagle ; from thence he bore to the
right, over a fearfully heavy country, nearly up to Burnaston village. Being
here headed, he made a short turn to the left, and at a good holding pace to
Etwall village, where, after passing through a gentleman's garden, much to the
consternation of his gardener, he went over a fine country in the direction of
Radbume ; but, inclining to the left, he left it, as he did Dalbury, to the right, and
set his head straight for Mr. Buckston's covert at Sutton. What an unpleasant
scene now opened to our view — the Sutton and Dalbury brooks near the point of
188 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1857
their confluence, full to the brim and impregnated with the red clay of Radburne,
looking for all the world like a huge dose of rhubarb and magnesia. Nothing
was to be done but stick in the spurs and harden your hearts. Plop ! plop ! plop !
went the three first into the middle in succession, others more fortunate got their
forelegs on to the opposite bank, but few made a clean jump of it. The brook
was full of sportsmen, and I saw a learned divine (who, by the way, is an
excellent preserver of foxes) up to his neck in the turbid stream, administering
the rite of adult baptism to two sturdy yeomen. Next to death, a brook is the
greatest human leveller ; the heir to a dukedom and a fishmonger fraternizing
together chin deep in the sluggish stream, men and horses, horses and men, all
higglety-pigglety, reminding me of the pictures one sees of Pharaoh and his host
in the Red Sea, barring the chariots ; and, as we ascended the hill by the old
Sutton covert, you might see poor, drippling wretches —
" Remote, unfriended, melancholy, slow,"
endeavouring by force and stratagem again to possess themselves of their horses.
But the brook, which so impeded men and horses, oSered but little obstruction
to the fox and his relentless followers. By Sutton covert and the Ash like
pigeons they flew, till a fatal and inexplicable check near Hilton Cottage brought
them to a stand, after a run of nearly forty minutes. To say who went best
would be only to hurt the feelings of those who did not go best, but two Eton boys
shall have their names recorded, Masters Townsend and George Moore. They
went gallantly and steadily. Of the latter the huntsman said, " A good sort that,
sir ; wants no litter mark to show how he is bred." Floreat Etona, and may she
send forth as many true-bred foxhunters as she has sent forth gallant soldiers
and sailors to fight her country's battles. So ends my tale as did the very
pleasant day with Mr. Meynell Ingram's hounds.
Yours, etc.,
Carriox Crow.
One of the Eton boys, at any rate, sustained his early
promise, for he was in the great Radburne run of 1868,
and Miss Georgiana Meynell and he are now the sole
survivors of that little band. The learned divine was
probably the Rev. German Buckston, while the heir to the
Dukedom may have been the Marquis of Hartington, who
used to hunt with these hounds.
1858.
The beginning of this season was marked by a sad
event, which was the death of young Tom Leedham, on
November 12th, at the early age of 19. He, too, was laid
with his grandfather and father in Yoxall churchyard.
Charles came as second whipper-in from Lord South-
ampton, with whom he had been holding a similar position.
There had been some little fuss about riding a certain
1858] CHARLES AND LORD SOUTHAMPTON. 189
horse, the writer believes, and Charles had given notice.
" Where are you going," Lord Southampton asked testily.
" Back to those thulky old uncles of yours, I suppose ?
You'll just thuit them."
Charles was very fond of relating this little episode,
and also another one, which was something of this sort.
He had counted the hounds out of covert, making them
all right, but Lord Southampton declared there was one
away, mentioning the hound, and sent Charles back for
him. Back he went, had some bread and cheese, and then
came on again. " You have not brought Rally wood " (or
whatever the hound's name was), Lord Southampton called
out rather sharply, as he saw his whipper-in coming up
boundless. " Where is he ■? "
" At your lordship's horse's heels," Charles answered
demurely, with an inward chuckle.
The hounds seem to have had pretty good sport this
season.
Field, February 13th, 1858 : —
On Saturday last this well-known pack met at Swarkeston, a circumstance
which insured a good meet. A little before eleven the pack trotted off to
Arleston Gorse ; drew blank. They then went through Stenson village, and on
to the Willington Osiers, which were also drawn blank. The next point was
Repton Shrubs, a well-known cover on the Earl of Chesterfield's estate, which,
as usual, furnished a fox, whose pluck and endurance compensated for previous
disappointment. After ringing round the cover, he broke in the direction of
Hartshorn Gorse, but was headed and doubled back to the cover. He then
broke away for Repton Waste, through Carver's Rocks, crossed the Hartshorn
and Tickenhall turnpike, through Smith's Gorse, crossed the Ashby road for
Southwood, turned short to the left, and went through the covers at Calke, and
right across the park, where a slight check occurred owing to the deer crossing
the line. The pace up to this time was exceedingly fast, without a check. The
scent being soon hit off again, the pack went up to the park wall, over it, and
crossed Derby Hills Farm, and bearing for Melbourne for a short distance ; he
then turned to the right, crossed the Calke road, through the Highwood, which
they ran through in beautiful style, being close upon their fox. The pace now
mended ; and, running up a long spinney near the lodge belonging to Sir John
Harpur Crewe, Bart., they entered Staunton Springs, a large and well-known
cover. He went through it, but dared not face the open, and doubled through
the wood again ; endeavoured to break away on the Calke side of it, but the pack
being at his heels, he again took to the wood, and was run into " dead beat."
Time, fifty-three minutes. The manner in which these hounds ran into their fox,
as is usually the case, shows their determination to have blood. We regret to
190 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1858
have to add that Captain Storey, an old Peninsular officer, and a well-known
sportsman, in charging a fence out of the Calke road, met with an accident. His
horse fell and severely shook him, but we believe no more serious injury occurred
to him. Several ladies graced the field with their presence.
Charnwood.
The next account of anything with the Meynell
appeared in the Field of January 2nd, 1858 : —
On Thursday last these hounds met at Bretby, the seat of the Earl of Chester-
field. There are several circumstances which combine to make the Christmas
Bretby " meet " one of the most popular of the season. Then it is that the noble
Earl himself is usually there, surrounded by illustrious guests, and showing those
courtesies and providing those hospitalities which so pre-eminently characterize
him. Like many of its predecessors, the gathering was large, and presented a
really beautiful spectacle. The morning was most delightful, indeed one of the
most charming that has marked the close even of the late, almost unwintered
year. Amongst the distinguished guests staying at Bretby were the following :
The Duchess of Richmond, Lady Cecilia Lennox, Lord and Lady Derby, Lady
Emma Stanley, Lord and Lady Wilton, Lady Catherine Egerton, Lady Glengall,
Lady Margaret Butler, Lord Henry Lenox, Lord and Lady Colvile, Mr. H.
Meynell, Mr. Leslie, Mr, Calthorp, Count Jacourt, Colonel Hardinge, Lord
Cowper, Captain Lowe, Honble. James Macdonald, and Colonel Forester. Most
of these were present at the meet, as also the Earl of Chesterfield (whom we are
happy to see apparently in blooming health). Lord Stanhope, Lady Evelyn
Stanhope, and many of the neighbouring gentry. Amongst the latter were
Mr. George Moore (Appelby Hall), Mr. Michael Bass, M.P., etc. About two
hundred sportsmen were present, and there was a considerable sprinkling of
ladies on horseback. About half-past eleven the visitors left the hall in several
carriages, and soon afterwards the hounds moved oft'. The scene at this juncture
was very animated, heightened as it was in picturesque eff"ect by the movements
of gay equipages, of dappled hounds, and scarlet-coated horsemen, threading
their way through the trees, by pools, or along the fern-covered slopes. The
party trotted away to Hartshorn Gorse. This is a pretty sure find. On this
occasion, too, Master Reynard was at home, and soon hove away like one of the
right sort for Several Woods, then crossed Pistern Hills to Southwood, through
which he threaded his way without a check, and forward for Calke Park, the
seat of Sir John Harpur Crewe, Bart. He did not enter the park, however, but
crossing Tickenhall and Ashby road, went away for the northwest side of
Hartshorn village, and ran into Spur's Bottoms. Here the hounds lost him.
Shortly, however, a view halloo was heard in the direction of Hartshorn Gorse,
the cover from which he broke, and it was found that some pedestrians had seen
him enter it. The hounds were again thrown in, and again the wily animal had
notice to quit. But this time he was not destined to show much sport, for the
scent grew cold after running over a few fields, and he was lost. The pack then
drew Repton Shrubs, but we do not know with what success, as we were
obliged to leave. Up to the time when reynard entered Hartshorn Gorse, he gave
a smart little burst of perhaps twenty minutes, but we fear that the second draw
would not be equal to the first. Among those ladies who honoured the field with
their presence was one (we believe, Ladj' Catherine Egerton) mounted on a grey
horse, who excited much admiration by the judgment with which she selected
1859] DAY ON CANNOCK CHACE. 191
her country, the fearless manner with which she took her fences, and her graceful
style of riding. She was at the tail of the hounds every inch of the road. Late
in the day. Lord Stamford's hounds, which had met at Donington Park (the
residence of Colonel Daniel), ran through Spring Wood, near Melbourne, and on
to Gorstyleys, just at the same time as Mr. Meynell Ingram's hounds entered the
same wood. Both packs were then whipped off.
Charnwood.
BelVs Life for March 13tli, 1859, has the following :—
Mr. Editoe, — February 28th, met at Black Slough, the property of that fine
old English gentleman, John Newton Lane, Esq., King's Bromley Manor. The
day being frosty, did not throw off until a quarter past twelve o'clock ; the
hounds were then thrown into Vicar's Coppice — blank ; then to Black Slough ;
found immediately two brace of foxes. Rattling them round the wood several
times, one was viewed away. After a very sharp burst, he was run to ground.
While the fox was being dug out, trotted off to Tom Hay Wood, then to Elmhurst
Gorse and Seady Mill Plantations, all unfortunately drawn blank ; away then to
Fradly Wood, where a leash of foxes were on foot; the thrilling voice of Tom
Leedham, the huntsman, with his gallant pack, soon told bold reynard the ground
was too hot for him. Gone away! Hark, hillo ! Making his way over a fine
country, through Black Slough to Vicar's Coppice and Haunch Wood, at a
tremendous pace, then across the Shaws, over the canal bridge, then to the
Brickhill Farm, running him into view at King's Bromley Park, killing him in
Mr. Lane's garden, close to the kitchen. Thus ended one of the best day's sport
of the season. There were several falls and somersaults (out of such a large
field) during the day, but not so well executed as some of the performers at
Cook's theatre in London. Too much praise cannot be given to Mr. Lane's
keeper, Herbert Palmer (who is a very civil and obliging man), for his exertions —
such an abundance of foxes and game. This is another instance that foxes and
game can be preserved by a right keeper in his right place.
Yours, etc.,
A LovEK OF Sports.
The last account of sport with the Meynell in this
year comes out of a scrap-book without any heading, so it
is not possible to acknowledge its origin. It says —
Cannock Chace still holds essentially wild foxes, as I think the perusal of the
following run wiir sufficiently prove. On Thursday, March 24th, the fixture
being Wolseley Park, we proceeded to draw Shugborough, where shortly a fox
was on foot. After two or three turns in the covert on the hill by the Rugely
and Stafford road, he, at length, made his point, crossing the road near Oakedge
Park up the Beggar's Hill. Immediately after crossing the hounds at once hit his
line, and took him at a capital pace for the Park pales of Teddesley, leaving the
Sherbrooke pools on his left, and crossing Teddesley Warren by the Spring
Slade Lodge to the plantation. At Teddesley he bore to the left, and, as if to
prove his stoutness, again faced the open chace up the Huntington valley, as if
for Hednesford, but still bearing to the left. Here the pace became first rate,
and Ladyhill covert was evidently his point. Up to it and through it he went
without dwelling for a moment, straight over Rugely racecourse, by the stone
192 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1859
house to Hagley, where he was puUed down after one hour and forty minutes,
the hounds literally racing for him down the Park and over the brook to the
spinny, where they picked him up. On the whole, as no check occurred after
leaving Teddesley, a more sporting run could scarcely be conceived. It is worth
noting that throughout the run a three-year-old bitch, Fatinia, led the pack, and
the head they carried must have been satisfactory to the Master, who, with the
rest of the field, and there was a large one, expressed their delight at so excellent
a day. Tom Leedhani, too, on Helen the Fair, was throughout just where he
should be, viz. close to the sterns of his hounds. — A. G.
A. G. stands for Arthur Griffiths of Lichfield, a capital
man to hounds.
It is rather an interesting fact that Wolseley Park is
one of the last parks to retain its deer leaps. These used
to be in existence in every park, which was enclosed in
the neighbourhood of a forest, and afforded ingress for
the deer into the park. The word " every " must be
taken to mean every one for which a license was issued,
which was not always obtainable. Wolseley Park was
enclosed by Ralph Wolseley, 1470. Teddesley also used
to have its deer park.
The Fatima mentioned in this run was a little too
speedy sometimes, and contracted the habit of slipping on
by herself.
About the end of the year Captain Arthur Dawson,
late of the Inniskillings, and for many years in the
Staffordshire Yeomanry, came from Launde Abbey, in the
Cottesmore country, to Barrow Hill, near Rocester, which
he inherited from his aunt, Mrs. Whyte. He is a capital
all-round sportsman, and though, from being near-sighted,,
he wears glasses, he can hold his own in the saddle, or
with rod or gun, with most people even now, in his sixty-
sixth year, while no one, to look at him, or to see him
playing tennis, would think he was fifty. At his best,
especially on one of his famous grey mares, or on Brandy
Wine, if there were a select few in any run he was sure to
be one of them, and it took a very good man indeed to
beat him.
In 1867 he got together a capital pack of harriers,
from the kennels of Mr. Wicksted, Sir Thomas Boughey,
and principally from Mr. Walter Green of Bury St.
CAPTAIN DAWSON. 193
Edmund's. Galway was huntsman, and very good sport
he showed. Captain Dawson hunted a good deal of the
hill country now occupied by the Dove Valley, as well as
the parts round Rocester and up to Cubley, and as far as
Leigh on the Staifordshire side.
At the end of the first season Mr. Hyde-Smith, who
married Miss Kempson of Coton, took the hounds, and he,
in turn, was succeeded by Captain Cotton. Meanwhile
Mr. Crowder, who resided at the Vicarage, Ashbourne,
started a pack on his own account, and here, in 1875,
Mr. E. P. Rawnsley, afterwards Master of the Southwold,
joined him. About 1876 Captain Cotton sold the Rocester
hounds, which had always been kennelled at Rocester, to
Mr. Frank Arkwright of Overton.
Captain Dawson is an enthusiastic fisherman, and for
many years has gone to Norway, frequently with his
brother-in-law, the late Captain Goodwin. A forty-four
pounder was his record fish, a model of which hangs in his
smoking-room. In another room there is a capital picture
of the Sprite, the famous cream-coloured cob which
Captain Stepney sold to Mr. Arthur Lyon of Clownholme,
whose daughter was Captain Dawson's first wife. She
was the mother of Miss Eleanor Dawson (now Mrs.
Crossman), who, on her capital black mare, Ruth, was so
well known with the Meynell, and still more so afterwards
in Essex. There Ruth won a point-to-point race or two.
She was but a green thing when Miss Dawson first had
her, but she soon learned her trade in those capable
hands.
Her father is an uncommonly good shot, but always
uses glasses when he shoots. They tell an anecdote of
how he was shooting once and it came on to rain heavily.
Mr. Kempson and others began chaffing him, and saying
how he would be done now. To their great surprise he
bowled over the rocketing pheasants as easily as possible.
At last some one said, " Why, the rain has no effect on
your spectacles ! "
" Why should it ? " he said. " They are in my pocket ! "
VOL. 1. 0
194 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1859
Curiously enough, he can see quite well to shoot any-
thing which passes over his head without them.
Another thing which he saw very well, too, was the
great Sudbury run of 1873. Hounds got away from him
a little, when they swooped down at such a pace into the
Dove Valley from Marston Park, but he remembered
how, on the previous Monday, Captain Cotton had put
a fox out of a willow tree by the Dove, and had run him
very fast to Sudbury Coppice, when the hounds were
stopped. Thinking this might be the same fox, he dashed
down by the willow tree, and caught sight of hounds
streaming up the opposite hill by Dove Leys. Crossing
the river by the railway bridge, he caught them beyond
his own house, where they checked. Miss Mildred Fitz-
Herbert and Mr. C. W. Lyon, now living at Doveridge,
were with him, and saw the fox killed at Wootton.
In 1878 he married Miss Goodwin, who used to be one
of the four or five ladies who hunted with the Meynell in
those days. By her he had one daughter, who is hunting
with us now. None of his sons cared much about riding,
though they are keen enough with rod and gun. The
eldest. Captain Harry Dawson, distinguished himself in
the South African campaign at Vaal Krantz, where he
was exposed, with the others in the 78th Battery, R.A.,
to a withering fire, and continued to stand by his gun
after his foot had been carried away by a shell or a
portion of one. For this he was accorded a grand
reception on his arrival home, being presented by the
neighbourhood with a silver bowl as a mark of their
appreciation of his gallant conduct. Of this he himself.
Englishman-like, makes light, saying that he only did his
duty until he was hit, and, after that, stood still because
he could not move about on one foot !
1859.
In this year the Hoar Cross diary recommences, and
the very first entry is a curious one. " October 25th.
Hounds stopped by frost." It only deals with the regular
1859] MR. H. F. MEYNELL INGRAM'S DIARY. 195
hunting, always beginning with the opening day, which
is invariably at Sudbury Coppice. From Hoar Cross the
young Squire and Master, Mr. H. F. Meynell, was of
course hunting, with his two sisters, Miss and Miss
Georgiana Meynell Ingram, and very frequently Captain
Boucherett.
The staff consisted of Thomas Leedham (who was first
little Tom, then young Tom, and at last old Tom) as
huntsman, Jack Leedham first, and his nephew Charles
second whipper-in. The first mention of Jack is on the
first page of this diary. "Jack hurt. Trod on by W.
Shipton." The Master and the men had about twenty
horses between them, amongst them being old Jack
Bond's friend, Jasper, and the two heroes of the great run
of 1868, Crusader and the Knight (the latter was the one
that died). So it is evident that they still had the art
of keeping horses going at Hoar Cross. This is all the
greater credit to the management, as they had no second
horses in those days.
Sport was fair, but nothing extraordinary occurred.
There was a great deal of frost, and they only hunted
sixty-two days, killing during regular hunting (there is
no account of cubs) fourteen and a half brace of foxes,
and they ran seven brace to ground, ending up the season
on April 21st in Bagot's Woods. They ran their fox into
an oak tree, by the Squitch Oak, from which Captain
Boucherett bolted him, and hounds caught him close to
Brown's house.
The following account appeared in the Field, April
28th, 1860 :—
THE LAST DAY OF THE SEASON WITH MR. MEYNELL
INGRAM'S HOUNDS.
On Saturday last a remarkable instance of animal cunning was exhibited at
Bagot's Park. After running our fox with an indifferent scent for some time in
the coverts adjoining the park, the hounds at length hit him off, some of the field
flattering themselves that either Birchwood or Jackson's Bank, or possibly the
Brakenhurst or Rough Park, might be his point. However, no such luck was in
store, though perhaps an equally interesting finale resulted as a run in the open.
The hounds suddenly threw up at the foot of one of the oldest oak-trees in the
196 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1860
park, where most of us thought the fox was gone to ground ; but the tree
(possibly coeval with the Conquest) was hollow, and after a short pause our
friend was espied almost at the top of the trunk, peering from an aperture in the
bark. Thanks to the agility of Captain Boucherett, he was speedily dislodged
from his post, and, running with catlike activity along one of the branches, he
sprang from a height of fifteen or twenty feet into some sedgy rushes immediately
below the tree, and, although the hounds were close upon him, he managed to
elude them for the moment, and was coursed in view across the park, being
turned over just as he was reaching the covert. In this short scurry (which was
not a little exciting) several casualties occurred — a drain getting the Master
down, and a stalwart yeoman and his stout chestnut coming to grief from being
crossed in the confusion. The most curious part of the story is, that in the same
tree, perched still higher in the trunk, was a second fox; but as this was
probably a vixen with cubs, she was very wisely left unmolested. Leicestershire,
Northamptonshire, and Warwickshire doubtless possess their advantages in the
shape of large enclosures, strong fences, and a great proportion of turf, but it
must be admitted that, generally speaking, there is not a better scenting country
than Mr. Meynell's, and assuredly in no district is there a better pack of hounds,
neither is more beautiful woodland scenery to be found than that in Bagot's
Park, nor wilder or more extensive views than from Chartley or Cannock Chase,
where, during the last fortnight, the hounds have found plenty of foxes.
Although in this part of the country no run worthy of note has occurred this
season (which, on the whole, has perhaps been the most unsatisfactory for
years), yet to find, as was the case the other day, on the open heather, when no
less than three or four were put up in the course of the morning, is one of the
most exciting things possible, and altogether a scene well worthy the pencil of
Grant or Herring. — A. G. (Lichfield.) P.S. — It may not be uninteresting to
some of your readers to hear that some three weeks ago Mr. Meynell gave Lord
Curzon a day in his country, when hoimds, horses, huntsmen, and whips, with
several regular attendants in the Atherstone Hunt, came down by special train
from Atherstone to Rugeley station, and thence trotted to Bagot's Park, where a
good fox was found, and had there been anything of a scent, Dickens, who, in
the estimation of the Meynellites, acquitted himself admirably, would certainly
have killed him, had he not unfortunately got on a fresh fox in the Brakenhurst
after running the first some forty minutes.
In 1861 a very prominent personage, the Rev. German
Buckston, passed away in his sixty-fifth year, having been
born in 1797. He was a typical "Squarson" of the old
school, very much loved and respected. The famous
actor was a cadet of this family. In this year, too, Mr.
and Mrs. Frank bought Ashbourne Hall, where they
resided for many years. When Mrs. Frank died, about
three years ago, the Hall was sold and turned into a hotel.
She was quite a character, and was as much at home in
the stable, the kennel, and the farmyard, as at her easel
or the piano. There was hardly anything of which she
did not know something. She was a fine horsewoman.
ASHBOURNE HALL. 197
and, having spent much of her time as a girl with her
uncle, ]Mr. Davenport of Maer, once Master of the North
Stafford hounds, knew a great deal about hounds and hunt-
ing. Mr. L. W. Frank, her second son, who went, after
his mother's death, to live at St. Mary's Mount, Uttoxeter,
is a regular follower of the Meynell, and goes well. His
elder brother, who always used to be out hunting when
hounds were within reach of Ashbourne, left the Meynell
country when he married many years ago.
198 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
CHAPTER XVII.
MR. WALTER BODEN — GOOD RUN FROM DUNSTALL — KILL
IN MICKLEOVER ASYLUM BYRKLEY LODGE — HENRY
MARTIN.
1860-1861. 1861-1862.
From Derby town a Boden comes,
A right good man is he ;
He I'ides to hounds as nicely
As you could wish to see.
For if they twist, or turn, or race,
Or go which way they may ;
He, like the master 's with them.
In a quiet sort of way.
This is no bad description of the subject of this sketch.
There was a time when on Jacko, a grey, and Spread Eagle,
a black horse, he was nearly invincible. The moment
hounds were away, he would sit down in his saddle, dash
out of the crowd, get to the front, and, when once there,
nothing could stop him. But the flowing verses of the
laureate of the chace describe him better than humble,
plodding prose : —
As he sits in the saddle, a baby could tell
He can hustle a sticker, a flyer can spare ;
He has science and nerve, and decision as well.
He knows where he's going and means to be there.
The first day I saw him they said at the meet,
" That's a rum one to follow, a bad one to beat."
Mr. Walter Boden.
From a photograph
by
W. W. Winter.
riqBiSoioriq n moi'R
id
.lalniW .W .W
MR. WALTER BODEN", 199
We threw off at the castle, we found in the holt,
Like wildfire the beauties went streaming away ;
From the rest of the field he came out like a bolt.
And he tackled to work like a schoolboy to play.
As he rammed down his hat, and got home in his seat,
This rum one to follow, this bad one to beat,
'Twas a caution, I vow, but to see the man ride !
O'er the rough and the smooth he went saOing along ;
And what Providence sent him he took in his stride.
Though the ditches were deep and the fences were strong.
Thinks I, if he leads me I'm in for a treat,
With this rum one to follow, this bad one to beat.
These spirited lines leave but little more to be said.
There is nothing to add and nothing to take away.
This " rum one to follow " first went hunting in 1849,
his earliest recollection being the killing of a fox in
Horsley Car with Sir Seymour Blane's and Mr. Story's
hounds. Curiously enough, it is at the Pastures, which
once belonged to the baronet, that he now lives, and a
very delightful place it is, though not without at least one
tragedy, for in the lake there Mr. Blane was drowned.
Young Master Boden was not long in giving a taste of
his future quality, for he got a fall with his pony over
a strong stile out of the road, following Lord Chesterfield,
who caught his pony and saw him safely mounted again,
with a word of encouragement. Like his elder brother,
he went to school at Rugby, and soon developed into a
cricketer, so much so, in fact, that he was selected to play
for Gentlemen of the North v. Gentlemen of the South.
He was also very fond of a gun, and more especially of a
rifle, renting Dundonald and Rhidorroch, so as to indulge
to the full his bent for deer-stalking. Being a man of
very keen observation, nothing suited him better than to
go out on the Forest alone, or with a friend, and pit his
powers, unaided by a gillie, against the stag's, and as often
as not the latter had to own himself worsted. This is the
very essence of sport, but it does not fall to the lot of
every one to be capable of enjoying it. In short, " he has
played the game all round ; " but yet, when all is said and
200 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
done, he is fain, I think, to admit that " the best of his
fun he owes to horse and hound." For racing (oddly-
enough), though he was associated with his brother in re-
generating Derby races, he cares not a jot. It was, there-
fore, rather amusing that " Spy " should have represented
him as a typical race-goer. But if he once begins to talk
about hunting, his brain seems to be one vast deposit
of good runs ; so good, in fact, that he frankly admits
that he cannot give any one of them the palm of super-
excellence. There are racing bursts, such as the one from
the Grove, Drakelowe, to Seal Wood, when for twenty
minutes hounds absolutely flew with Lord Stanhope,
on either Mad Moll or Betsy Baker, thoroughbred ones,
nearest to them, and next to him Sir Matliew Blakiston.
As the narrator mentioned no one else, it is presumable
that he was third. Every horse had had enough for the
day at the end of this spin, and hounds went home. No
one, except Lords Chesterfield and Stanhope, had second
horses in those days, not even the Hunt servants. The
run in 1873, from Sudbury Coppice to Bentley Car, and
thence to Potter's, where old Tom, then ex-huntsman,
viewed a fresh one, was a capital thing. However, hounds
stuck to the line of the hunted one. From Potter's they
ran to Cubley, whence six men — Lords "VVaterpark, M.F.H.,
and Berkeley Paget, Messrs. Boden, Buncombe, G. F.
Meynell, and young Mr. Harrison from Yorkshire, on Mr.
Feilden's famous horse, the Robber — slipped the field, and
had the pleasure of seeing hounds run hard by Marston
Park, over the Dove by Mayfield, where ten years before
Mr. Boden and old Tom had crossed it together, and up to
Wootton Lodge. Here hounds were close at their fox.
Lord Berkeley left his horse, which probably did not want
much holding, and jumped over the wall into the grounds,
following the hounds. Mr. Boden got through a gate
lower down and met the fox, which was run into at his
very feet, and he whipped ofi" head, brush, and pads.
Another grand gallop was from Eaton Wood, ending with
a kill in the pond at Ednaston. Then there was a splitting
MR. WALTER BODEN. 201
ring from Eaton Wood, with an amusing incident in the
middle thereof. Hounds ran like wildfire — in fact, old
Tom, who was then huntsman, said he had never seen
them run faster. Right in their wake, and bang in front
all the way, rode Lord Berkeley Paget by Mars ton -
Montgomery, Cubley, and through the Sudbury bottoms
to the deep lane, which goes from Sudbury to Hill Somer-
sal. From the Sudbury bottoms ]\Ir. Boden and old Tom
galloped best pace by Maresfield G-orse, and so got into the
lane, knowing full well that it was impossible to do so
where the hounds must cross it. As the two men dashed
up the road they saw Lord Berkeley peering from the field
above into its depths.
" Hallo, Berkeley ! where on earth do you spring from? "
shouted Mr. Boden, hitting his friend fairly between the
joints of his harness. It was an irresistible "score," and
probably drew blood in hearty anathemas. Hounds ran
on at a tremendous pace by Ley Hill, and nearly up to
Eaton Wood, catching their fox under an old thorn tree
which is still there. Mr. Boden pulled out his watch and
found they had been just an hour running this great ring.
Sir Richard FitzHerbert will remember another good run
which these two shared from Sapper ton, over the river, by
Hanbury to the Brakenhurst.
'' What fun we should have," the late Mr. " Chev."
Bateman used to say, "if it was not for that confounded
ditch ! " in which disrespectful terms he spoke of the Dove.
But the "ditch" did not seem to have proved such a
])arrier in those days.
On May 8th, 1888, Mr. Boden married Miss
Vaughan-Lee, daughter of Major Vaughan-Lee, of Llanel-
ley, Glamorganshire, and Dillington Park, Somersetshire,
a very perfect horsewoman and devoted to hunting. The
Meynell Hunt wedding-present took the form of two large
antique silver bowls from the palace of the King of
Burmah. They lived at Abbot's Hill, Derby, till they
came to the Pastures, both of which houses are famous for
hospitality.
202 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
A word about the horses may not be out of place, for
there were some very good ones — a fact to which the
prices realized at his annual sales on the Monday in the
Derby week at TattersalFs bore ample testimony. These
sales were continued for ten years. His brother Henry,
too, for a long time used to send up a stud, which realized
very high prices.
A good many Meynell men will remember the grey,
Jacko, who could both gallop and go on. Jumping a slip
stile in a wire fence out of a plantation was one of his
feats. Mr. Clowes's nephew on the Druid was the only
man who followed him. But most of us knew the look of
Jacko's tail, which reminds one of a good repartee of Mrs.
Fred Cotton's, when some one was chaffing her about old
Stockton's great rat tail.
" Of course you're always talking about his tail," she
said, "for that is all of him that you ever see when
hounds are running."
This Stockton by Stockwell was a rare good horse, and
in spite of being a crib-biter, and of having divers
blemishes, was readily snapped up at one hundred pounds,
when offered for sale.
Spread Eagle, a black, with quarters like a dray horse,
and a head like a deer, was a most perfect weight carrier,
and always went in a snaffle. They had a joke about him.
He was a very greedy horse, and one day his owner
had mounted a friend on him. Some one said to the man
who was riding him —
" Take care he does not run away with you."
" No, will he ? " said the rider, looking anxiously at the
snaffle.
" Yes," was the answer, " he will, if he sees anything to
eat ! "
This horse once belonged to that prince of good fellows,
the late Mr. H. B. Arnaud, of Padbury, in " Squire "
Lowndes' country, who sold him to Captain Gist, in whose
hands he won the Kegimental Heavy-weight Point to Point.
Some people will tell you that the grey, Bluebeard, was
MR. WALTER BODEN. 203
the pick of the basket, and probably Mr. Hodgson, of Small-
wood Manor, who then lived at Tixall, would agree with
them. At any rate, he thought enough of him to give four
hundred and twenty pounds for him, though the horse had
a big hock and some other detriment, which would have
prevented a vet. from passing him. But he carried Mr.
Hodgson in such a way that he probably never grudged a
penny of it. From him he passed to Mr. Harvey Bayly,
who rode him till he was twenty, and won no end of
prizes with him into the bargain.
General was another grey. Sir R. FitzHerbert remem-
bers him jumping the Sudbury Park palings.
But perhaps the most interesting horse of all was
Brandy Wine, the savage. He was a blood, brown horse,
bought from Captain Dawson, of Barrow Hill, for twenty -
five pounds. The horse had never had his coat off, nor been
in a loose box, so irreclaimable a savage was he. But in
his new quarters, they discovered that if a man went in
with a bridle in his hand, the horse would come quietly up
to have it put on. So they had rings on each side of the
box, and clipped him and dressed him with a watering
bridle on, and the reins attached to the rings on each side.
There are a few people who can still remember the way
this horse went, having all the best of it, in a brilliant
gallop from Sutton Gorse, till, nearly the end, by Etwall,
before the Great Northern was made, his rider had a crack
at the big brook there. It was a tremendously big place,
wider than the Foston mill-race. The horse scotched a bit
on taking off, and just got over, when the bank gave way
and let him in. With great difficulty he got out on the
wrong side, and there he lay, with Mr. Michael Bass stand-
ing looking at him.
"Is he all right ? " his owner called out, having made
his way round by a bridge.
"Oh yes."
" Then, why does he lie there as if he was dead ? "
However, a smack with his whip proved Brandy Wine
to be worth a good many dead ones.
204 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1860
There is a very favourite Meynell story about Tom
Leedham's breeches, which cannot be repeated here in toto,
])ecause his inimitable way of telling it was more than
half the point. However, one part of it is amusing
enough. Tom, being very busy, was measured hy deputy,
George Brown, Miss Meynell's pad groom, acting in that
capacity, and then they were surprised that the breeches
did not fit !
While on the subject of stories, the authors of "The
Annals of the Warwickshire Hunt" must overlook the
repetition here of one which appeared in their work, for
it is really too good to be omitted. A gentleman, who
had looked overlong " on the wine when 't was red," was
asked after dinner to sins a sonsf.
" But I only know two," he said. " One is. Pop goes
the Queen ; and the other is, God save the Weasel ! "
1860-1861.
Regular hunting began on October 29 th, but there is
nothing much to note for some time in the Hoar Cross
diary, except, perhaps, that what we now call the Parson's
Gorse at Eadburne is spoken of as Reginald's Gorse,
which was the Christian name of its planter. The harvest
was very late, for wheat was in the shock, and even uncut,
in the fields at the end of November.
Field, January 12th, 1861, says: —
On December 12th, 18G0, they met at Dunstall Hall, the seat of Mr.
Hardy, M.P. for Dartmouth. A prettier locale for a meet can scarcely be
imagined — the garden terraces, backed by the fine conservatory, affording a
delightful promenade for a large and gay assemblage of the neighbourhood, with
a near view of the gallant pack and the field of horsemen, constantly increasing
in numbers, as one well-mounted pink after another trotted up to the meet.
After the usual breakfast, the field moved off to the covert, a small wood on a
hill, nearly a mile from the house. Scarcely had the hounds entered, when
Charles Leedham's halloo gave the welcome signal that reynard was not only
found, but away ! So instantaneously did the hounds get after him, and so
extraordinary was their pace, that though the field lost no time, the hounds had
crossed the valley, and were going up the opposite hill, before it was possible for
the leading men to overtake them. The first point made by reynard was Range-
moor, but so hotly was he pressed, that he had no time to duck in the covert,
1861] GOOD RUN FROM DUNSTALL. 205
which he only skii-tecl on his way to Knightley Park. Not finding shelter here, he
dashed through the wood, the pack close behind him, making for Tattenhill Lane,
which he crossed. Shortly aftenvards, he descended the hills which bound the
forest of Needwood, and gallantly took to the open meadows below them. The
line is a stiff one, especially when, as on the present occasion, the ground is deep,
and ere long a wide drain with peaty banks interposed an insurmountable
obstacle to all but a chosen few. On went reynard until he came to the banks of
the Grand Trunk Canal at Newbold, where, instead of crossing, he made a turn
for Barton, taking the large gi-ass fields below the Hall, and once again making
his point for Dunstall. Being, however, prevented from accomplishing his
purpose by some of the stragglers from the field, he once more took to the
meadows, shaping his course this time for the canal, which he crossed near the
village of Braunston, and the field were fortunate in finding a bridge at no great
distance. The country now changed from meadow to arable, but the scent was
good, and the drains wide. At length we came so near to the good town of
Burton, that, evidently, reynard was approaching to the end of his career. He
was viewed in some grass fields dead beat, when, soon doubling back, he jumped
upon the roof of an outhouse belonging to Mr. Gratton's farm. Being speedily
dislodged, he fell amongst his relentless pursuers, who for upwards of an hour and
a half had been working so gallantly for him. The pace was from first to last
such as to tell severely upon the horses of those who had followed the hounds
throughout. The line after leaving the forest was over a country rarely taken by
a fox, as (especially during the latter portion of the run) it appeared to lead to
no covert. Doubtless, however, after leaving Dunstall, he had intended trying
for the Henhurst. Among the leading sportsmen on the present occasion were
the Lords Henry, Alexander, and Berkeley Paget, Lord Bagot, Mr. Cavendish,
Mr. Blakiston, Col. and Major Newdegate, Mr. Willoughby Wood, Mr. Birch (on
the admirable black which he has ridden for seventeen seasons), Mr. Cunliffe
Shaw, Mr. Alleyne, and many others. Nor must two ladies be forgotten, who
went better than many of the harder sex. The admirable working of the pack
confers great credit on Tom Leedham, whose skill in the kennel is as undeniable
as his judgment in the field. It may safely be asserted that during the whole of
the long period which Mr. M. Ingram has been the owner of these hounds, their
prestige never was higher than at present, and that they rank among the
leading establishments in the kingdom. We could have wished that the master,
whose gentlemanly bearing in the field is no less conspicuous than his thorough
sportsmanship, had had the gratification of being with his own hounds on this
occasion, instead of on a visit in a neighbouring country.
Vkterajt.
It began to freeze on December 18th, and on Christ-
mas Eve the thermometer was at zero. Hounds did
not hunt again till January 26th, at Loxley, when they
found in Carry Coppice, ran across to the woods, in and
out of them alternately for two hours, and killed their fox
at Woodford, which speaks volumes for Tom Leedham's
skill as a kennelman, when it is remembered that there
had been over a month's frost. On February 7th, they
206 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1861
had a good gallop of fifty minutes round Mickleover, and
in the end, Fairmaid, Primrose, and Rosalind followed
their fox over the wall into the yard in front of the
Asylum, and killed him. The master presented the head
to the establishment. There is an old story told of a
lunatic, who, from his window in the asylum, saw a man
fishing, and beckoned to him, saying —
" I say, you come in here with me ! "
Perhaps the inmates of Mickleover think the same
thing when they see us careering about under their walls.
An account of this day was published at the time. It
says —
Thursday, February 1th. — The day was what the most ardent fox-hunter or
" rider out " could desire. The wind soft and inviting, the sun shining gently,
but not glaring, and the dewdrop, so much dreaded by huntsmen, twt hanging on
the thorn. Punctual to a moment the hounds appeared before Radburne
Hall, and a most lovely sight it was. I do not know a more appropriate
meet for a pack of fox-hounds. Radburne Hall, the seat of E. S. Chandos-
Pole, the greatest of our Derbyshire squires, is situated on an eminence,
overlooking the beautiful vale which surrounds it. Built about the time of
Queen Anne, its entrance is approached by a wide flight of stone steps, accord-
ing to the style of that period. On this flight of steps stood the worthy
squire and his wife, inviting with true English hospitality all comers to his festive
board, and truly may it be said of him, as the song says of " the true old English
gentleman, one of the olden time," that, while he fed the rich, he never forgot
the poor. Around him stood, or sat, a large party of ladies, bewitchingly
dressed, and taking full advantage of that latitude in attire which the costume of
the period allows ; hats of all shape, from the " pork-pie " to the " helmet,"
adorned with feathers of every variety and hue, from the heron's wing to the bird
of paradise ; their stockings and petticoats of McDougall's latest shades, most
modestly, yet artistically displayed. Below them, amid some magnificent oaks,
which for centuries have withstood the rude blast of the tempest, or the axe of
the " prodigal heir," we saw the hounds, with shining coats and wistful eyes,
eager for the fray. How many changes have taken place since I last chronicled
their doings in your columns under my present signature. The excellent master,
Mr. Meynell Ingram, was still there, as kind and courteous as ever, but the three
brothers, the kennel servants, whom a witty senator, alluding to a celebrated
restaurant in Paris, once described as "the three Provincial Brothers," were
no longer present. Death had been busy amongst them, and though their names
are still Leedham, in two cases the brother's son succeeds the brother. Tom
Leedham, who was formerly whip, is now huntsman. The mantle of the old
prophet has fallen most worthily on him, and a better sportsman never fed
or hunted hounds. This day, being the day on which the aimual Hunt Ball at
Derby was held, an unusually large field was present. Of the regular members of
the Hunt few were absent. Lord Stanhope, the Hon. E. and W. Coke, Mr.
Blakiston (? Sir Mathew), Mr. Okeover, Messrs. Jessop, Messrs. Clay, the young
1861] KILL IN MICKLEOVER ASYLUM. 207
FitzHerberts, Mr. Bradshaw, and many others, both of high and low degree.
The neighbouring packs, too, had their representatives— the three Lords Paget
from Beaudesert, Mr. Colvile and Mr. Pole Shaw from the Atherstone, two
Colonels Buller and their brother from the North Staffordshire, or, as they are
familiarly called, " the crockery dogs," with many other " tip-top provincials,"
each determined to ride, each resolved to be first. The hounds being
put into the Pool Tail, or Decoy, as it is sometimes called, a fox was
immediately found. Crossing the brook at a bridge, all got an excellent start ;
bearing up towards Trusley at a rattling pace, and turning to the right over the
Dalbury brook (an awkward jump), he skirted Langley Gorse, swept round,
leaving Langley on the left and lladburne Rectory on the right, through the
Park, by the Lodge, and, at last, by some unaccountable accident, we lost him near
the bottoms, which adjoin the Mickleover osier beds; a very pretty twenty
minutes, the scent excellent, and the pace first rate.
After a little coffee-housing, not the least agreeable part of the day's amuse-
ment to many, we drew Mr. Leaper Newton's osiers, nearly a quarter of a mile
long. In almost the last bush, or perhaps on a dry bank adjoining, up jumped a
fox, the hounds getting away close to his brush, along the Mickleover side of the
osier bed ; they went at a rattling pace nearly up to the Derby and Uttoxeter
road ; here, headed by a gi-ain cart, he made a double back across the Mickle-
over brook in the direction of Wheat Hill, but, inclining to the right, passed
through the grounds of Miss Trowell's suburban villa, and actually went into the
precincts of the Borough of Derby, within a quarter of a mile of the county gaol.
But, seemingly dreading that he might be there incarcerated, to give an account
of his lawless doings and marauding acts, he proceeded on his way, leaving
Parson Abney's house close on his left ; crossed the Derby and Burton road to the
left of Littleover, on to Normanton, like pigeons they flew, leaving Sunny Hill
(where once Mr. Breary kept his celebrated pack of harriers) on his left, skirting
Hell Meadows, passed through Sir Seymour Blane's garden at the Pastures, again
crossed the Derby and Burton road, then on over a splendid country to Mickle-
over Hill, on which stands the county lunatic asylum. Getting on to some
hurdles, he jumped over the wall and was killed within the lunatic enclosure. A
beautiful finish. They ran him from scent to view, three hounds coursing him
the last quarter of a mile, and for the honour of Derbyshire let it be said, Mr-
Coke of Longford gave the first "who- whoop." Time, fifty minutes, Distance,
measured on the Ordnance map, nine miles and three-quarters.
Now, listen to me, ye Melton swells and Tailby men, not one ploughed field
did we cross, nor one head of cattle or sheep to stain the ground did we see.
Though rejoicing at our victory, I could not but regret the death of so gallant a
fox. Alas ! poor reynard, driven to madness by his relentless pursuers, he sought
an asylum in a madhouse, but that asylum proved no place of protection for him.
May some of us, when our time comes, have better luck. The obsequies having
been performed, we wended our way homewards; but how changed was the
scene from that gay pageant with which the morning opened. Jaded hounds and
wearied horses, dirty coats and scratched faces prevailed. The excellent master,
with head tied up in a blue handkerchief (having lost his hat in the fray), looked
for all the world like " the Host " in the engraving illustrating Chaucer's
" Pilgrimage to Canterbury," and Lord Alexander Paget was somewhat hurt, I
fear, by a nasty fall into a road. To say who " went best " when all did their
best to " go well " might cause unnecessary pain and heart-burning ; but you,
whose columns are ever open to record gallant deeds in boots and breeches, Avill,
I know, be no less willing to chronicle those that are performed in the less
208 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [ISGI
serviceable, but more graceful costume of the riding habit. Three ladies, viz.
tlie two Misses Meynell Ingram, and the Hon. Mrs. Colvile, went splendidly
from ind to kill. To them, I know, no "jealous swell " will refuse to assign on
this occasion the frst 2)^ace.
Cakrion Crow.
On February 23rcl they ran from Wichnor, a half
circle, to Dunstall, six miles in half an hour, when a
snowstorm came on, and saved the fox's life. On March
21st, hounds ran from Day's Covert by Wilde Park,
through Meynell Langley Gorse without dwelling, by
Vicar Wood, and killed their fox at Markeaton, four miles
and three-quarters in thirty-three minutes.
The next day of any moment was on March 26th,
when they drew Foston blank, and also the new gorse at
Hoon (the present Hilton Gorse), but found at Sutton.
From there they ran under the small gorse at Sutton,
crossed the Etwall and Sutton road, and so down to
Hilton. Going on from this point, they crossed the Long-
ford brook, on by Hatton field to Barton Hall, all the
time at a strong pace. At Barton the fox was headed,
and they checked, but hit it off again, and ran by Barton
Fields and Gorstey Fields, down to the Limbersitch brook,
where a fresh fox jumped up, and caused a check. But
they hunted the run fox on, through Alkmonton bottoms,
into Longford Car, where they viewed the beaten fox
in the covert. But he and a fresh one went away at the
same time, and they ran the latter by Hollington, by Over
Burrows, nearly to Langley Wood. Then back again,
almost the same line, through Culland, and stopped the
hounds pointing for Shirley Park. It was a very hard
day, and they had to leave two of the Hunt horses
at Longford.
As will be gathered from these few samples of the best
runs, it was not a brilliant season, there being very few
" on end" runs, as the old writers termed them.
They killed in regular hunting, eighteen brace ; ran to
ground, four ; blank days, one ; total number of hunting-
days, sixty-five.
1862] BYRKLEY LODGE. 209
1861-1862.
There was nothing worth mentioning up to Christmas,
except, perhaps, that, like a great many other packs, they
postponed their Chartley meet on the day of the Prince
Consort's funeral, December 23rd, to the next day. On
the 28th they found a fox in Jackson's Banks, and came
away by Dirty Gutter coppice, checking just over the
Byrkley Lodge road. The main body of the hounds
slipped everybody here, but Mr. Henry Jaggard and two
others met them in the Yoxall Lodge road, and they ran
on by Darley Oaks, through the Brakenhurst, away by
Moat Hall, in front of Eland Lodge (Holly bush) into the
Forest Banks, where they checked, and the field got up to
them at Marchington Cliff. Hitting it off again, they
pushed their fox out under Woodroffe's Cliff, and ran
across the open by Marchington Vicarage and Mr. Owen's
house (Field House), to within one field of Woodford
Eough. Here they turned to the left, by Mr. Bell's
of Uttoxeter High Wood, back to the turnpike where they
checked, but hit it off again and ran by Mr. Webb's
(Smallwood Manor), and killed him, close to the old mill
below Woodroffe's Cliff, after a good run of nearly three
hours.
Byrkley Lodge, which is mentioned here, belonged at
that time to Colonel Newdigate, a good sportsman, who
sold it to Mr. Hamar Bass, in 1885 or '86. But Colonel
Newdigate let the place to Mr. B. Ratcliff some time in
the seventies, having married Lord Leigh's daughter, and
went to live at West Hallam in the South Notts country.
Miss Sneyd owned it before he had it.
Mr. Bass pulled down the old liouse and built the
present one. Rangemore, which adjoins it, was rented
from the Duchy of Lancaster, first by Mr. Barton, then by
Mr. Haywood, and finally by Mr. M. T. Bass, father of the
present Lord Burton. The last named bought it from
the Duchy on his father's death in 1884.
VOL. I. P
210 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1862
Byrkley, with its oaks, hollies, and great thorn trees,
is a most picturesque place, and must be a portion of the
primaeval forest, even as Bagot's Park is.
On January 13th, hounds were at Loxley, and
first of all, one couple, Argus and Winifred, slipped on
by themselves from Carry Coppice towards Leigh, and
were never caught up that day ; then, when the attempt to
find them proved useless, a fox was found in Birchwood
Park, and raced into in twelve minutes in Sherratt's Wood.
Meanwhile, six couples and a half had gone on with
another fox, and the Master and Jack Leedham found
them with the North Stafford, beyond Draycott Woods.
At Walton, on the next hunting day, hounds killed a fox
in the river by Drakelowe, and Artful swam back to the
bank with him in her mouth like a retriever. At Eadburne
in February, after a good ringing run. Fancy and Amulet
went up a drain after their fox and killed him, as their
ancestors so frequently did in the early days of the Hunt.
On March 29th, they met at Blythbury, and had
a good day, though they did not find till they got to
the Briikenhurst. Then it proved to be a vixen, and they
had to stop the hounds on Loverock's farm. This was a
different state of things to what it was a few years back,
when the diary speaks of " a regular Blythbury day, con-
tinually changing foxes and running round and round all
day," or words to that effect. On this particular day they
found in the Banks in Bartram's dingle, came away by
Tomlinson's Corner, across Agardsley Park (where that
good sportsman, Mr. Harris, late of Fauld Hall, now
lives), into the Banks again, up and down them, out again
by Hanbury, down the hill to Coton, back again by the
old gorse at Castle Hays, over Belmont Green, by Little
Castle Hays, Stone's Gorse, and Hanbury Park Wood,
where he turned short back to Castle Hays, and they
killed him, after a good ringing hunt of fourteen miles at
least, in an hour and a half. The last day, on April 9th,
was at Wolseley, when they ran across the Chace and killed
in the Teddesley Plantation.
1862] HENRY MARTIN. 211
It used to be the custom to have a day or two at the
end of the season on Cannock Chace, and people came
from far and near, as hunting there was so different to
what it is in other parts. It was a most picturesque
sight to see hounds drawing this wild tract of bracken,
ling, and heather, with every now and then a black cock
getting up at your horse's feet. But when they began to
run, it behoved a man to ride warily, as, though there
were no fences, there were pitfalls of one kind and an-
other to catch the unwary and rash. A wise man chose
for his pilot one of the Pagets, or Henry Martin, who was
head keeper at Beaudesert, and knew every yard of the
Chace. The latter was a capital sportsman, a hard rider,
and just as fond of hunting and preserving foxes as he
was of shooting and rearing pheasants. As a proof of his
care of foxes, it is a fact that there were thirty-seven
earths drawn out on the Chace and Beaudesert in one
season. His son, Albert, was second whipper-in to the
Meynell for some years.
There is now too much wire-fencing on Cannock Chace
for the enjoyment of hunting over it, which is a sad pity.
In this season of 1861-62 they killed twenty and a half
brace of foxes ; ran to ground six and a half ; blank days,
one ; hunting days, sixty-two.
212 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
CHAPTER XVIII.
SNELSTON — MR. HARRISON — *' CECIL " — " CECIL's " ACCOUNT
OF THE HOUNDS — THE GREAT RADBURNE RUN — THE
FOSTON MILL DAM.
1862-1863.
" Its bay windows, parapets, turrets, and groups of pic-
turesque chimneys, viewed from the south, or from almost
any point, form a striking feature in the landscape : "
so says an old writer, and most people will agree with
him. It was built by Mr. John Harrison, who married
the heiress of Snelston, and so acquired the estate, to
which he and his son made large additions by purchase.
It was to the squire who built Snelston that Mr. William
Evans, the architect and builder, and the original of
Adam Bede in George Eliot's delightful novel, owed his
success in life in a sort of way. The story is told in the
Gentleman's Magazine. After describing how Mr. William
Evans drove to Tutbury to put in a bid for the restoration
of the church at Tutbury — he being at that time only a
country wheelwright and carpenter — the writer goes on to
say, making the subject of his theme speak for himself,
" I drew up at the Vicarage at Tutbury, and found the
vicar was at a vestry meeting. I went on to the church
and got hold of the sexton, who was then waiting to
answer the calls of the committee, and observed some
half-dozen gentlemen with rolls of paper in their hands.
My heart fell, for I knew they were builders or architects,
and guessed that it was the day of tender for the work,
and I was too late. However, I thought, I am in for it,
1862] SNELSTON. 213
but I won't return without a last try, so took the sexton
aside, and tipped him, with a request to get the vicar to
come and see me, as I had special business with him. He
pocketed the shilling, and soon returned with his chief.
We stepped into the churchyard, and I told him my errand.
" ' You're too late,' replied he ; ' the tenders were sent
in last week, and we've fixed for our man to-day. In fact,
we were about to vote when my clerk called me out. I
thought you wanted me about a wedding or a funeral.'
" ' Cannot you, sir,' I exclaimed, ' put it off another
week ? I never saw the advertisement till this morn-
ing, and I started without breakfast in such a hurry that
I did not even read the notice to learn the date. If you
will let me see the plans for five minutes I'll tell if I can
bid for the work. Give me a chance. I've been begging
my father to let me begin church work for years, and this
morning he consented. If I go back without seeing the
plans he will never assent again.'
" He must have seen I was as near crying as a school-
boy who has forgotten his lessons or blundered over his
copybook.
" ' Well, young friend,' he answered, ' come with me
to the vestry, and I will try what I can do for you to get a
few days' delay.'
" We went, and the good parson spoke.
" ' Who is he — a friend of yours ? ' * Is he an architect ? '
' Who recommended him ? ' was the cry round the table.
" The vicar looked nonplussed ; but the insolent tone
of the speakers roused my Welsh blood, and all my fears
vanished.
" ' Gentlemen,' I said, ' I am a total stranger to your
good vicar, though he has admitted me to you. I am not
an architect, but a carpenter. I have no recommendation,
for I started in such a hurry, after reading the advertise-
ment, that I could not go to ask for any ; but Sir C.
Leighton or Mr. Harrison, of Snelston Hall, for whom I
have worked and repaired carvings, would have given me
them had I asked.'
2U THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1862
" The lot, whilst I spoke, were shuffling the plans and
papers on the table, and smiling with a sneer at me, when
a gentleman-farmer-looking man, with a red face, glanced
at me, and asked, ' Mr. Harrison ? — my friend, Mr.
Harrison ? A first-class man. I hunt with him. If he
would give a recommendation, gentlemen,' he said to his
fellow committee-men, ' you may rest secure, this young
man is respectable.'
'* ' No doubt, no doubt,' was the general answer. ' But
what can we do ? The young man has no estimates, has
not seen the plans, and to-day is the day to decide.'
" The farmer jumped up, and declared that he was not
at all satisfied with any of the estimates. ' Give the
young man a chance. If he has friends such as my friends
Leigh ton and Harrison ' — he dropped the title, I noticed —
' he will be respectable.'
" I broke in, for I saw I had a friend on the com-
mittee, ' Let me have the plans, say twenty-four hours, or
to-morrow at this time, gentlemen, and I will bring an
estimate.'
" ' Do it for Mr. Harrison's friend ! ' cried the farmer.
" ' Yes, I think we might grant that,' said the vicar."
Of course he got the contract in the end, and that
was '* the tide in his affairs," which he fairly took at the
flood, thanks to the open sesame of Mr. Harrison's name.
A cottage on the top of Cackle Hill at Snelston was
also the scene of Dinah Morris's preaching, the original of
Dinah being also an Evans, who used to stay at Ellastone
with her uncle, George Eliot's father.
The son of the Squire Harrison, also mentioned, was a
constant follower of the Hoar Cross hounds in his younger
days, and used to go well, especially on a famous thorough-
bred chestnut horse, by Riddlesworth. This horse was
entered for the Derby, but did not run, and was eventually
"schooled " as a hunter by the celebrated Dick Christian,
doing credit to his tutor in Mr. Harrison's hands in many
a good run afterwards. Mr. Okeover, who is one of the
very few who remember the horse, speaks of him as having
1862] MR. HARRISON. 215
been a rare good-looking one to boot, with wonderful
trotting action for a blood horse.
The Squire of Snelston, though he has long given up
all active participation in the chase, is a rare fox preserver.
His principal coverts are The Hollywood and the New
Gorse just opposite to it — the Ashbourne-Cubley road
dividing them. There have been many good runs to
Snelston, but the most famous one, from it was that from
Shutt's dumble on February 6th, 1888, exactly twenty
years after the historical run from Radburne. It is a co-
incidence that this run was to Radburne, and beyond it.
1862.
In this year there is the first mention of wire in
Leicestershire, and some people thought the localities
where it was in use should be published, and also the
names of the farmers who put it up ; but the suggestion
does not seem to have met with much encouragement.
Curiously enough, the idea of a Hunt Servants' Benefit
Society seems to have been mooted at about the same
time.
Regular hunting began on October 27th, but nothing
particularly noteworthy occurred till January 8th, an
account of which appears later on, but as the actual points
touched are given accurately in Mr. Meynell Ingram's
diary, it will be interesting to give his description.
" Found in the Rough, ran very fast by Reginald's (the
Parson's) Gorse to the Burrows, turned back down the
brookside to Trusley, by Dalbury, crossed, and re-crossed
Sutton brook, over the earth on Bearwardcote, down to
A. Mosley's (Burnaston). Here they changed foxes, the
run one being quite beat and going on straight. The
body of the hounds turned to the right back by Burnaston,
Etwall, Dalbury, Sutton Church, under Mr. Bradshaw's
covert (Potter's) to the pit where the earth is, crossed the
brook at H. Pole's,* by Barton, Church Broughton to
* Mr. Chandos-Pole-Gell.
216 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [18G3
Hatton, turned to the right through the Foston coverts,
down to the Dove at Draycott Mill, where the fox was
drowned. Two and a half hours without a check. Dis-
tance on ordnance map, twenty- three miles."
1863.
The year 1863 is remarkable not only for the above-
mentioned run, but also for the appearance here of Mr.
Cornelius Tonge (Cecil), the great authority of the day
on hunting matters. He had the good luck to be out on
the day of the great run alluded to, and has left an
account of it. It is also interesting to note what he
thought of the Meynell country, and to compare it with
our experience of to-day. He begins by telling us that
north of Ashbourne the hills preclude the possibility of
following hounds. " The Sudbury country is a fine grass
vale, very favourable to scent, abounding in brooks, with
many strong fences ; in wet weather, such as we have
recently experienced, the land is awfully deep, therefore
distressing to horses, which require necessarily the
highest attainments of blood, power, and condition,
assisted, too, by all the auxiliaries of discretion and strong
nerves. Here the science of the draining engineer does
not appear to be highly appreciated, and treacherous bogs
not unfrequently bring horses and riders to grief. The
passes through gateways are frightfully deep, but there is
one compensating and consoling consequence, the ex-
treme wetness of the land in many situations precludes
the possibility of cattle being depastured in the fields
throughout the winter season ; thus, though not alto-
gether exonerated, hounds do not often experience the
checks and difficulties from that cause that they are exposed
to in many other parts of Her Majesty's dominions." It
will be readily conceded that nous avons change tout
cela. " Cecil " then goes on to say, *' The foxes hereabouts
are of a fine gallant race ; rejoicing in tendencies of the
wildest nature, and not having any very extensive wood-
lands to hold them, they have but one alternative when
1863] " CECIL." 217
the polite attentions of tlie pack alarm them, to fly for
their lives with the utmost precipitancy. It is neverthe-
less a very difiicult task to kill them, a conclusion at
which I arrived on the very first day I met these hounds
at Kadburne Hall, and my impression was confirmed by
Tom Leedham. As there are scarcely any holding coverts,
or points for foxes to make, their line of country is not
guided by those accustomed instincts which enable ob-
servant huntsmen to make advantageous casts. Hounds,
generally unassisted, must exert their powers." It is
worth while to note here that Tom's testimony bears out
that of Charles, his nephew, who always stoutly main-
tained that it was not a good scenting country, and was an
extremely diflficult one to kill foxes in. Moreover, the
evidence carries weight for this reason, that no one ever
got a Leedham to agree with him out of politeness.
There are plenty of people who, if you say, " It seems a
good scenting country," will say, " Yes ; " and if the next
man says, "It seems bad," will say, "Yes" again, with
equal readiness. But if you said to a Leedham, " It
seems a good scenting country," he would have promptly
replied, " I call it a very bad one." Such answers are not
pleasant, but they have the advantage of being genuine.
"Cecil" goes on to say, after a digression about the
geography of the country, that he understood that Mr.
Meynell Ingram started at first with some of Lord Ver-
non's hounds, and that then, being anxious to obtain as
much as possible of his grandfather's famous blood, he got
an extensive addition from Mr. Heron. We know pretty
well, from earlier writers, what that addition was, viz. one
couple, or a couple and a half. Here " Cecil " also writes as
if there was not much Quorndon blood in the Hoar Cross
kennels at first. It would be interesting if some one
could throw some light on the subject. Even that great
authority, Mr. Cecil Legard, confessed that the matter was
beyond his ken, though he, also, thought that probably
the hounds which were in the Hoar Cross Kennels at the
l)eginning of the century came from Quorndon.
218 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1863
" Cecil " continues : " Being well off for walks, they are
enabled to send out annually about fifty couples of
puppies, affording an average entry of some twelve
couples, which fills up the ranks without having recourse
to other kennels ; and, having a good choice of sires, they
are not accustomed to roam about for fresh blood. It is a
very great object to breed from hounds whose good pro-
pensities are known, and, more than that, the prevailing
properties of antecedents, when more success must follow
than by selecting superlatively from symmetry without
any further guide to the inherent perfections of nose,
tongue, and constitution. To repudiate such vices as
skirting and babbling is a matter equally important.
The Bel voir kennels have supplied much valuable fresh
blood through their Regent, Druid, Agent, Trusty, Gam-
bler, and Grappler ; the Badminton through Foreman ;
the Brocklesby through Vaulter ; Lord Henry Bentinck's
through Warrior and Challenger ; Sir "Watkin Williams
Wynn's through Royal and Admiral. The Honourable
George Fitzwilliam's Bluecap and Mr. Lumley's Render
have also been patronized. Alfred, a very clever hound,
son of Alaric and Gadfly, is sire of the huntsman's choice
in this year's entry, Fairplay to wit, whose mother. Fancy,
is a daughter of the Duke of Beaufort's Foreman ; Fencer
is also of the same litter. Reginald, by Lord Scarborough's
Reginald and Roguish, is the sire of several superior
entries. Roguish is the issue of the Quorn Fugleman and
Rosebud. Alaric is by Falstaff — Agnes " (the famous
Agnes) "representing the Belvoir kennels through their
Flasher. Grappler is sire of Pilgrim, a useful hound of this
year's entry, and here again they have the Belvoir blood.
Hercules boasts of a numerous family among the working-
hounds, which adds vastly to his renown ; he was a son of
Adjutant and Hyacinth, whose ancestors are of Hoar Cross
blood. Red Rose, a daughter of Mr. Lumley's Render
and Amulet, has produced more than an average number
of worthies. The first season of her becoming a matron,
three couples of her puppies were entered, and the
1863] "CECIL'S" ACCOUNT OF THE HOUNDS. 219
following year two couples and a half; Fancy and Fairy,
Racket and Rally, convey her good properties to the
present generation. The kennels contain fifty couples of
hounds, thirteen couples of which are in their novitiate ;
Rallywood, the produce of the Duke of Rutland's Rally-
wood and Graceful, is clever and on short legs ; and
Valiant, a good-looking black, white, and tan hound, is
the issue of Forester and Virgin. Pilgrim by Grappler,
his dam Playful, has much character in his favour. Fair-
play and Fencer are the issue of Alfred and Fancy, one of
the daughters of Red Rose, by the Duke of Beaufort's
Foreman ; Fairplay has ingratiated himself wonderfully in
favour with Tom Leedham, who pronounces him the best
of the year."
Fairplay did well enough, remaining in the pack
till his ninth season, but the pick of the entry proved
to be Merrimac, who was so good that he was used as a
sire in his second season.
" There is a good litter by the Duke of Rutland's
Agent, consisting of Auditor, Agent, Adelaide, and Ame-
thyst. The second of these is a dark black and tan
hound, with very little white, with a truly sensible head,
significant of fox-killing, and, from what I noticed of him
in his work, I was highly pleased with him. Amethyst
has length, substance, and symmetry, calculated to in-
clude her in the list of future matrons." (She did not
fulfil her promise.) " Royal, Rarity, and Relish, in their
second season, are doing credit to their parentage. Sir
Watkin Wynn's Royal is their sire, and Fancy their dam ;
their constitutions are represented as being extremely
good, and they afford an example of the great importance
of breeding from superlatively good qualities on both
sides the escutcheon. Dreadnouofht has been at work four
seasons, and is a good-looking hound, with high character.
Hebe, a remarkably clever daughter of Hercules and Celia,
is of the same age."
He then goes on to say that scent had been bad in the
early part of the season, but after the New Year they had
220 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [18G3
capital sport. On January 10th tliey ran from Spencer's
Plantation, by Blithfield Rectory, across the Rugeley road,
for Nicholl's Pit, by Stephen's Hill across Rugeley road
again, through Blitheford to Yate (? Blithmoor to Yeatsall),
turned to the left, through the Warren coverts and across
the Warren for Bagot's Woods ; through Lord's Coppice,
to Mr. Charles's of the Moor, then to the left to Harts'
Coppice, to Daisy Bank, turned to the right to Field
House Coppice, and on to Bacon Bank, when it became
too dark to persevere and the hounds were stopped.
This was a nice hunt, but there was a far better one
to come. On February 8th, 1863, when hounds came to
Radburne on a foggy morning, there was a tremendous
gathering, people coming from the Quorn, the Ather-
stone, the North Staffordshire, and even more distant
quarters.
Amongst many others there were present Lords
Chesterfield, Bagot, and Stanhope, Hon. E. Coke, two
Mr. Wilmots, Mr. Davenport, Mr. Michael Bass, M.P.,
Messrs. Clowes, Moore, junr., two FitzHerberts, James
Holden, and, of course, many others, up to the number of
two hundred or more. Mr. Hugo Meynell Ingram was
not well enough to be out. They found at the Rough,
and away they went as hard as they could drive for
Langley. There was a crush at the gateway out of the
park, and hounds got a start which they maintained for
some time.
Before they got to Brailsford, the leading men, of
whom Mr. Beresford FitzHerbert was about the first,
caught them. It was generally allowed that the last-
named gentleman had pretty well the best of it till
nearly the end, though his brother, now Sir Richard, the
Honourable E. Coke, Mr, Walter Boden, Mr. Davenport,
Mr. Clowes, and Mr. James Holden all had their turn.
Away hounds streamed for Longford, and straight by
Sutton, where the fox evidently wanted to get back to
Radburne ; but they pressed him too hard, and he kept
on by Etwall, where Charles saw a fresh fox jump up, the
1863J THE GREAT RADBURNE RUN, 221
tired one going back. This did for " Cecil," who got wind
of where the hunted fox had gone, and waited for the
pack to come to him ; but instead of that on they went,
too fast for any one to stop them, by Dalbury and
Trusley, where Mr. Clowes lamed his horse over the brook
and had to retire. Between Etwall and Sutton Hill, Mr.
R. FitzHerbert got a nick, which enabled his young filly,
by Prizefighter, to get her wind and join in again all
right by Sutton. From Sutton they ran across Barton
Blount Park, and on to Church Broughton, over the
brook, where Mr. Beresford FitzHerbert's Firedrake slipped
in, and his brother lost his pride of place, though he caught
them again before the finish. From Church Broughton
they scurried on, with unabated speed, for Foston, crossed
the railway at Sudbury station, and would no doubt have
caught their fox had he not been drowned in a gallant
effort to swim the Dove and gain his home in the Forest
Banks.
Time, two hours and fifteen minutes, a ten-mile point,
and, at least, twenty-two as hounds ran. Nearly all the
way from Etwall they had come up wind, and that at
such a pace that they had always a bit the best of the
horses.
" Cecil " gives the names of the following as being in at
the finish : the two Mr. FitzHerberts, Mr. Davenport,
Mr. Cooke, and Mr. James Holden. The spelling is his.
In the preceding pages " Cecil " alludes to a good run
on January 10th from Spencer's Plantation ; but there
must have been some mistake, as hounds were at Swarkes-
ton Bridge on that day. But they did have an excellent
hunt on January 13th, 1863, all round and about the
woods, which is thus described : —
" Found in the Heathfield, ran several short rings in
the woods, then went away across Blithfield Warren, New-
ton Hurst, up the Tad brookside to Kingston Woods,
into Lord's Coppice, out again by Dunstall, Blithfield
Warren, up the peaty fields by Hyde's, into the woods, to
Lord's Coppice, by Charles's of the Moors, in front of
222 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1863
Henry Tumor's, through the Cliffs, down to Buttermilk
Hill, out by Gorsty Hill, close to Woodford Rough, turned
to the left, crossed the Uttoxeter Road at Cuckold's
Haven Gate, nearly to Loxley, by Kingston Village,
through Kingston Woods, Bagot's Woods, out at Lord's
Coppice, across Blithfield Warren, through the Warren
Covert, by Yeatsal and back to Dunstall, where they
caught him in the farmyard. Two hours and fifty
minutes. Hound never cast the whole time. Third
fox." This was indeed a fine performance on the part of
hounds.
On the 31st of the same month there is rather an
interesting entry : " Black Slough. Found and ran him
to ground under the railway. Got on to a line between
the canal and King's Bromley, crossed the canal, which
Griffiths, Berkeley Paget, Harry {i.e. Mr. Boucherett)
and young Bass {i.e. the late Master, Mr. Hamar Bass)
plunged into." Lord Berkeley Paget is the only survivor
of this little band. Mr. Griffiths, as has been mentioned
before, was the writer of several accounts of runs with the
Meynell, over the signature of " A.G."
People often talk of jumping the Foston Mill Dam, so
it is worth while to fix the exact date of one, at least, of
the occasions on which it was done. On March 7th, 1863,
hounds met at Swarkeston, and in those days no one
would expect in that case to find himself at night at
Foston. Such, however, was the case ; for they began
this day by finding in Mr. Ashton Mosley's Gorse, at
Burnaston, ran by Etwall, Sutton Gorse, down to the
Longford Brook, along the meadows to Hilton, turned
to the left, and caught him before he got back to Sutton
Gorse, after a good forty-five minutes. Then they found
at Hilton Gorse, and hunted their fox to Foston.
The 10th was the Prince of Wales's wedding-day, and
every one, apparently, must have gone to see the wedding,
for no one went hunting with Tom (not even the Master)
from New Inn, except Miss Meynell Ingram, Lord Alex-
ander Packet, and Messrs. Boucherett and Bass. Tom
1863] THE rOSTON MILL DAM. 223
celebrated the day by losing the hounds for some time in
the woods — a thing which did not often happen to him.
But, to come to the Mill Dam again, after this
digression, it was on March 14th that Sir Frederick
Johnstone and Mr. Henry Chaplin, M.P., jumped it in the
order named. Hounds ran from the Spath, all over the
cream of our country, by Sutton Mill, where they turned
back again by Church Broughton, and went flying between
Sapperton and Boylestone. Here it was that Sir F. John-
stone went sailing down at the Mill Dam, which looks
like a miniature lake, and cleared it. Without a moment's
hesitation, Mr. Chaplin followed him, and these two had
hounds to themselves all the way to Sudbury Coppice
(thirty minutes). Here the pack got on a fresh fox and
ran well by Cubley, by Stydd Hall, up to Darley Moor,
where the hounds were stopped, and went home, after a
good run of an hour and thirty minutes in all.
Mr. Beresford FitzHerbert also, on another occasion,
jumped this same place on Baily's Beads, a famous horse
of Sir William's, by Hurworth. Mr. Charles Cumming
jumped it too one day, but his horse fell on landing. Mr.
Hamar Bass got over the brook higher up on Paget, but
he also fell on landing. On this occasion hounds were hunt-
ing very slowly on a cold scent, and Mr. Bass had a go at
it for fun, asking what was the use of an extra good horse
if he could not do something out of the way. Another
time he jumped out of Sudbury Park, not far from Jack-
son the park-keeper's house ; and once got his horse to
jump the palings after several refusals, which called for a
good deal of courage and determination. Jackson, in his
white kennel-coat, on his white-faced cob, is quite a
familiar figure with the Meynell, and a rare good sports-
man he is. The mention of him calls to mind the stal-
wart form of Pike, the head keeper at Sudbury, who has
always such a lot of foxes, and contrives to keep a good
head of game into the bargain.
The following is the only printed account of the
doings of the Meynell this year : —
224 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1863
BelVs Life, April 19tli, 1863 :—
Mr, Editor,— These hounds met on Saturday, March 21st, at Bretby Park,
the seat of the Earl of Chesterfield, where a sumptuous lunch was provided for
all comers. After doing ample justice to the creatare comforts, the hounds
proceeded to draw the decoy and a few smaller coverts blank, in consequence of
tlie large number of woodmen at work. We then trotted on to the big wood,
where a fine old dog-fox was soon unkennelled, faced the open, the wind full in
his teeth, taking a straight line to Tatenhall, but, finding himself strongly pressed,
he turned to the left and pointed for Kepton. This he left on the right, making
his point then for the park, but being headed, went straight for the wood,
which he just entered at the top, taking a line of country for Hartshorn and
Pistern Hills. Headed back, he went to earth at the rocks in view of the hounds,
after one hour of the best run that had been witnessed for years. He was got
out and killed. It was the theme of admiration to see how beautifully the hounds
did their w^ork, with scarcely the symptoms of a check during the run. After
giving the nags a little breathing time, the orders were given to draw Hartshorn
Gorse, where the hounds were no sooner in than a brace of foxes were on foot,
the hounds going away with the dog fox, and close to his brush. It was certainly
a fine sight to witness the fox and hounds in view for upwards of a mile.
Reynard made for the Pistern Hills, pointing for Ashby-de-la-Zouch, but, finding
the wind in his teeth, and too hotly pressed, turned to the left, made for the big
wood, where he did not hang a moment, through the park, for Repton Shrubs,
where he went to earth after another pretty run of fifty minutes. Thus ended
one of the best day's sport enjoyed by a very numerous field for many years in
this part of the country. Too much praise cannot be given to the noble earl for
his preservation of foxes and his desire to give sport to the hunt.
Yours, etc..
Black Cap.
The season ended at Bagot's Park on March 27th.
Foxes killed during regular hunting, thirteen brace ;
run to ground, nine ; blank days, one ; total number of
hunting days, sixty-two.
1863] ( 225 )
CHAPTER XIX.
MR. E. J. BIRD — RADBURNE DAY RUN TO MODDERSHALL
OAKS — DEATH OF ADMIRAL MEYNELL.
1863-1864.
There are not many people who can remember the
Meynell hounds longer than Mr. Bird. "Pa" Bird, as
the late Mr. "Chev" Bateman facetiously dubbed him
one day, when the family, with a champagne-case mounted
on wheels, met the hunt, and ran up to the author of their
being, calling out " Pa " ; and the name stuck to him.
As a boy he hunted with the famous *' Jack " Conyers
in Essex and also with Mr. Parry of the Puckeridge, and
learned to ride without stirrups — about the only way to
insure a good and firm seat in after years. This he
attained, and, by its means, assisted by good hands and
a determination to go where the hounds went, backed
by good nerve, he arrived at the proud position of being
one of the leaders of the hunt. Not that this was achieved
all at once. In his earlier days, though forward, he was
not so often actually the first, but later on, when those
two notable persons, Messrs. Cecil Legard and Richard
FitzHerbert, had gone away, he naturally stepped into
the vacant places, and may fairly claim, with Mr. Walter
Boden, the Hon. E. Coke, Mr. Clowes, " Squire " Chandos-
Pole, Mr. F. Cotton, Mr. Henry Boden, Mr. G. F. Meynell,
and perhaps one or two others, the distinction of being
one of the best men with the Meynell at that time.
About this period, 1876, under the advice of "Doctor"
Statham, he gave Messrs. Newman and Landsley a hundred
VOL. I. Q
226 THE MEYNELL HOUKDS. [1863
pounds for a grey horse, which he subsequently called the
Badger.
Charles used to declare that this was the best horse
that ever crossed the Meynell country. A better there
could hardly be, though, possibly, when his owner
galloped pell-mell into the pack, on a culvert near Brails-
ford, he might have wished it was possible always to stop
him at short notice. He said it seemed hours before he
was clear of the hounds, though the Badger did his best
to help by sending them flying (with fore and hind feet),
crying, " Pen and ink and paper." It was in the squire's
time, and Mr. Bird will never cease to feel grateful to
the late Mrs. Chandos-Pole for making his peace with
the Master. But it was to fall to Jim Tasker to " rub it
in." Next time Mr. Bird arrived at the meet he observed
cheerily and innocently, " A short pack to-day, Charles,"
to which Jim replied, in his squeaky voice, " You've not
left us very many, sir ! "
But, if the Badger could not always be stopped, nothing
ever stopped him. Mr. Kempson will remember following
him over the Sutton brook in cold blood, to make a short
cut, with all the boys in Dalbury shouting out, "You
canna get theer ! " Next Sunday Mr. Stapylton Cotton
saw a troop of people coming, as he thought, to church,
but they were only looking down to see where these
adventurous spirits had jumped the great brook. Mr.
Bird, like most masters of the art, has his system, which
is to ride at his fences pretty much with a loose rein, and to-
let his horse go his own pace at them. This, with his
horses at any rate, was a fast one, and yet he got com-
paratively few falls, and was only hurt twice. Once he
broke his collar-bone, and, on another occasion, his horse
put his forefeet into a filled-up ditch in the middle of a
field, and striking into his rider's hand in the struggle,
tore the flesh off the back of it.
He was not in favour of mounting people, thinking
it upset horses to be ridden by strange hands, so, as a
rule, no one rode his horses except his second son, Harry,
Mr. Bird's grey horse "Badger."
Hunted with the Meynell from 1876- 1887.
From a painting by Paton (in 1880),
in the possession of
Mr. Bird.
,0881 fii) noisR ^td :sni:rniBq b moi^
io nolaaagaoq ariJ nl
1863] MR. E. J. BIRD. 227
with whom every horse went pleasantly. Once, however,
he made an exception in favour of a friend who was stay-
ing with him at Barton Hall. The friend started later
than he did and never arrived at the meet. As they were
riding into Barton at the end of the day they saw the
friend coming out of the yard of the Mutton inn, two
hundred yards from the hall. He had ridden to the inn,
stabled his horse there, and spent his day in the bar
parlour !
Charles, who was very fond both of the Badger and
his owner, enjoyed telling how hounds once ran at a
tremendous pace from Radburne to Sutton Gorse, and
how the pair jumped the two forks of the brook, and,
to wind up with, the main brook below the confluence
of the forks, at a yawning cattle-drinking place. The
pace was too good to admit of looking about much, and
the brook with its fork is of a tortuous nature. Lord
Shrewsbury on a steeple-chaser followed him. At the
gorse, hounds divided, and only Mr. Bird was with Charles
to Longford Mill, where they joined forces again, and ran
on to Snelston, where they were stopped. An account of
this run appeared in the papers, which gave rise to some
amusement, and also to a little heart-burning ; for Mr.
Broadley Smith, who had really gone uncommonly well,
was not even mentioned, and was very sore about it.
Mr. Bird was in the same boat, but did not mind, having
had his fair share of fame at one time and another. Mr.
John Smith was mentioned, however, though he had not
been particularly forward on that occasion, and it leaked
out that he had gone home with the scribe, who had had
his imagination spurred by a deep draught of Mr. Smith's
famous jumping powder ! Here is the recipe of those who
care to try it. Orange brandy, whisky, curacoa, and ginger
wine, and you must go on mixing and tasting till the
component parts are blended to your liking ! By that
time the biggest fence looks small. Not that Mr. John
Smith required anything of the sort to stimulate his
courao:e.
228 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1863
When Mr. Bird lived at Newton Solney in 1865, he,
in conjunction with Mr. A. 0. Worthington and Mr.
George Mitchell, purchased Lord Stanhope's harriers, with
which they had no end of fun. When he went to Barton
Hall in 1867 he started polo. The players were Lord
Harrington, Messrs. Walker (3), Bird (3), Ludham, Dudley
Fox, W. Fellowes, Captain Fowler Butler, Dr. Palmer, and
Mr. P. Burnott. The team was good enough to play
the Fourth and Fifth Dragoons, and to make a tie of it
in each match. Barton was a very sporting place in
those days, as many as nine pink coats sallying out of
a morning. From Barton, Mr. Bird migrated, in 1885, to
Orgreave Hall, where he soon had foxes in the hitherto
barren coverts by the simple process of discharging all
the keepers but one, and telling the latter that he did
not care about game, but foxes there must be, or " you
go." The Meynell hounds came there once during his
tenancy. From there he moved to Hound-hill, Marching-
ton, and finally left the Meynell country in 1896, after
forty years of good sport and good-fellowship, full of good-
will towards his neighbours, and of gratitude to successive
masters for their kindness to him. We miss the long,
lathy figure in the swallow-tail coat when hounds are
running, and wish we could see it in its accustomed place
as of yore. There is one custom of his which seems worthy
of notice. If a horse carried him well one season he never
parted with him, as he could not bear to think of a faithful
servant being reduced to a bit of hardship in his old age.
All his children follow in the footsteps of their father in
the art of equestrianism, and the second one, Harry, is
making a name for himself between the flags at Gibraltar.
The eldest son. Captain Bird, is still with us, living at
Nuttall House, Barton-under-Needwood, and so is his
daughter, Mrs. Dudley Fox, at Tutbury, a very finished
horsewoman.
Mrs. Bird, though the mother of such a riding family,
did not ride herself, but she used to send capital accounts
of sport with the Meynell to the Burton Chronicle.
18G3] MR. E. J. BIRD. 229
Mr. Bird's father hunted with the Puckeridge in Mr.
Hanbury's and Mr. Parry's time, his great hunting ally
being the celebrated " Dick " Gurney, to whom Mr. Bird
(senior) sold the equally famous, Sober Robin (vide " Scot
and Sebright," p. 343). The uncle of " our " Mr. Bird was
Squire Dobede, of Exning House, Newmarket, and a great
character on the Heath. It was at his death that the
Jockey Club acquired the Exning estate.
Since this was written Mr. Harry Bird, who has been
mentioned above, died of typhoid fever in Gibraltar,
where he was immensely popular. He was considered the
best gentleman jockey on the Rock.
The season of 1863-64 opened on October 26th, at
Sudbury Coppice, where they had what is described as
a good day's cub-hunting, and killed a brace. In this year
the young squire married the Hon. Emily Wood, eldest
daughter of Viscount Halifax, and went to live at Cross
Hays, Hoar Cross, which had been built for them. So
another lady was added to the very limited number who
went out with the Hoar Cross hounds in those days.
Being Yorkshire bred, it was only natural that she should
ride and be fond of hunting, and Tom was in high glee
one day, when hounds ran very hard from Eaton Wood,
to find only three others, besides himself, with them,
especially as one of them was his young mistress on Micky
Free. The other two were the Hon. E. Coke and Mr.
Michael Bass.
There were certain celebrities out with the hounds
this year, including Lord Granville, Colonel Anstruther
Thomson, Count Hall, Lady E. Villiers, Lady G. Talbot,
Lady G. Hamilton, Lady E. Mount Edgecumbe, Lady
Blanche Egerton, Mr. Corbet, and others mentioned else-
where. During the early part of the season there was not
much sport, but on December 14th, hounds dropped on
to one of the good old-fashioned hill foxes in an osier bed
below Hope Wood. It was a nice calm morning, but
scent was none of the best, for they came to a long check
by Roston village, and so only hunted slowly to Snelston,
230 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1864
through the old gorse, across the turnpike road through
Blakely Holt (which was probably what is now called the
Holt) to Wyaston, where he turned to the right nearly to
Longford and up to Rodsley, where he lay down in an
orchard. Here hounds got up to him, and he jumped up
in view. So they ran very fast through the corner of
Shirley Park, without dwelling, first to the left of
Ednaston, across Bradley bottoms, under Jarratt's Gorse,
by Hulland village, and they stopped the hounds just
beyond it, after a good run of two hours and ten minutes
and a ten-mile point.
On Monday, December 28th, they ran pretty well all
over our present Monday country. After killing a three-
legged one at Sudbury Coppice, they found another in the
Aldermoor, and ran by Cubley Gorse, where they probably
changed, on to Snelston, across Darley Moor, by Stydd
Hall towards Beatley Car. Here they turned back through
Cubley Gorse, and by Marston Park, straight to Snelston
village, below it, came up the hill and gave it up by the
old gorse, opposite the Holly Wood.
Eighteen hundred and sixty-four began with a fort-
night's frost, and sport was moderate till February, when
they had a good day from Eadburne. There is a similarity
between Henry de Ferrers and Padburne. Every place
in the country seems at first to have belonged to the
former, and almost every good run seems to have started
from the latter. Moreover, Henry de Ferrers was an
ancestor of the Chandos-Poles of Radburne. The run
alluded to is thus described :—
BelVs Life, February 13th, 1864:—
Mr. Editor, — On Thursday, the 4th inst., occurred one of those rare scenting
days which is well worthy to be recorded in the columns of any journal, result-
ing, as it did, in the death of a really stout fox, who, in spite of such a burning
scent, managed to live, at almost a racing pace, for an hour and thirty-two
minutes before such hounds as Mr. Meynell's. We found him in Radburne Pool
Tail, whence he was viewed away by the Handbridge almost immediately after
the hounds were thrown into the covert, heading due west, but changing direction
immediately to the left, after a momentary check at the lane, on crossing which,
and the brook, he bore straight for Mickleover, crossing the turnpike road not
far from Mr. Newton's house, thence up to Littleover, where the first check
1864] RADBURNE DAY. 231
occurred. Here his tactics were entirely changed, as lie turned short to the
right and ran parallel with the Birmingham and Derby Kailway, leaving
Normanton a little to his left, and absolutely flying down that fine line of grass
countr}' by Findern to the Spread Eagle, where he again turned to the right, up
to the Burton and Derby Road, which he crossed not f\ir from the Uttoxeter
branch of the North Staffordshire Railway. Thence to Etwall, leaving the
village to his left, and pointing as if for Dalbury. Here he was evidently sink-
ing, as he again turned short to the right, going by Burnaston down to within
two fields of Little Derby House, where this gallant fox succumbed. Had this
run been straight, it certainly would have ranked as one of the best on record,
as the pace was extraordinary, the check at Littleover being but momentary,
and this after thirty minutes, thence to the Spread Eagle and on to Etwall
occupying some thirty-five minutes more ; up to this point was the cream of the
run, the whole distance measuring close on fifteen miles. A report having got
abroad that the Melton division would probably come down by train, a large
field assembled at the fixture, the attractions of Radburne being enhanced by a
lovely morning. The pace, however, was so good as to quickly dispose of all
but earnest goers, some eight or ten only chalking out the line. It is to be
regretted that the Leicestershire men did not show, as they could not but have
been gratified in riding in such a run, over a country almost as good as the best
of their own, and in the opinion of some, superior as a scenting one. A few of
the Atherstone, North Staffordshire, and other men from a distance, notably
supported the reputation of their own districts, having, as they well knew, to
compete with some of the best riders to be found, viz. the Derbyshire men.
Unfortunately for themselves, Mr. Hugo Meynell and Tom Leedham were both
absent from illness, but in the absence of the latter Jack Leedham was a most
able substitute.
Yours, etc.,
A. G.
Lichfield, February 6th, 186-1.
On February loth, tliey must have found probably
the same fox in the Alclermoor which they hunted in the
early part of the season from below Hope Wood to
Hulland. It is a great pity A. Gr. was not out to leave us
a description of it. As it is we have only the bare outline
in Mr. Meynell Ingram's diary, from which we learn that
" they found in the Aldermoor, and went away directly by
the Wilderness to Marston-Montgomery, back to the right,
leaving Cubley Gorse on the right, over the Ashbourne
road by Stydd Hall, into the valley, where they checked,
and Eoguish (aptly named !) got forward. We did not
catch her till she was going into the Holly Covert at
Snelston. They passed Blakely Holt, over the Derby
and Ashbourne road, left Bradley Wood close on the
right, over Sturston brook, across Ashbourne Green, by
the back of Sir Mathew Blakiston's house (Sandy Brook,
232 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1864
where Mr. Turnbull now lives) to within a mile and a half
of Tissington, turned back by Kniveton, across the Wirks-
worth road as if for Atlow, turned again to the left, and
we stopped them above Hognaston on the Ashbourne and
Wirksworth road. Two hours and thirty minutes,
thirteen miles point to point."
Perhaps the art of conditioning horses was better
understood now than it was in the twenties, for at the
end of such a run as this the old squire always added,
"All the horses tired." As his son never says so, are we
to conclude that things were different in his day ?
The last day was on April 9th at Brereton village, and
they finished up with killing their fox after a good fifty-
five minutes over the chase, under the critical eyes of
Peter Collinson and Stephen Dickens, huntsmen to the
Cheshire and the Atherstone : killed, eighteen and a half
brace ; to ground, four ; hunting days, sixty-four.
1864-1865.
The season was ushered in by a very dry autumn, in
which there was scarcely any cub-hunting. The opening
day was at Kedleston inn on November 8th, when they
drew all Kedleston blank. They found in Darley osier
bed and Allestree, running both their foxes to ground at
once.
The next day, at Radburne, hounds divided with an
afternoon fox from the Rough, and only Mr. Charles
Eaton, a very hard-riding farmer, was with one lot (nine
and a half couples), which he finally stopped near Holling-
ton, and shut up in a stable at Ednaston. The ground
was as hard as a brick from the drought. When the
weather broke it became very stormy, and sport was very
indifferent all through November. Nor was it much better
in the early part of December. When the good thing did
come off at last, from Loxley, or rather, from Carry
Coppice, no one saw it. Hounds crossed the Blythe where
it was impassable, and ran clean away from the field,
through Birchwood Park to the left of Draycott Woods,
18641 RUN TO MODDERSHALL OAKS. 233
by Hilderstone, into Moddersliall Oaks, where the fox got
to ground. This was at least an eight-mile point, and
was supposed to have been done in fifty minutes. It was
a very rainy day. This is odd, because on the two other
occasions, which we know of, when they ran to Modders-
hall Oaks, it rained very hard.
On the 1 5th they found in Brailsford Gorse and ran
as hard as they could go for seventeen minutes, as straight
as a gunbarrel by the church, down the Culland meadows,
into Longford Car. Here they never dwelt, but were off
again in an instant, and raced across to Bentley Car,
through it and down to Foston — seven miles in forty -
eight minutes. Changing foxes, they ran up to the Church
Broughton road, where they were stopped and brought
back to Foston. From this they went away again and
ran a wide ring through Pennywaste, below the house,
and nearly to Sudbury Park, where they turned and came
back by Sapperton, all round Foston, till at last the fox
went to ground in a pithole at Mackley, after a capital
run of three hours with a good scent all the time. It was
a calm, fair day, with the wind in the east.
It snowed and froze at night, and there was no more
hunting till December 22nd, when they had a long ring-
ing hunt of three hours all about Chartley and Fradswell.
Then came another week's frost, two days' hunting after
it, and then frost again till January 5 th. Even then the
weather was decidedly against good sport, being very
rough and changeable. Still, on the 16th, from Foston,
they had a great day, and tired all the horses. They did
not find till they got to Sutton Gorse, and ran a nice ring
of twenty minutes from there, away again across Hilton
Common, back under Etwall, and lost their fox unaccount-
ably. Then they found in Hilton Gorse, crossed the brook
by Sutton, ran nearly to Trusley, turned to the left
almost to Brailsford, and came back by Longford Rectory.
Thence they ran nicely down the meadows to Barton
Fields, where Mr. Chandos-Pole-Gell was living, and up
to Barton-Blount Hall. Time, forty-eight minutes. Here
234 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [18C5
they checked, and then hunted slowly over Mr. Brad-
shaw's large ploughed fields, which are now, happily, all
laid down to grass, by Church Broughton, and Hatton
Common, crossed the Derby road close to Foston, into the
meadows. Turning back, they recrossed the road, and
hunted over Hatton Common and on under Hoon Mount
up to Sutton, where Tom and Jack stopped them, as it
was quite dark, after they had been running for two hours.
Scent was good on the grass, but very poor on the plough.
On the 19th there was frost and deep snow, which
stopped them for a week, and, when they did hunt again,
on February 25 th, the master was summoned abroad to
be with Admiral Meynell, who was ill in Paris, at the
Hotel du Louvre.
Nothing much occurred worthy of note after this,
except a good ringing hunt from Bentley Car, when
Charles — the first mention of him — stopped the hounds at
dark. In these days they had to make their one horse
apiece last out the day ; when that was tired they had to
go home. Still, hounds often ran all day till the light
failed, and they nianaged to be with them. About the
fastest thing of the season was a ten-minutes' burst from
Mr. Newton's osiers, when they raced into the fox by the
little gorse at Sutton, and every one agreed that Mr. R.
Corbet had the best of it.
The season came abruptly to an end on March 18th,
probably on account of the serious illness of the Admiral.
Foxes killed, seven and a half brace ; run to ground,
five and a half brace ; number of hunting days, forty-one.
On March 24th the gallant old Admiral Meynell died
at Paris, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. There is
hardly a run, of which there is any published account, in
which his name does not appear, yet, in his latter days,
he did not try to ride hard ; in fact, his weight was
against it. But he was a thorough sportsman, and, which
is better still, he w^as beloved by everybody, and the tall,
square-shouldered, burly figure, and the kind, handsome
face, was missed by rich and poor alike for many a long day.
Admiral Meynell.
Brother to Mr. H. C Meynell Ingram
of Hoar Cross.
Wa/lil.J€^Uj, :7/t /,
J865] ( -235 )
CHAPTER XX.
LONGFORD — THE HON. E. COKE — A DERBYSHIRE THURSDAY
A DAY OF MISFORTUNES — MEETING OF THE HUNT
LULLINGTON GORSE.
1865-1866.
Longford is so thorouglily Meynellian that it fairly
claims some slight mention. At this time Mr. Meynell
Ingram invariably stayed there for what was known as
the Derby week, usually walking over from Hoar Cross
on the day before the Tuesday's hunting at Kedleston.
Hounds were of course kenneled at Kedleston inn, and
always met at Kedleston on Tuesday, Radburne on
Thursday, and Swarkeston on Saturday, returning to
Hoar Cross that night. The plan, no doubt, was made
the occasion of hospitality and festivity, Derbyshire people
returning the entertainment of their Staftbrdshire friends,
and every one liked it. But from a hunting point of view
it had its drawbacks. If in that particular week — usually
the first in every month — there happened to be a frost,
then that portion of the country remained unhunted for a
month. Moreover, there was no reason why the same
thing might not happen again. As a matter of fact, it
never did occur, but it was just on the cards that hounds
might never have drawn the coverts in those parts the
whole season throuQ;h. However, it was the onlv thins; to be
done, so long as the hounds were kenneled at Hoar Cross.
Longford, originally called Laganford, was, in early
times, the seat of a family which took their name from
the place. Thus, as long ago as the time of Edward II.,
236 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [18C5
Nicholas de Longford represented the county in Parliament.
This family died out in the early part of the seventeenth
century, and Longford came into the possession of a
descendant of Sir Edward Coke, Lord Chief Justice of
England in the time of James L Edward Coke, Esq., of
Longford,* was created a baronet in 1641, and he served
the office of Sheriff for the county in 1646. He married
Catharine, the granddaughter of the Lord Chief Justice
Dyer, and was succeeded in his title and estates by Sir
Edward, his fourth son, who died without issue. The
place then became the property of Edward, the second son
of Edward Coke, Esq., of Holkham in Norfolk, a lineal
descendant of the Chief Justice Coke. Dying unmarried
in 1783, he left the estate to his younger brother, Robert
Coke, Esq., who was vice-chamberlain to Queen Caroline.
He married Lady Jane, eldest daughter and co-heiress of
Philip, Duke of Wharton. On the death of the last-
named possessor, the estate descended to his nephew,
Wenman Roberts, Esq., who took the name and arms
of Coke, and, in 1772, was chosen one of the representatives
in Parliament for the county of Derby. Thomas William,
his eldest son, not only succeeded his father in his estates
in the counties of Derby and Lancaster, but afterwards
became heir to the vast property of Viscount Coke, Earl
of Leicester. The estate and manor of Longford, however,
were enjoyed by Edward Coke, Esq., the second son, who
for many years represented the borough of Derby in
Parliament, and who was nominated High Sheriff for the
county in 1819. On his death the estate and manor
again reverted to Thomas William Coke, Esq., of Holkham,
created, July 21st, 1837, Earl of Leicester and Viscount
Coke. It was his son, the Hon. Edward Coke, who, as
" Ned " Coke, was so well known with the Hoar Cross and
Meynell hounds for so many years. He always rode
nearly, if not quite, thoroughbred horses with long tails,
and his tall, spare figure was always in the van, while
the keen, intellectual face, with its iron-grey beard, was
* " Ashbourne and the Valley of the Dove."
Colonel the Hon. W. Coke.
From a photograph
by
Dickinson.
.3>lo0 .W .noH 3riJ lanoloO
.noarii>loiQ
Wa/itA j^lf<«!i>, ?%. ^,.
1865] THE HON. E. COKE. 237
very pleasant to see. He it was — the bosom friend of
her husband — whom Mrs. Meynell Ingram selected to
help her in carrying out the wishes of the last Master
of the Hoar Cross hounds. Neither could she well have
made a better choice, for he possessed the great qualities
of tact, courtesy, firmness, and business-like capacity, and
was, above all things, essentially a gentleman. In fact,
there were many points of similarity between him and
his friend.
Mr. Coke was, with Mr. Chandos-Pole-Gell, his neigh-
bour for many years, one of the prime movers in the
shire horse movement, which has done so much for
Derbyshire in general and the Ashbourne district in
particular. His own "shires" were a household word
throughout the whole countryside. Being who he was,
it was only natural that he should be a keen and practical
agriculturist, the Cokes of Holkham being noted for their
intelligent interest in all farming matters. He died
in 1889.
His brother. Colonel the Hon. Wenman Coke, now
lives at Longford in the hunting season, his brother
Henry coming there in the summer. Colonel Coke is
the doyen of the Hunt, but contrives to see more sport
than most of the younger men, and it was only two years
ago that he put his shoulder out near Cubley. He was
all through the Crimean AVar with his regiment, the Scots
Cruards, and was A.D.C. to Lord Rokeby, commanding
1st division for the last six months of the war.
His prowess with gun and rifle has been recorded so
often elsewhere, that it would be a work of supererogation
to do more than mention it here. He has, indeed, been
a hurra shiharri, killing big game in India, in Africa,
Canada, Newfoundland, and anywhere else where it is to
be found.
He represented East Norfolk in Parliament for seven
years, while his brother Edward was the member for the
western division of the same county. The latter also
stood, as a Liberal Unionist, for South Derbyshire. He
238 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1865
was President for one year of the Shire Horse Society,
and there is a prize for shire horses named after him. He
was Master of the Meynell hounds during the season
immediately succeeding Mr. Meynell Ingram's death, or
perhaps, to be strictly accurate, he was field Master in
Derbyshire.
The coverts at Longford are the Car, Eeeve's Moor,
and the Finney Bank, one or other of which may always
be reckoned on to hold a fox.
The season of 1865-1866 began at Sudbury Coppice
on October 30th. The only reference to the hounds in
any publication which has met the writer's eye is the
half petulant remark from the editor of BelVs Life, " The
Leedhams are still the component part of Mr. Meynell
Ingram's establishment, where the grim god of Silence still
reigns supreme ! " And so would continue to do were it
not for the kindness of Mrs. Meynell Ingram in lending
the Hoar Cross diaries, and for what little can be gleaned
from the rather untrustworthy source of oral tradition.
Sport in November was fair, and the only item of
interest was the mention of Lord Stanhope being hit by
a labourer, but why or wherefore does not appear. There
are also two or three cases of foxes with three legs, and
even of one with a trap actually on his leg. In fact, there
was a scarcity of foxes, for often they only found one in
the day. Yet sport was very moderate up to Christmas,
which makes against the theory, that if there are but
few foxes you are sure to have good sport.
The first good day was on January 18th, from Eggin-
ton. Two of the five ladies mentioned were Misses Hall,
but who the other three were does not appear, as neither
of the Misses Meynell Ingram were out.
" On Thursday, 18th, the meet took place at Egginton,
and was expected to be more than usually brilliant in
consequence of the very large number of strangers visit-
ing in the neighbourhood, and also on account of its being
a part of the best country hunted by this popular pack.
The morning was as favourable to hunting as the most
IS66] A DERBYSHIRE THURSDAY. 239
fastidious sportsman could desire, and wlien the time for
leaving the Hall had arrived, a sight presented itself such
as is rarely witnessed — a field of nearly, if not quite,
three hundred, with an assemblage of ladies to give us
a parting greeting which comprised all the youth and
beauty of that part of the country. At last we trotted
oft', and, after drawing the first two or three coverts blank,
orders were given for Hilton Gorse, when, as usual, we
found Eeynard at home. Breaking on the south side,
the hounds were, as speedily as possible, laid on, going
away at a crashing pace towards Foston, but, heading
back, he went for Church Broughton and Barton, where
there was a momentary check, the hounds hunting beauti-
fully. He was soon hit oft", and going on towards Foston,
the coverts of which he skirted, made an eft"ort for his old
quarters at Hilton, but being too closely pressed, made
straight for Sutton Gorse, which he left to the right,
going through Trusley and Thurvaston, and in a line for
Longford, perseveringly selecting every ploughed field in
his route. He then made a turn for Barton Wood, and
through Broughton, pointing for Hilton Gorse a second
time. The pace, the heavy state of the ground, and the
distance, told on the field, which by this time had become
very select. Out of three hundred not more than a sixth
were left, but Reynard was too plucky to give in, and
away he went for the meadows of Marston, leaving Hilton
village to the left, crossed the railway, but turning sharp
again, he went by Marston church, and having made one
effort more to reach the gorse, he failed, and was finally
run into in Hoon Hay fields, the last ten minutes being
run in view. Time, two hours and twenty minutes. The
ground was unusually deep in consequence of the late
rains. We were honoured with the presence of five ladies,
two of whom were there at the finish, and went through
the whole of the run most splendidly."
On January 29th they had a pretty good run all
round Hoar Cross, but it was spoilt by Miss Georgiana
Meynell Ingram having her leg broken by a gate, which
240 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1866
the hurricaue that was raging banged up against her. This,
it will be remembered, was the cattle-plague year, and
hounds were advertised to go to Blythbury, but could not
on account of the rinderpest. The weather all through
the winter was, for the most part, warm and summery.
Jack Leedham gave up at the end of this season, as
his health failed him. His master, who thought nothing
was too good for the Leedhams, who were the enfants
gates of Hoar Cross, took him up to Scotland with him
to see if the change would do him any good. An amusing
incident of the trip was "little " Jack's making a jibbing
horse back up a Scotch hill, with the luggage cart, when
the animal refused to go in the ordinary way. But Scotch
air did not have much effect, and Jack retired, married a
wife, and lived for many years at Hoar Cross as bailiff.
Foxes killed, fourteen brace ; to ground, six brace ;
number of hunting days, fifty-three.
They wound up with two days on Cannock Chace —
March 27th and April 3rd.
1866-1867.
At the beginning of this season Fred Cottrell became
second whipper-in, and for some time the master did not
give him a red coat, which led to some good-natured chaff
about presenting him with one. Charles took Jack Leed-
ham's place as first whipper-in. The opening day was at
Sudbury Coppice, on October 29th, when they found three
foxes, but did not get hold of one. For some cause or
another the field seems to have been more unruly than
usual this year, as there are frequent allusions to this in
the diary. There were also cases of fox-poisoning in
the country, and there was a scarcity of foxes generally.
Up to Christmas sport was fair, but there was nothing
remarkable. Perhaps the best gallop was a fast thirty-
five minutes from Eaton Wood, across the Somersal brook,
through the Vernon's Oak dingle, to the left of Sudbury
Coppice, over the Ashbourne road and the Cubley brook.
1866] A DAY OF MISFORTUNES. 241
Here they turned sharp to the right and ran under Boy-
lestone to Sapperton, seven miles. At this point hounds
divided, and the main body went on with a fresh fox,
which they lost at Barton Blount. This was on Christmas
Eve. December 27th, when they met at Ednaston, was
described as a day of misfortunes. To begin with, hounds
caught a fox with a snare round his neck ; then Pilgrim
died, supposed to have been ridden over by some one ;
and, as a climax, the fox they found in Shirley Park ran
into the pond and was killed immediately.
From December 29th to January 6th there was a
severe frost and snow, and on January 8 th they had a
blank day from Kedleston. On the 10th they met at
Radburne, and did not find till half-past two in Sutton
Gorse, when they ran back to Radburne Rough and lost
their fox. On the top of this there came a fortnight's
frost, and then a good gallop from Nichols's Covert, Hoar
Cross, which no one saw except Tom, Charles, and Babb
of Bentilee. It happened in this way. They found a fox
in Rough Park, but could not run him a yard. Then
they found another in Nichols's, and ran him slowly a
ring through Brickhill Plantation, across Hoar Cross Park,
into the Round Hill. Here a fresh fox jumped up, and
all the field went into the road. But the hounds ran
straight on through the Brakenhurst with only the three
just mentioned with them, by Dolesfoot, Roosthill, by
Park Gate, through Hart's Coppice, across Bagot's Park,
through Hill's Wood, down to Cuckold's Haven gate,
where they killed him, after running all the way without
a check.
Every hunting man must have noticed how odd it is
that sometimes hounds cannot run one fox at all, and yet
they can race after another, as they did on the day just
described. It rather bears out Charles Leedham's
favourite saying. When any one asked him what was
his theory about scent, he would say, "I know nowt
about theories. All I know is some foxes stinks a lot
more than others ! "
VOL. I. R
242 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1867
On February 2nd they had a capital run of an hour
and three-quarters. Finding in Blithfield Gorse, they ran
by the Rectory, below Newton village, through Newton
Gorse, and then through the corner of Droynton Wood,
down the Blythe side to Boothy, under Newton village,
crossed the Blythe, through Stansley's Wood and the
Warren Covert, by Yeatsall, through the Forge Coppice,
over the Lichfield road and Bromley Hurst, crossed at the
turnpike and killed him at Mr. Hill's farm on Bromley
Park.
Then comes a short, pithy entry (pregnant with mean-
ing) in the diary : " February 5th, Kedleston. — Drew from
Darley osier bed to Brailsford Gorse blank." And then,
presumably, went home.
On March 4th they drew the New Gorse at LuUington
for the first time, found, and crossed the Mease. Thence
they went on by Clifton to Thorpe, where they checked.
Hitting it off again, they hunted very nicely by Lecking-
ton to Newton, where they turned back to the left, and
killed their fox at Clifton, after a nice run of one hour.
Hunting went on till quite late ; in fact, up till April
■25th, the last few days being on Cannock Chace. The
last day but one was rather a Jiasco, as they killed a
vixen to begin with, and dug six cubs out in Wolseley
Park to wind up with.
Killed, seventeen brace of foxes ; ran to ground, two
brace ; blank days, two ; number of hunting days, sixty-
three.
In May Mr. Meynell Ingram called a meeting of the
Hunt to appeal to the county to preserve foxes. This
was almost the only meeting of the kind of which there
is any record, except the two complimentary dinners to
the old " Squire " Meynell Ingram, at the King's Head,
Derby, in 1839 and in 1843. At the latter, as has been
mentioned before, he was presented with a silver-gilt
model of his huntsman, earth-stopper, and an old oak tree
near Hoar Cross. It may here be mentioned that, as a
privilege, a few people were allowed to subscribe five
1867J MEETING OF THE HUNT. 243
pounds to the covert fund, and this conferred the right to
wear the hunt button. The King's Head alluded to is
now the St. James's Hotel, Derby.
Field, M&y 4th, 1867 :—
MEETING- OF THE MEMBERS OF MR. MEYNELL INGRAM'S
HUNT.
An influential meeting of the owners of coverts and subscribers to the covert
fund of this hunt took place on the 26th ult., at the King's Head Hotel, Derby,
at the earnest request of Mr. Meynell Ingram, and was attended by Lord Scars-
dale, the Hon. E. Coke, E. S. Pole, Esq., Sir Percival Heywood, F. Bradshaw,
Esq., L. K. Hall, Esq., F. G. Levett, Esq., and many others interested in the
hunt. Mr. H. Meynell Ingi-am said he regretted that it had been necessary to
give the gentlemen present the trouble of attending, and the more so as the
few words he should trouble them with were not of a cheering nature, but the
destruction of foxes during the past season had been so great in many parts of
both Staffordshire and Derbyshire, that he felt it necessary to bring it before
their notice. They were aware that, without the assistance and co-operation of
owners of coverts and farmers, hunting must come to an end, and unless the
preservation of foxes was more general, he feared their prospect of sport for the
next season was not a hopeful one. Mr. Meynell further said that, on his part,
if any suggestions should be made likely to conduce to the convenience of the
country in general, or to promote the preservation of foxes, he should be most
happy to give them his full consideration ; at the same time, from the long and
general kindness which had been shown him for so many years, he could not
help expressing both surprise and regret that anything should have happened
•calculated to give an impression that unfriendly feeling existed in any part of the
country he hunted. The meeting unanimously concurred in what Mr. Meynell
Ingram had stated, and expressed their determination to do all in their power to
secure a good supply of foxes for their next season.
This meeting seems to have borne fruit, for towards
the end of the next season it was intimated to the master
that there were rather too many foxes in the Radburne
and Sutton country, and it would be well to kill one or
two. Tom went to Kadburne " with blood in his eye," to
use a Kocky-Mountain-ism, and found one in Mr. Newton's
osiers, and killed him; found a second in a turnip field, and
caught him in a plantation near the osiers; found three in
the osier bed at Bearwardcote, and caught two of them in
the next field but one ; and found another in Sutton
gorse, ran him into a stick heap on the hill near Etwall,
bolted and killed him. Total, two brace and a half 1 and
this in March. It was the fifth day of the month, so the
244 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1867
number of noses to nail up on the kennel door just tallied
with the day of the month. Moreover, this was the day
on which Lord Alexander Paget presented the silver horn
to Tom Leedham after the great run of February 6th, an
account of which is given in the next chapter.
In this year's entry there is a hound called Chorister
by Comus out of Paragon, who was used a good deal later
on at Hoar Cross. He was lent to Mr. Lane Fox, who
wrote the following characteristic and rather amusing
letter about him : —
Biamliani, Taflcaster, March 8tli.
My dear Hugo,
Chorister is stout, busy, and always in his place, with remarkable
good nose — a first rate dog certainly — but we cannot hear him " speak." He
has been perfectly mute since he came here. I have worked him in his turn,
and he has had plenty of opportunity, frequently showing the line with great
confidence of manner — but always silent. Is it conceit, impudence, jealousy,
swagger, or a natural defect? Please tell me about him and his sort as to
tongue.
Yours very sincerely,
George Lane Fox.
How Chorister answered the catechism when he got
home does not appear, but the fact of this letter being
written is interesting in view of the Meynell hounds of
to-day being criticized for their lack of tongue. It also
shows that the blood was sought after in high quarters ;
in fact, the draft was always bespoken for two or three
years in advance and fetched a great price.
There is also an interesting letter from Colonel
Anstruther Thomson anent Lullington Gorse mentioned
above.
My DEAK Hugo,
Bob Harper has sent me your letter. Nothing I should like
better than having a hunt in your woods when the days are longer, but I
much doubt my dogs catching one of your foxes. [They did catch one, and it
proved to be a vixen ! ] I have been out four times this week, but never brought
one to hand. It has hardly been fit to hunt any of the days, and to-day is so bad
that I did not go on. I am so sorry that Peter Colvile has raised this question
about Lullington Gorse. I only wish to hunt the fox in peace, and to be on
good terms with my neighbours, and especially with yourself. When I received
Peter's memorandum I made a draft of my answer and showed it to those
most interested in that matter, but I found there was a little difference of opinion,
so I wish the Atherstone Hunt to give me instructions at their next meeting how
1867] LULLINGTON GORSE. 245
I am to proceed. I think you have more influence with Peter than any one,
and perhaps if you asked him to allow it to remain as formerly he might do so.
I asked him if, in the event of the boundary being fixed and Lullington in the
Atherstone countrj'-, I might continue the privilege to you of drawing it. His
answer was No. He would take care of you. I have no doubt he will.
I believe that the arrangement made in 1849 as to the covert being neutral is
good according to the laws of fox-hunting, and that I should be quite justified in
drawing the covert, but I don't want to make any bother about it. I wish you
could settle it.
Ever yours truly, etc.
The history of LuUingtou Gorse is this. When Mr.
Colvile became Master of the Atherstone he made the gorse
and obtained leave from Mr. Meynell Ingram to draw it.
The Meynell contention was that it never had been, strictly
speaking, a neutral covert, as was shown by the fact of
leave having had to be obtained to draw it from Mi.
Meynell Ingram ; and that the Atherstone had no business
on the Meynell side of the Mease till higher up, where the
brook joins in and takes them up to Seal and Grange
Woods. After Mr. Colvile retired, the same arrangement
as to permission to draw the gorse continued in force.
246 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
CHAPTER XXL
MR. S, W. CLOWES, M.F.H., M.P. — CAPTAIN H. A. CLOWES
MR. W. BODEN ON BRANDY WINE — THE FASTEST RUN
WITH THE MEYNELL — HAROLD.
1867-1868.
Mr. Clowes, better known as William Clowes, though he
also bore the name of Samuel, as his forefathers had done
before him, was born at Sutton Hall, at Sutton-on-the-Hill,
in Derbyshire, on January 27th, 1821. His father, who
served all through the Peninsular AVar, commanded his
regiment, the 3rd Light Dragoons (now the 3rd Hussars),
at Salamanca, retiring with the rank of Colonel after the
war. He lived at Park Hill, where he kept a pack of
harriers, and subsequently at Yeldersley and Spoudon.
His wife was a Holden of Aston. So his son might cer-
tainly claim to be Derbyshire born and Derbyshire bred.
In due course he was sent to Rugby, matriculating at
Brasenose College, Oxford, in November, 1839. Almost
the first entry, in an extremely interesting diary, is —
" November 14th, Heythrop. Hounds at Sturdy 's Castle.
Rode a roaring black horse of Figg's. Good fast half-hour,
which, of course, I did not see. Lost at Deddington. My
first day's hunting." On January 3rd, 1840, he mentions
a day with "Lord Hastings' hounds at Horsley. Rode
father's hack, Selim. Ran fast to Hayes Wood, and killed."
From the pages of this diary it is evident that he hunted
pretty frequently during his University career with the
Heythrop, Berkshire, Mr. John Phillips's, and Mr. Drake's
hounds. This application to the chace did not, however,
Mr. S. W. Clowes, M.F.H.
From a photograph
by
Lock and Whitfield.
rfqBiaoJoriq b moi^
\
^
Si
■k
c . .*'S(9PJ5**'* '
MR. S. W. CLOWES. 247
prevent his taking his degree in due course. There is
one entry, however, in this diary which must not be
omitted, as it shows that his zeal for hunting was of no
ordinary character, reminding one very much of the Eev.
John Russell, in similar circumstances. " February 14th,
1842. Got up at four a.m. Walked to Derby. Mail-
cart to Ashby. Dog-cart to Appleby to breakfast. I rode
Gummy Kuffles, a four-year-old chestnut, with Atherstone
hounds at Odston. Good day's sport. Left them
running."
The first mention of Mr. Meynell's hounds is in 1842,
when he rode a new brown mare bought from his uncle,
Mr. J. Holden, and they had a blank day from Drakelowe.
On March 23rd, 1842, " Meynell, at Spread Eagle.
Runagate. Good half-hour from Swarkeston and lost.
Found again at Sutton Gorse, and ran fifty minutes with-
out a check to Ednaston, crossing Longford and Brailsford
brooks. Nearly all grass. Racing for a start got a
rattling fall, horse turning over and over. Blane fell at
the same fence ; he, E. Holden, Bromley, and I had quite
the best of it. The best run I ever saw. Meynell, junior,
had enough, and stopped the hounds at Ednaston, the first
check they had. N.B. — had drawn the Gorse, and hounds
were coming out, before he broke, and he was as good a
fox as ever ran." Here is a plain, unvarnished tale of
a run with the Meynell, nearly sixty years ago, and there
can be no doubt that the same hand which wrote, " which
of course I did not see," in the first entry, did not
exasfgerate when it claimed to have been one of the four
in this capital gallop. In 1843, he "rode Runagate to see
stag turned out to Yates's harriers at Bretby," which is
the first mention of the well-known sportsman hunting
on that side.
On February 20th, he had a turn at another form of
sport. " Rode J. Story's chestnut mare in Swarkeston
steeple-chaces. Ten started. Andinwood's British Yeoman
first ; I second, with a fall in a thick bullfinch ; the rest
beaten off."
248 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
Then came a year of foreign travel. In the next year,
1845, there were but two days' hunting on horses of that
good sportsman, Mr. George Moore of Appleby, and then
he was off on November 20th for Ceylon. There he went
up Mount Adam, furnished with a sandwich and a bottle
of Bass, which he drank, and left the bottle on the top.
Most people went up it supplied with provisions enough
for a week.
In 1846 he was back again and making up for lost
time by hunting with the Meynell, the Donington, the
Atherstone, and the Quorn. He mentions Mr. F. Wilmot
getting a bad fall over a stile at Dale Hills, when the
Donington hounds met at Hopwell.
On December 10th, when the Meynell were at
Eadburne, there is this severe comment : " N.B. — with a
huntsman we should have had a run."
In 1848 he hurt his side, had to give up hunting on
March 10th, and lost a lot of good sport, it being a wet
month, and in 1849 he went abroad with Mr. Colvile,
having a day with the Gibraltar garrison hounds on
December 15th, which he describes as " hunting all gammon,
but a good object for a ride." One day with the Meynell
must be quoted from the diary, and then it will be neces-
sary to leave it, though with regret, for want of space.
December 5th, 1850, Eadburne.— Fomidi in Pond Cover, ran a ring to Langley
Gorse and lost. I got in the brook directly and saw nothing. Baron (his horse)
bogged. Found again in Parson's Gorse and went away very fast, and ran very
hard to Brailsford and then slower to Meynell's at Langley, when tliey set to again
as hard as ever, running for their fox over the grass nearly to Bowbridge, and by
Mack worth Town End, and pulled him down opposite Kedleston Park palings.
Fifty minutes. No check, only slow on plough. All field beat off from Langley
except H. Meynell, and five others, but let in at death, hounds turning back to
them. Capital scent and brilliant run. Forster, Bromley, and FitzHerbert out.
Colonel carried H. Wilmot very well. Last ten minutes beautiful.
Two years after this he married Sarah Louisa, second
daughter of the late Sir Eichard Sutton, Bart., with
w^hose hounds he hunted frequently, living at Woodhouse
Eaves in Leicestershire. In 1853 he was left a widower.
In 1857 he and Lord Stanhope were the Conservative
candidates for South Derbyshire, but both of them were
MR. S. W. CLOWES. 249
defeated by Messrs. T. W. Evans and C. R. Colvile.
In 1862 he succeeded his father in the family estates
at Broughton Hall, Lancashire, and married, in 1863,
the Honourable Adelaide Cavendish, second daughter of
the third Lord Waterpark. In the same year he took the
Quorn country on Lord Stamford retiring, buying the
hounds from the latter, whose right-hand man he had
been for a long time. But ill-luck pursued him doggedly.
A bad scenting time up to Christmas was followed by
frost, which lasted well into March. Then came a drought,
and, as a climax — on the last day, when they met at his
house — a snowstorm, so heavy that they could not hunt
at all. The next year the autumn was dry and the going
very bad up till Christmas. All through February there
was a frost. The third season was the best, and then, in
1866, Mr. Clowes, who had only taken the hounds because
there was no one else to do so, gladly resigned the reins
to the Marquis of Hastings. In 1867 his eldest son, now
Captain Henry Arthur Clowes (late of the First Life
Guards), was born, and subsequently another son, Ernest
(Captain First Life Guards), and three daughters. In
1868 he was returned as Conservative member for North
Leicestershire, for which constituency he sat till 1880,
when he retired. It is hardly the place here to mention
all he did in the neighbourhood of his Salford estates,
which formerly comprised one third of the whole borough,
but when he gave, and he seems to have been always
giving, it was with no stinting hand.
In 1872, in conjunction with his brother-in-law. Lord
Waterpark, he became the first master of the Meynell
Hounds, having previously purchased the Norbury estate
from the FitzHerberts of Swynnerton. The House at
Norbury was begun in 1872, and was not finished till
1874. In 1880 he bought the Cubley estates from Mr.
Howard, and thus had in a ring fence a property extend-
ing from Cubley Stoop, where it joins Lord Vernon, to
the road by Raddle Wood and the Queen iVdelaide inn,
and, on the other side, to within five fields of Longford.
250 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
In 1888, lie was High Sherift' for Derbyshire, being also
a Deputy Lieutenant, and Chairman of the Bench at
Ashbourne. Before this, in 1880, he planted the four-acre
Gorse at Cubley.
But it was not only as a houndsman and a horseman
that he excelled, for he was a thorough all-round sports-
man. It is a moot point whether he was happier when
mounted on Thoresby or the Druid, in a good thing across
country, or when engaged in a sharp bout with some
lordly salmon on the Namsen river. He could stalk a
stag, too, with any man in the Forest of Flowerdale by
Gairloch, which he rented, ever since 1874, of Sir Kenneth
Mackenzie. The average kill for the last twelve years is
eighteen stags per annum, and, oddly enough, the same
numeral expresses the weight of the heaviest beast.
He served in the Leicestershire and South Notts
Yeomanry, on which account probably he was frequently
spoken of as Colonel. He also belonged to the Koyal
Yacht Squadron, his vessel being the Adelaide, a yawl
of eighty tons. Of late years he usually migrated in the
middle of January to his villa at Hyeres, which he bought
in 1884, but it was not till 1893 that he gave up hunting
altoo'ether. From about that time till his death, on New
Year's Eve, 1898, the state of his health kept him at
home, and his familiar figure was seen abroad no more.
He was a typical English country gentleman ; up-
right, free-handed, modest, unaffected, interesting himself
in everything which pertained to his sphere of life, a good
landlord, and excelling in all the pursuits which seem to
be the natural heritage of an English gentleman.
The following extract from a letter from Lord Berkeley
Paget, as a tribute to the memory of his old friend, seems
to be a fitting corollary to the above account : —
" Mr. William Clowes was one of the best men to
hounds, and one of the finest horsemen I have ever seen.
He combined quickness and quietness in a marked degree.
He was a first-rate sportsman in every way, and anything
he undertook he did well. I remember rather an amusing
CAPTAIN H. A. CLOWES. 251
incident with the Meynell. He was out one day in mufti,
and at that time had become very grey. We were having
a quick thing from Eadburne, and he was in his usual
place. Poor ' Bay ' Middleton was out, and asked me
who ' the old gentleman ' was w^ho was going so well. I
replied that I would introduce him at the first check.
This I did, and he was much surprised when I introduced
him to My. Clowes, ex-master of the Quorn, and the
Meynell."
He was succeeded by his son, Captain Henry Arthur
Clowes, who was born in 1867, and went to Eton in 1881,
where he joined the forces of the "Wet Bobs." In 1887
he was attached to the Worcestershire Militia, from which
regiment he was transferred to the First Life Guards,
to which corps his brother, Captain Ernest Clowes, also
belongs. The eldest brother became a captain in 1893,
and retired in 1896. The year 1899 was signalized by
two events. The first was his marriage with the eldest
daughter of Admiral the Honourable Algernon Littleton,
of Cross Hayes, Hoar Cross. The second event was his
joining the Staffordshire Yeomanry, in which he takes
the keenest interest. In the following year his son,
Henry Samuel Littleton, was born.
Captain Clowes inherits his father's sporting instincts,
and was master for part of one season of the Windsor
Drag, but, though there is no more staunch fox-preserver,
the forest, the moor, and the river, in the land of the
Scot, have more attractions for him than the chase of the
fox over the pastures of his native country. Those who
know best say that the wild stags of Flowerdale have to
be wide awake when he goes a-stalking, which he does on
his own account, undirected by any professional exponent
of that difiicult art. Many a goodly trophy at Norbury
bears witness to the prowess of both father and son, though
the most curious are the one-horned and three-horned
heads which adorn the wall in the billiard-room. There
is another head in the hall, by-the-bye, which possesses
a peculiar interest, for it belonged to the very last fox
252 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1867
ever killed by the great Sir Richard Sutton, of Lincoln-
shire and Leicestershire fame. It was presented by him
to his old hunting ally, Mr. S. W. Clowes.
The Meynell are indebted to Captain Clowes for the
new covert above Snelston Rectory, called Hell pits, where
the cattle which died and were killed in the great cattle
plague year about 1865 were buried. The word "Hell"
is derived from the Saxon verb Hellen, to hide, and means
the Hidden Place. Hence, Hell meadows, Hell brook, etc.,
in this and other countries. All the other coverts on the
Norbury estate, except old Hope Wood, were planted by
his father. Captain Ernest Clowes does not often miss a
day with the Meynell when he is on leave, and most people
know the rather queer -tempered bay horse, a home-bred
one, on which he won his Regimental point-to-point race.
He served through the greater part of the South African
campaign, sharing the hardships of the Kimberley relief
expedition. Oddly enough, he got off without a scratch
in the real warfare, but has recently sustained two rather
serious accidents in polo tournaments.
1867-1868.
The custom of meeting at Sudbury for the opening
day having been now for some years thoroughly established,
it is not necessary to specify the place any more. This
season, which will always be memorable in the annals of
the Meynell for the great run of February 6th, began on
October 28 th. Amongst other celebrities who came to see
a day's sport with the hounds were Lord Spencer, the
Marquis of Hastings and Lady Hastings, who, as Lady
Florence Paget, has been mentioned before as going well,
Mr. and Mrs. Musters, Gillard, Mr. Magniac, Lord and Lady
Wilton, Mr. Little Gilmour, Lord Halifax and his brother,
Captain the Hon. H. Wood, Lady A. Coke, Lord Dawe,
Captain Tempest, Mr. Hall of the Hulderness, and Captain
Cunningham of steeple-chase fame. The only entry worth
noting in November was on the 21st, when they ran a fox
1868] MR. W. BODEN ON BEANDY WINE. 253
to ground, in Eaton Wood, and dug him. But he bolted
between Fred Cottrell's legs, and they saw him no more,
which created a good deal of amusement at the time.
There was a frost from November 30th to December 12th,
and nothing much to mention till after Christmas.
Then, on December 28th, hounds ran at a tremendous
pace for twenty minutes from Philip's Gorse, beyond
Carry Coppice, when they turned down the meadows to
Windy Hall Wood or Wanfield Coppice. They went too
fast for every one except Lords Alexander and Berkeley
Paget, Col. R. Buller, Mr. Smith, Tom, and Charles.
1868.
After the New Year, sport was good, and there were
two or three runs rather above the average, but there
was one on January 16th which Mr. Walter Boden
is never likely to forget, for he and Brandy Wine, by
common consent, had all the best of it till they fell in
trying to jump about twenty feet of water below Etwall,
somewhere near the place where the Great Northern
Station is now. Lady A. Coke and Mrs. Coke might
have seen Mr. " Ned " Coke keeping him company, for
they were both out, as was ]\Irs. Meynell Ingram on Mickey
Free, who went well. Hounds ran at a great pace from
Sutton little gorse by Dalbury, over the brook, by Bear-
wardcote, round Etwall village, by Hilton Cottage and
Hilton Common, and back by Sutton church, eventually
giving it up in the Longford and Sutton road, after nearly
two hours over the cream of Derbyshire. It should have
been mentioned that the run really started from Sapperton.
On January 20th, too, Mr. Walter Boden again,
this time in company with Sir Richard FitzHerbert, had
a good deal the best of it, when hounds ran a most
unusual line, up to the Brakenhurst.
The meet was at Egginton, That gorse was blank, so
was Hilton. They found a fox at the Spath, and ran him
to ground at Sutton. Then came the piece de resistance.
254 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS, [18(3S
Finding at Foston, they ran over the brook by Hugo Law-
ley's, crossed the railway and the Dove by Coton, and ran
under Hanbury church, by Hanbury Wood End, to the
right of Hanbury Park, over Coulter Hills, into the Brak en-
hurst. Thence they rang a ring out and back again, and
lost their fox after an hour and ten minutes. On the 23rd
again they had a capital day in Derbyshire. The fox went
away from the Reeve's Moor at Longford, and they ran
him well over the Park, through Alkmonton bottoms and
by the Dairy House, into Potter's covert, where they got
up to him. Getting away on capital terms, they ran fast
by Barton Fields, across the Longford brook, by Nether
Thurvaston, and Trusley, past Radburne Rough, straight
on to Langley village, where they got up to him in Mr.
Brough's garden. Here he had a very narrow escape, but
just managed to get over the wall, where the hounds could
not follow him, and ran into another garden on Langley
Common, which bothered his pursuers and enabled him to
reach Pildock Wood, dead beat. A fresh fox jumped up
just before the hounds got there, and there were two fresh
ones in covert, so the fox beat them after all. Still it was
a capital run — six miles from Potter's in forty minutes, to
say nothing of the rest. On the 27th they ran from Eaton
Wood to Yeaveley and lost. This brings us to February,
and the great event of this season and many others. Mr.
Meynell Ingram's account is as follows : —
Radburne, February Gth. — Found at 11.30 in the Eough, came awa}' to Osier
Beds, and out towards Mickleover, where he was headed and came back througli
Five Trees and thence straight on to Pildwick (? Pildock) Nursery ; left Radburne
village on his left, by the Rough to Trusley and Thurvaston. Here he was headed
back and ran to the Rough, where we had two foxes before us ; through the covert
leaving Reginald's Gorse on the right, to Mr. Cox's covert at Brailsford, over the
Ashbourne road by Mercaston, bore to the right to the Pleasure Ground Wood at
Kedleston. We viewed him across the last field to this jDoint. Here we had two
scents. Went on by the Vicar Wood, almost to Markeaton, when one fox went ou
towards Allestree. Ours turned up the brook side straight up Kedleston Park,
through Smith's Plantation to Langley on to the turnpike road, where I stopped.
On by White's covert to Mercaston Stoop, by Mansel Park, crossed Spinnyford
brook, under Gerrard's Gorse, up to Hulland, over the Belper road by Biggin to
Blackwall. Here he turned back and was killed, between Biggin and Hulland
Ward, at 3.55. Missy (Miss Meynell Ingram) on Paladin, Bass, Tom Gresley,
1868] THE FASTEST RUN WITH THE MEYNELL. 255
G Moore, junior, Charles Eaton, and A. Strutt, saw the end. Paladin was the
only horse that had been out from the beginning. Bass and T. Gresley were on
their second horses. G. Moore had been late in the morning, C. Eaton only out
from Kedleston. Tom rode Crusader and the Knight, and was with hounds
every yard of the way, till, on the hillside between Blackwall and Biggin, the
Knight laid down and died at Sim's.
Other accounts and items of interest about the famous
run will appear in the next chapter.
After such a run as this everything else is but leather
and prunella. Still, the following is not a bad hunt. On
March 16th they ran from Egginton Gorse slowly to
Radburne Rough, where the fox had waited for them, and
they ran him very fast by Parson's Gorse to Prestwood,
where he turned to the left by Weston to Ivy House near
Breward's Car, thirty two minutes and five and a half
miles. After this they changed and ran about Ravensdale
Park, the usual sort of line, till they lost him.
On the 19th of March they were at Eaton Wood, and
ran that very fast ring which Lord Berkeley Paget and
Mr. Walter Boden are never likely to forget. Hounds
ran from Eaton Wood by Marston Montgomery, through
the Vernon's Oak dingle into Sudbury Coppice, down the
Bottoms, across the Palmer Moor, under Somersal-Herbert,
by Wardley Coppice, through the corner of Eaton Wood,
and killed him under an old thorn tree, in just an hour.
Tom Leedham said it was the fastest thing he ever saw
in his life. As he was riding Crusader, the horse was
evidently none the worse for his hard day on the 6th of
February, when he stopped and neighed in the middle of
Kedleston Park.
There were several good days' sport after this, but
nothing exceptional, and the season ended on April 9th
at Wolseley Bridge.
Foxes killed, seventeen brace ; run to ground, five and
a half. Hunting days, sixty-nine.
About this time Mr. A. C. Buncombe, who came to
reside at Calwich in 1870, frequently came out with the
Meynell, though he also hunted with the York and Ainsty
and the Bicester, his old friend Sir Algernon Peyton being
256 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
at tlie time Master. The following account of liim appeared
in the County Gentleman on June 29th, 1889 : —
Mr. Alfred Charles Duncombe is the eldest son of the late Hon. and Yevy
Reverend Augustus Duncombe, D.D., Dean of York, and grandson of the first
Baron Feversham, his mother being Lady Harriet, daughter of the fifth Marquis
of Queensberry. He was educated at Eton, and in 1862 joined the First Life
Guards, which he left in 1870 with the rank of captain. He is now hon. major
in the Staffordshire Yeomanry. In 1876 Mr. Duncombe — who, by the way, is
in the Commission of the Peace for the counties of Stafford and Derby, and was
High Sheriff for Staffordshire in 1883 — married Lady Florence Montagu, sister
to the present Earl of Sandwich.
Mr. Duncombe is very fond of hunting and shooting. His seat, Calwich
Abbey, Ashbourne, which is on the banks of the Dove, Izaak Walton's favourite
river, is situated outside the boundaries of the Meynell and North Staffordshire
countries, but still within easy reach of both. He takes a great interest in agri-
cultural matters, more especially in the breeding of shire horses. At the present
moment he is owner of about a dozen grand stallions, including Premier, Harold,
Chancellor, True Briton, and Don Carlos. Harold, it may be remembered, won
the Elsenham Plate (the championship) at the Islington Shire Horse Show in
1887, and was a good second for the Queen's Gold Medal at Windsor this week
in the Shire division — in fact, not a few fancied he might have been placed first
without any injustice being done. He was one of the original promoters of the
Ashbourne Shire Horse Society, which has developed into a great success, and
has proved of immense benefit to the tenant farmers of the district.
Calwich, as will be readily guessed from its title of
" Abbey," was originally Church property, but was granted
by Henry VIII. to the Fleetwoods, from them it passed
to the Granvilles, from them by marriage to the Dewes,
who took the name of Granville. Mr. Duncombe's father
bought it and built the modern house, to which the present
owner has made additions, in 1847. The gardens occupy
the site of the old house, which stood down by the water.
Nothing remains of the old Abbey but traces of the bowl-
ing green.
Possibly, however, it is as the home and last resting-
place of the famous Harold, the king of shire horses, that
Calwich is especially interesting at present, for the noble
old horse is to " shires " what Eclipse is to thoroughbreds.
It may not be known to every one how near England
was to losing him. He was bred by Mr. Potter, of
Spondon, near Derby, who sold him to the Earl of
Harrington. He sold him to Mr. Douglas for exportation
to America. Luckily he was too late to go on the boat,
Mr. A. C. Duncombe.
From a photograph
by
Maull and Fox.
fiquisoioriq k mo'iH
.xo^ briB Kub/^i
■f/iMi^ :^:£,.^li.&A.^o
1868] HAROLD. 257
which started from Liverpool, as had been arranged, and
was therefore wintered in Lord Derby's park at Knowsley.
In the following spring, in the month of March, he was
exhibited in London, and took the first prize in his class,
whereupon he was purchased by Lord Hindlip, who took
him to Worcestershire. Here he stood for two years, and,
not being appreciated there, was offered for sale by auction
in 1886. Mr. Duncombe, recognizing the sterling merits
of the horse, told his commissioner that he might bid up
to eight hundred pounds for him, but he got him for
three hundred pounds less. A rare bargain he proved,
and it must have been flattering to his new owner's
judgment to have been able subsequently thrice to refuse
a blank cheque for him. He had good reason for knowing
that no objection would have been raised if this had been
filled up for three thousand pounds. Harold was only
beaten once in the show ring after this, and then it took
the judges three-quarters of an hour 'to decide between
him and Lord Wantage's Prince William. Though the
verdict was finally given to the latter, there are numbers of
competent critics who stoutly maintain that at the best it
was a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other.
When it was found necessary to shoot him on account of
his suffering so acutely from chronic rheumatism last
spring (1901), the authorities wished to secure his skeleton
for the British Museum ; but inflammation, caused by
rheumatism, had so enlarged his joints, that Mr. Dun-
combe did not consider the specimen quite perfect, and
thought reflection might be cast on the memory of his old
favourite. The latter will live in his descendants as long
as shires are shires, and only this year a two-year-old son
of Blaze, who is a son of his, won the first jDrize at
Islington for Mr. Walwyn of Bearwardcote.
It is interesting to hear after this that Mr. Duucombe's
first start with heavy horses was with a Clydesdale, which
he purchased for the use of his tenants. This brought
down on him a strong expostulation from the Hon.
Edward Coke, the then prime upholder of shires. The
VOL. I. S
258 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1868
accused saw the strength of his opponent's accusation, and
pleaded guilty to the indictment. But he scored neatly
the next year. Prizes were offered for an annual show
at Ashbourne, and the very next spring the Calwich
Premier defeated Mr. Coke's Longford champion. Candi-
date, the winner of the Elsenham prize. From that year,
1883 or 1884, the stud farm at Calwich has been one
uninterrupted success, and is probably second to none in
England.
"PREMIER" (3646).
IN MEMOEIAM.
April 29th, 1892.
When princes and potentates yield to fate,
How slight is the mourning of small and great;
The king is dead, long live the king !
And the world goes on in ceaseless ring.
When governments totter, and ministers fall.
The season's a tiny bit shorter, that's all.
But how shall we mourn for the spirit that's fled?
How shall we mourn for the " Premier " that's dead ?
On the Leicestershire fields, on the Lancashire hills
By the side of broad rivers, on murmuring rills ;
In the meadows of Trent, o'er the valleys of Dove,
Lone widows are weeping, lamenting their love.
Poor " Premier," cut off in the midst of his fame.
Leaves behind him a roll that will honour his name ;
Where'er the tide of our commerce has rolled
Are the sons and the daughters of "Premier" extolled.
To move the huge van, by the rail or the road,
'Tis a "Premier" with ease takes the heaviest load;
For the dwellers in towns, or the sons of the soil,
'Tis a " Premier " they ask for to lighten their toil.
Weep, Lady of Calwich ; weep, Duncombe and Green,
Such a horse as old "Premier" ne'er have you seen.
Lay his noble old head on his long flowing mane,
Such a horse as old " Premier " you'll ne'er see again.
T. J. L.
1868] ( 259 )
CHAPTER XXIL
THE GREAT EADBURNE RUN.
1868.
The season of 1868 began early, for they went cub-
hunting in the woods on August 24th, but had to stop
again on September 9th, on account of the hardness of
the ground. However, they brought seven brace of foxes
to hand before the end of September. The entry con-
sisted of eleven couples, two of which — Falstaff, Fugle-
man, Fairy, and Frantic — were the issue of the Duke of
Rutland's Falstaif and Lively. This cross blended the
strains of Mr. Foljambe's Forester and Singer, Mr.
Drake's Duster, Lord Henry Bentinck's Comrade, Lord
Yarborough's Flasher, with a lot of the best Hoar Cross
blood. It seemed as if last year's meeting had already
taken effect, for foxes were reported as being very
numerous.
Of the wonderful run on February 6th, 1868 — a run
of which people talk to this day — there are two printed
accounts, both of which are given here. The first is by
Lieut.-Colonel R. H. FitzHerbert, of Somersal Herbert,
who has been mentioned more than once in these pages ;
while the other is from the pen of the celebrated Mr.
Michael Bass, M.P., who was at this time in his
seventieth year. It is no small feat for a man of his
age to have got through such a run, and to have ridden
home to Rangemore, more than twenty-five miles distant,
at the end of it.
Colonel FitzHerbert writes : " The meet on Thursday,
260 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1868
February 6th, was at Radburne. At 11.45 the hounds
were thrown into the Rough, and, in another minute,
a fox was halloaed away. He passed by the right of
Radburne Hall to the osier bed by the brook which
runs to Etwall, whence, being headed back, he ran to
Thurvaston, leaving Dalbury on the left. Being again
headed, he turned to the right, and took a line back to
the Rough — all the way at a strong pace over a fine
country. Time, one hour and a quarter. Here we were
joined by Mr. George Moore, junior (of Appleby), who
had missed the previous part of the run. The hounds
ran through the Rough without a moment's pause.
Leaving Langley on the right, they crossed the Ash-
bourne road near Brailsford, and passed by Wild Park
and Mercaston, close by Kedleston Park, and leaving
it to the right, went on to Markeaton Gravel-pit, only
a long mile from Derby. Here the huntsman thinks we
changed foxes. However that might be, there was
certainly an increase of pace. The hounds raced by the
line of the brook in front of Kedleston Hall, through the
Park, turned to the left up the hill, and ran into view at
Langley. Here, I believe, we were joined by Mr. Charles
Eaton." In Kedleston Park Tom thought he could catch
his fox out of hand, and lifted his hounds, which he never
did unless he considered his fox as good as settled. But
the effort settled his horse instead, and he stopped and
neighed. A fresh fox jumped up, and Charles got to
the end of his horse in trying to stop the hounds, Mr.
Meynell Ingram wanted them stopped, and called ta
Mr. Walter Boden to do so. He had lost his whip,
and, being helpless, asked Mr. Hamar Bass to try. But
he was not successful, so Mr. Boden said to the Master,
" Let them go ; they'll catch him directly."
To turn to Colonel FitzHerbert's account, " The fox
doubled short back from the turnpike road" {i.e. the
Derby-Ashbourne one), " and from this point it was clear
that he was making for his stronghold in the hills.
The line was by Mercaston and Mercaston Stoop, and
1868] THE GREAT RADBURNE RUN. 261
between Mansell Park and Bradley. Miss Meynell had
gone well hitherto, but at about this period she and I
came to the Brailsford brook. We turned to the right
by a farmyard, where a woman directed us to a place
where she said they (foot people) crossed it. I had, after
jumping the brook, to run up a steep bank by means
of steps worn in it. Rosy Morn scrambled up like a
cat, but Miss IMeynell's horse refused, and I saw her
no more for some time."
A propos of this, there is a good story told of how
the Colonel was piloting Miss Wilhelmiua FitzHerbert,
Sir William's daughter, who afterwards came to such a
tragic end by being burnt to death at Tissington after
a ball. She got into the Sutton brook, and her uncle
stopped to help her out. Consequently the pair arrived
some time after the fox had been killed.
" What happened to you ? " Sir William asked his
brother.
"Oh, Mina got into the brook and I stopped to
help her."
" That," said Sir William in his slow, deliberate way,
" comes of looking back."
Perhaps the Colonel remembered this on the present
occasion, for he goes on to say, " So she probably
followed the road on to Hulland and Biggin, where she
met the hounds coming back. Just after this episode I
was riding alongside of a stranger from Leicestershire,
who had kept on gallantly for nearly three hours, and
I heard him say, ' This is the finest run I have ever had.
I would give five and twenty pounds for them to kill
their fox and for me to be there too.'
" But it was not to be.
" ' Diana heard, but granted half his prayer,
The rest the winds dispersed in empty air.'
His horse was nearly done then, and soon afterwards
he gave in altogether, and I saw him no more.
" The hounds passed by Hulland Ward, across the
Belper road, down the valley to Biggin, and then, leaving
262 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. C18G8
Idridgehay to the right, forward to Blackwall. Hitherto
we had had all grass, except a few ploughed fields in
HullaDd, but now came the most trying and severe part
of the run. The fox took his course straight up Black-
wall Hill, itself no mean obstacle, being steep and high,
and the ground soft and holding. The distance, nearly
thirty miles, had told upon the horses, and at this point,
out of a large field, only five were in the hunt — viz. Tom
Leedham, the huntsman ; Mr. G. Moore, junr., my nephew ;
William FitzHerbert, and myself." Somewhere hereabouts
Miss Meynell said to Mr. Bass, who, like her, was
surveying the hunt from a distance, " Look at Tom !
Isn't he going well ? " But it was the last flicker of the
candle, for the Colonel goes on to say, " Before reaching
the top of the hill Tom's horse, his second, fell, and his
career was closed. The hounds held on their course
through Blackwall Wood, and crossed the xlshbourne
and Kirk Ireton road. I got out of the wood close after
them, thanks to a road used for dragging out trees, which
took me slanting-dicularly up the hill, and enabled me to
canter or trot, whilst the other three, after Tom's horse
fell, took the hill direct, and, meeting very rough ground,
had to walk. I was alone with the hounds for some time.
Leaving the village of Kirk Ireton on the right, we ran
hard straight up- wind over the large pastures along the
ridge of the hill towards Hognaston, the most distant
point from Radburne attained during the run. But this
was too good to last. Ten minutes at that pace would
have placed the fox in safety in the rocks among the
hills ; but, being too closely pressed, he swept round to
the left, and, turning down-wind, recrossed the Kirk
Ireton road. I got off" my horse to scramble down a
bank into the road, when I met Mr. C. Eaton, who
shouted, ' Well done, Mr. FitzHerbert ! ' Billy Fitz and
Mr. G. Moore also joined in here, these three having,
as I previously explained, missed the loop beyond the
Kirk Ireton road. Again we crossed over the ploughed
fields by Hulland to Biggin, where we met Miss Meynell.
1868] THE GREAT RADBURNE RUN. 263
She asked me to whip the hounds off ; I said, ' If you'll
leave them alone they'll kill him directly.' She replied,
like a true Meynell, ' If you think so, let them try.'
Soon after he was viewed a field before the hounds, who,
excited by the screaming of a man, flashed forward.
'You hunt them,' said Moore to me, 'and I'll whip in.'
You must remember we had no huntsman, whipper-in, or
horn. We soon turned the hounds, and ran him to a
wooded hollow by a brook. I looked at my watch. The
time was four hours all but three minutes. When the
hounds entered the dumble, I, as huntsman, knowing his
point of safety was to the north, crossed the brook by
a bridge, the only way over, and waited there for the
hounds to come to me. But in about ten minutes they
had roused this gallant fox from his hiding-place, and
were rewarded for their wonderful perseverance by a
well-deserved ' who-whoop ! '
" The fox was knocked over, I believe, by a farmer, with
the butt end of his whip, as he was crawling dead beat in
the dumble. It was a pity he could not have escaped,
for his plucky exertions entitled him to a less ignominious
fate. When I heard ' Who-whoop ! ' I dismounted, and,
leading Kosy Morn leisurely back, came up as the hounds
were breaking him up. Seven and a half couples were
present ; the rest were said to have been called away
to a false halloa towards Atlow. The party then present
consisted of Miss Meynell, Sir Thomas Gresley, Messrs.
Bass, C. Eaton, W. FitzHerbert, G. Moore, A. Strutt, and
myself It is difficult to make out the actual distance
run. For the first hour and a half the fox's progress,
though rapid, was very erratic. For nearly all the rest of
the time there was straightforward, continuous running,
the hounds ever forging ahead, never off the line, but
forcing their fox forward, without allowing him a moment's
respite, and showing the perfection of breeding and
condition. But for the last four miles, finding that he
could not beat the hounds by going free, the fox put
about, and tried short tacks, so that, for the beginning
264 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1868
and end of the run, a considerable distance should be allowed
more than could be given by straight lines from point
to point. By marking the line on the ordnance map, and
measuring it off, I make the first ring just outside nine
miles ; add twenty-seven and a half miles for the rest, and
we get a total of thirty-six and a half miles. We can get
an approximately near estimate also by the time test.
The wind was north-west, and as the hill was nearly ten
miles north of the find, the hounds had a fair chance,
and ran fast up-wind, and always at a good pace. Nine
miles an hour in a stiffly enclosed country is a good pace ;
and, reckoning the run at this rate, we should probably
not be far out in our reckoning, if we took the mean of
the two results, which would give thirty-six miles as the
distance run.
" I rode hard for the first ring up to Kedleston Park,
after which, foreseeing a hill run, I was satisfied to keep
within sight and hearing of hounds. This I succeeded in
doing, while taking advantage of parallel roads and
cutting off corners, for the hounds do not run as straight
as the lines on a map, and one can sometimes gain a bit
by riding round instead of over a hill. You must not
think from this that I rode cunning in the sense of
shirking the run. I was always there, and, in the early
part of the run, it was necessary to ride hard to get clear
of the field, which was large, about three hundred horse-
men, many from Muster's and Tailby's countries. I rode
Rosy Morn twelve miles to covert, she carried me through
the whole run and returned the same day to Somersal,
fourteen miles from the hill (over twelve miles as the crow
flies), only stopping at Yeldersley on the way home for
twenty minutes to have some gruel and a feed of corn.
She was so little distressed, that the next week she was
hunting again. She is a brown mare, sixteen hands high,
thirteen years old, by Chanticleer, dam by Prizefighter, so
that she combines the Birdcatcher and Gladiator strains.
' Blood will tell ; ' my weight at the time was about nine
stone ten pounds. My nephew, Billy, son of Sir William
1868] THE GREAT RADBURNE RUN. 265
FitzHerbert, was carried all the time by Tralee, an Irish
horse, whom he rode back to Tissington after the run.
The combination of pace and distance was so great that
Tom's horse died at a farmhouse near to Blackwall Hill.
I considered it to be the finest run on record, considering
the time, the distance, and the country over which
hounds ran."
And he spoke with authority, for no man was more
competent to give an opinion.
The following is Mr. Michael Bass's account of the same
run : —
"This favourite pack has had a run of sport lately,
but never perhaps since the days of the famous Hugo
Meynell, great-grandfather of the present master, has it
manifested more decisively the advantages of blood and
breeding than it displayed on Thursday last. The meet
was Eadburne, a synonym for good foxes and good sport ;
the squire's jolly presence and cheery smile made one feel
sure of a run, while an unusual field of riding-men and
equipages, crowded with the ladies of the county, formed
a scene of animation and beauty which would be hard to
match. At a quarter to twelve, the bitches — what
darlings ! — were thrown into the Rough, and in another
minute the fox was halloaed away. He struck up the hill
to the right of the Hall, crossed the roads through the
osiers looking towards Mickleover, where he was headed
back. He recrossed the road, leaving Dalbury on his left,
on to Thurvaston pointing for Longford, all the way at a
strong pace over a fine country, though Trusley Brook
brought not a few good ones to grief. But he was again
headed, and, turning short by his right, took a line back
to the Rough, which, without a moment's pause, he quitted
for Langley. Giving it a wide berth on his right, he went
straight for Cox's Covert, crossed the Ashbourne Road for
Wild Park by Mercaston, straight on by Kedleston Park
on his left for Markeaton Gravel-pit, only a long mile
from Derby Town. Here Tom Leedham thinks we changed,
the run fox being seen crossing the road for Allestree,
266 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [18G8
while the fresh varmint raced up the brook course in front
of Keclleston Hall, clean through the Park, inclining
towards Vicar Wood on his left.
"He ran into view at Langley village, and, from that
point, it was clear he was making for his home in the
hills ; alas ! no more his home. His line was by Mercaston,
Mercaston Stoop, leaving Mansell Park on the right,
Bradley on the left, under Hullaud, Hulland Ward to the
left, crossed the Belper road and down the valley by
Biggin, leaving Idridge Hay on the right, forward to
Blackwall House, where Tom again viewed the fox, with
his ladies, twenty couple, one only missing, close at his
brush. But here, alas ! Tom's part was done. His horse,
the Knight, staggered, dropped, and died. He had
carried him brilliantly, and never, in more than forty
years that we have watched this gallant and judicious
horseman, have we seen him ride to his hounds with more
spirit, skill, and care. The hounds, however, careless of
their master's troubles, still pursued their sinking game
through Blackwall Wood, where, despairing of shelter in
his native hills, he retraced his steps down the valley for
Biggin Mill, and came to bay under a hollybush. Here
Einglet singly attacked him, and, with Mr. Charles Eaton,
a good farmer and gallant sportsman, to back her, finished
one of the greatest runs we have ever seen recorded. The
time was a few minutes over four hours, and the line
of run exceeded thirty -two miles. The distance between
extreme points was fourteen miles. The pace throughout
was extraordinary for the distance, and, as there were few
second horsemen, it is not surprising that the party at
the finish was unusually small. Sir Thomas Gresley, Mr.
George Moore, jun., Mr. Charles Eaton, Miss Meynell,
Hon. A. Strutt, and Mr. Bass composed the field and sung
the who-whoop. Seven and a half couples of hounds were
in at the death, nine couples were called away to a false
halloa towards Atlow, and Mr. N. Curzon, Miss G. Meynell,
and Mr. Travers, who, till that point, had been with hounds,
took them home. No one will wonder that even such men
1868] THE GREAT RADBURNE RUN. 267
as the Master, the Cokes, the two Lords Paget, W. Clowes,
Willington, T. W. Evans, W. Boden, H. Evans, and many
others, besides a troop of hard-bitten-looking strangers,
should have had enough in a ran where four days' work
was crowded into one. But the ears of the two last-
named and one or two others caught the strains of the
funeral dirge, though the sight was denied them. Tom
Leedham was the hero of the day ; never man went or
hunted his hounds better. He had a second horse, but,
as both his whips stopped at Kedleston, he had more on his
hands than man could do. Sir Thomas Gresley had two
horses, but both had enough of it. Mr. Bass had two, but
he was nursing his second horse. Grasshopper, from the
beginning, or he would never have seen the end. Sir
Thomas rode his hunter home, thirty miles, and Mr. Bass
rode back more than twenty-five. Tom declares that his
hounds would have done the same ground over again the
next day."
As regards the last statement there is room for doubt.
It seems as if hounds had had about enough. Tom used
to deny stoutly that they w^ere too beat to break up their
fox, attributing their failing to do it to shyness at finding
only strangers with them. But he started home with
some of them in a cart, for one hound bit him in the
cheek, and he pitched her out, with a characteristic, " Dom
ye, now ye can walk ! " Others came dragging in a long
time after he got home, "proper tired," as an old kennel-
man said. Charles, who, as has been mentioned above,
got to the end of his horse, Charity, hours before, having
gone home to Kedleston inn, came out to meet his uncle
in a cart and drove him home.
Of those who were in this great run, only Mr. George
Moore, of Appleby, now survives. Mr. Strutt met with
a tragic end, being caught in the water-wheel at his works
at Belper and killed.
The next item of interest in connection with this
long-to-be-remembered day was the presentation of a
silver horn to the huntsman by Lord Alexander (Dandy)
268 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1868
Paget, of which the following is a detailed descrip-
tion.
On Thursday, March 5th, Mr. Meynell Ingram's
hounds met at Radburne, for the first time since the great
run of February 6th. Just before the hounds moved ofif
from the front of the hall at Radburne, Lord Alexander
Paget rode up, and in the following words presented the
veteran huntsman, Tom Leedham, with a most beautiful
silver hunting-horn : " Tom, I take this opportunity of
presenting you with a small souvenir in commemoration
of the finest run ever known with Mr. Meynell Ingram's
hounds on this day month, from the Rough at Radburne,
and in which your lady pack, with the greatest ease to
themselves, travelled thirty-two miles of country in four
hours and tivo minutes, with a brilliant kill at the finish.
I trust, Tom, you will also accept this silver horn as
a personal token of my esteem and regard for you ; and I
feel sure I am only expressing the universal wishes of all
present — I think I may call them your faithful and'devoted
followers, though I am afraid we occasionally break that
rule by riding before the fox — that there are yet many,
many more years of health and happiness in store for you
to enable you still further to enjoy the noblest of all
sports. Fox Hunting, and that you may retain, to the
end, the prestige you have gained of being one of the
finest huntsmen at the head of one of the most perfect
packs of hounds in England, of which, indeed, you may
well be proud. Pray accept this Horn with my best
wishes."
Tom, who seemed as much surprised as he was
pleased, thanked his lordship for so unexpected a present.
By this time a very large field had arrived, and a move
was made for Mr. Newton's osiers, and before the day's
sport was over no less than five foxes were killed in the
open, but without any run, much to the disappointment of
many a hard-riding stranger. The event was as extra-
ordinary, in another sense, as the notable run which took
place on February 6th.
18681 THE GREAT RADBTJRXE RUN. 269
SONG OF THE RADBURNE RUN.
Let Billesdon Coplow hide its head,
And Pytchley men grow pale,
While here I sing the run we had
Within the Derby Vale.
'Twas February the sixth, eighteen sixty-eight,
Long will Derbyshire sportsmen remember the date.
At Radburne the hounds were appointed to meet
Where the Poles have for years had their family seat :
In red coats or black, full two hundred or more
Good sportsmen assembled before the hall door.
Yet of all these hard riders, it seems very clear.
Not ten at the end of the run did appear.
It was just twelve o'clock on this notable day.
When from Radburne decoy he was halloa'd away ;
For the first forty minutes a ring they ran round,
And many a sportsman was seen on the ground.
Back through the decoy, our fox now changed his plan,
And straight up the Brailsford Plantations he ran.
Here we checked, but Tom quickly recovered the scent,
And on o'er the grass we to Kedleston went.
At that our fox took a very short look,
Then forward away, he crossed over the brook.
Back over again, just by way of a lark.
Like pigeons they flew over Kedleston Park.
Our numbers had dwindled to scarcely two score.
When at Langley we viewed the sly villain once more,
Yet to prove the old proverb that " pace alone kills,"
This stout fox set his head for the Derbyshire hills.
Mansell Park saw the stoppage of many a horse.
And scanty the number who passed Jarratt's Gorse,
Till at Hulland Ward village just live we espy.
Left alone with the hounds going on in full cry.
To surmount Blackwall Hill vainly two of those tried,
There a noble lord stopped,* and Tom Leedham's horse died.
This ascent overcome, Reynard found it was vain
To hope any longer the hills to regain.
Back he turned straight down wind, and it now became clear,
That his strength being exhausted, the end must be near ;
* Lord Berkeley Paget, on Lady Grace, -who had carried liira brilliantlyl from
the beginning till now.
270 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1868
So it proved, for at Biggin, being chased by a cur,
He crawled into a hedge quite unable to stir.
Then Ringlet came up and alone stood at bay,
Till the others joined in and there ended the day.
As the clock proclaimed four the fox gave up his breath,
And the who-whoop for miles around told of his death.
Over full thirty-two miles of ground had we been.
And from Radburne decoy, as the crow flies, fourteen.
Your pardon I ask, being unable to tell
Who went best in a run where so many went well ;
But the name of one lady with pleasure I write,
" Miss Meynell's," who went throughout in the first flight.
All sportsmen I hope, too, for many a year.
The name of Tom Leedham will greet with a cheer.
His well-earned silver horn may he long live to wield.
And as on *' that day," show the way to the field.
So fill up your glasses, a bumper we'll drain.
Health to Meynell Ingram, success to his name.
From the days since his grandfather ruled over Quorn,
His hounds from all others have still the palm borne.
When you've finished the first fill a second besides,
To the health of Squire Pole who such foxes provides ;
And a third to the men over whose land we ride.
The Yeomen who live on the Derbyshire side.
Feb. 1868.
All the talk, gossip, aud anecdote anent this great run
would almost fill a small volume, but space cannot be
found for everything. Still, this last addition, furnished
by the kindness of the Hon. Mrs. Meynell Ingram, is so
interesting that it makes the best possible finish to so
good a run. It is a letter from the late Mr. Michael Bass,
the father of Lord Burton, to Mr. Hugo Meynell Ingram.
Rangemorc, February 7th, 1868.
Dear Mr. H. Meynell,
I heard of your passing thro' Tutbury last night at an earlier hour
than the story of the run could have reached you, so I feel sure you will forgive
me for sending you a sketch of my recollections. I take my tale from the point
where the fox turned from Radburne the last time ; of all that preceded that
you yourself were a prominent feature — '■^pars magnay It must have been near
Radburne Common when we ran the fox in view, and he turned by his right,
leaving Langley on that hand, by Post House, by Church field, again crossing
the Derby and Ashborne road between Ednaston and Brailsford Mill, by Alder
Car, Mercaston, over Bradley Bottoms, where the hounds were racing, Tom
1868] THE GREAT RADBURNE RUN, 271
close at their heels as he was wont to do forty years ago ; away for Hulland,
Hulland Ward, and on for Black Wall House, where, on a most picturesque
hillside, Tom stopped, he " could no further go." He tried to stop his hounds,
and blew his horn until it rang through Dovedale. It was too late, for Frolic, as
Charles Eaton told me, a great fine bitch that has had whelps, with a chosen few
carried the line on through Black Wall Wood, by Atlow village, to within two
fields of Atlow Whin. Here an accident occurred which destroyed Miss G.
Meynell's hopes of witnessing the finish, and had nearly proved fatal to me : —
her groom tallihoed the beaten fox on a dead fallow ; the excitement was awful,
we holloaed till we were hoarse. I rode furiously after this animal, nearly stopped
my poor horse, only to find that the fox was a shepherd's dog. I returned over
the lost ground ; all but a single hound had disappeared. I persevered, however,
and, as every villager was agape, I caught them again above Biggin Mill, and
between there and Idridgehay, and about two and a half miles from Wirksworth,
this gallant fox came to bay under a holly bush. Charles Eaton and that
splendid bitch (whatever her name she ought to be called Paragon, and will be
the mother of imtold heroes) advanced to the attack. The bitch would not face
him singly, and Eaton was driven to finish the run with the butt end of his whip.
The other hounds, four and a half couple, did not get up till it was all over.
They could not break him up, and, though I cut him open, they could not tear
him to pieces. We were a small party, Miss Meynell, Charles Eaton, facile
princeps, Sir Thomas Gresley, young George Moore, a nice-looking lad, and
your humble servant, and, by this time, seven and a half couple of hounds.
Hamar saw some farmers take away nine couples to Kedleston. Allowing for
wayfarers, Tom had but a small party, but Sir Thomas and George Moore
overtook him with our forlorn hope before they got to Kedleston. Miss Meynell
and I met with unbounded hospitality at a small farmhouse — excellent gruel for
horses, and hay too ; tea, black and green, with a taste of fine old rum in it,
teacakes, etc., etc. We could not between us raise money enough to evince our
sense of Mrs. Booth's entertainment ; such a cheery old lady ; had been married
fifty years ; had got twelve children, no end of grandchildren, and her hair was
as black as a raven's wing. The retracing of our steps (the run was no joke),
but to bring horses that had done thirty miles in the run twenty-five miles to
their stables, Mc labor, hoc opus ; however, we were in brave spirits ; we lost two
miles by going into BraOsford town instead of crossing the road at the mill. We
passed Ednaston before six, and, though often too tired to trot, Miss Meynell
reached Longford before half-paot six, carrying with her the trophy of the run.
I got home before eight, dined on half the wing of a chicken, won seven points
at whist, two games at billiards, easy, and went to bed, but not to sleep, I was
too excited.
In this year the South Stafford Hunt, as it now is, was
started. Lords Alexander and Berkeley Paget went to
see Mr. Hugo Meynell to ask if he would allow the Hunt
to draw any part of the outside of his country. The result
was that he agreed to lend the country from Black Slough
to Ingestre, including Beaudesert and Cannock Chace,
provided one of " the Pagets " became master, which Lord
Henry Paget, their brother, did, for five years. He was
272 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1868
succeeded by Captain Browne, of Hall Court, Hereford-
shire.
This district still belongs to the Meynell, and they
have the right to go there any time they want to. They
always used to have a day on Cannock Chace at the end
of the season, but nowadays there is too much wire
there for pleasure. The North Stafford now draw the
Ingestre coverts, but the Meynell have been there within
the last two years.
1868] ( 273 )
CHAPTER XXIIL
1868-1869.
OEMS OF THE KENNEL — GREAT RUN FROM RAVENSDALE
PARK GOOD RUN FROM EDNASTON GORSE.
Field, May 21st, 1868:—
MR. MEYNELL INGRAM'S HOUNDS.
Bv " Cecil."
Hoar Cross Hall, the family seat of Mr. Meynell Ingram, is very centrally
situated as regards all places of meeting, with the exception of those on the
northern extremity, which are hunted the first week in each month from
Kedleston inn, as mentioned in my communication last week. The kennels are
near to the house, an accommodation of inestimable value to every master
of hounds who takes a lively interest in the welfare of the pack. On the
■occasion of my visit, I was most courteously received by Mr. Hugo Meynell
Ingram, and we forthwith proceeded to the flags.
This year's list enumerates fifty-one couples and a half, nine couples and a
half of which are juveniles ; this is rather below their average, the dire disease
distemper having reduced their numbers. The sires on duty are Agent, Fairplay,
Rockwood, General, Absolute, Nimrod, Nathan, Finder, Marmion, with Manager
and Fleecer marked for promotion.
Agent, in his sixth season, a black, white, and tan coloured hound, of good
proportions and thick through his body, is a son of the Duke of Rutland's Agent
and Hopeful. His Grace's Agent, through Mr. Foljambe's Forester, traces back
to the Belvoir kennels, connecting the Bluecap and Furrier strains, so often noticed
by me as a remarkable instance of conveying their type. Both Bluecap and
Furrier go back in precisely the same lines to Mr. Meynell's Guzman, entered in
1704, son of his German and Blowsy. Hopeful rejoices also in ancestors of
wonderful fame, and goes remotely into similar families as her partner. She was
a daughter of Alaric, a great favourite in these and other kennels, and Hostile.
He was a son of Falstaff and Agnes, and was descended, through Lord Yar-
Lorough's Flasher, in eight strains or more from their old Ranter. Mr. Osbaldeston's
Furrier is also in the escutcheon. Hostile was a daughter of Sir Watkin Wynn's
Admiral and his Harmony, and came to these kennels unentered. This line
introduces jVIr. Foljambe's Albion, with his Harbinger, and two strains from Mr.
'Osbaldeston's Piper, with a line from the Duke of Beaufort's Justice. There are
-also six infusions of the Brocklesby old Ranter in this order.
VOL. I. T
274 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1S6S
Fairplay, the same age as Agent, a black, white, and tan, enjoying an
irreproachable character, possesses great power, and is particularly good over his
loins ; he is the issue of Alfred and Fancy. Alfred stood in great favour with
Sir John Trollope, and very justly so, as he was the sire of his Primate and
Woodman, besides several others of high repute. Alfred was a son of Alaric,
already described, and Gadfly, a great-granddaughter of Lord Yarborough's
Flasher, consequently running to the same strains of old celebrities. Her sire,
the Duke of Eutland's Grappler, owes his birth to Mr. Foljambe's Rifler, and
through that source is descended from the Furrier of imperishable fame, and
through Lord Yarborough's Chaser in several more lines to Planter. Fancy was
daughter of the Duke of Beaufort's Foreman and Pedrose, an offspring of Mr.
Foljambe's Render, brother to Rifler, consequently running again to the same
origin.
Rockwood, a black and white hound, with very little tan, is rather light of
bone, but his good deeds have gained him favour, and his progenj', of which there
are four couples and a half in the kennel, do him ample justice. He comes of
good parentage, being the issue of Reginald and Primrose. The sire was a son
of Mr. Foljambe's Reginald, in whose lineage is found Albion, with the Duke of
Rutland's Courier and Mr. Osbaldeston's Piper, and it is especially remarkable
that the Bluecap and Furrier combinations are each of them twice repeated -
Primrose was a daughter of Hercules and Paragon. Her sire's immediate
ancestors were natives of these kennels, while Paragon, her dam, was daughtei-
of the Duke of Rutland's Pilot, going in the preceding generation to Lord
Yarborough's kennels, and thus securing the best of that ancient blood.
General and Gleaner, brothers, both black, white, and tan, are of a very use-
ful stamp, though going to Mr. Lane Fox's kennel, where power is a significant
feature. The blood of Mr. Foljambe's kennels is very prominent. The Bramham
moor General is their accredited sire, and he was a gi-andson of Lord Yarborough's
Ruler, which hound, as all know who are intimate with kennel lore, was bred by
the Squire of Osberton. Rosalind, the dam of the two hounds, was a daughter of
Reginald, sire of Rockwood and Heedless, who was sister to Hopeful, the dam of
Agent.
Absolute, in his fourth season, is a hound of considerable power, and in height
rather over the general standard. He is a son of Alfred, therefore half-brother
to Fairplay. Rarity, his dam, was a daughter of Sir Watkin Wj^nn's Royal and
Fancj', the dam of Fairplay. Royal, it must be remembered, was a son of Lord
Fitzwilliam's Singer, and goes back to Lord Yarborough's Eallywood, and very
promptly to Mr. Foljambe's kennels.
Nirarod, in his fourth season, is a son of the Duke of Rutland's Nimrod, and
when it is mentioned that he inherits all the characteristics of that far-famed
kennel, it is almost unnecessary to observe that his colour is black, white, and
tan, and that of the very richest shade. His grace's Nimrod was a grandson of
Mr. Drake's Duster, who conveyed a combination of celebrities from divers
kennels of renown besides his own, the Duke of Beaufort's being the most
prominent, and through that channel to Sir Thomas Mostyn's. Then there is
the Duke of Grafton's, Lord Southampton's, and Mr. Warde's in gi-eat attendance,
indicating power, and the great size prevailing amongst those packs. This has
been softened down by the elegant symmetry of the Belvoir blood, assisted by
the introduction of Lord Yarborough's beautiful Basilisk, sire of Rail}' wood.
This hound, like so many more of high fame, was descended from Mr. Osbaldes-
ton's Furrier, and an infinity of the Brocklesby old Ranter strains. Garland,
Nimrod's dam, was daughter of Ganymede and Hostile, the grandson of Agent.
1868] GEMS OF THE KENNEL. 275
Ganymede was son of Hercules and Glory, whose nearest of kin were bred at
tliese kennels.
Nathan, in his third season, a black, white, and tan, is a very smart, active
hound, with very captivating head, neck, and shoulders, and tells you at the first
glance that he enjoys a pace. He is the produce of Lord Yarborough's Nathan
and Gladsome. In his lordship's hound we find an immediate descent from Lord
Henry Bentinck's Craftsman, whereby we get Mr. Foljambe's Herald, and in
Nathan's lineage there is also that gentleman's Albion. Gladsome was a
daughter of Alaric and Graceful ; her sire, Eifleman, was a grandson of Mr.
Foljambe's Herald.
Finder, although only in his second season, has exhibited so much excellence
as to place him on the paternal list. He is a black, white, and tan colour,
the white prevailing, and has good symmetry to recommend him. He is the
issue of Alfred, sire of Fairplay and Freedom, whose sire Reginald has already
been introduced as the sire of Rockwood ; the dam, Fairy, was sister to Fancy,
the dam of Fairplay.
Marmion, of the same year as his predecessor, is likewise black, white, and
tan, with capital loins and thighs, and is son of Merrimac and Witchcraft ;
Merrimac was the produce of Reginald and Harmony. Reginald was described
as sire of Rockwood, and Harmony was sister to Hopeful, the dam of Agent.
Witchcraft represents Lord Henry Bentinck's Wanderer, son of the Duke of
Rutland's Comus and Wrangle, a daughter of Content, so that Mr. Foljambe's
kennels are still in the ascendency. Hecuba, Witchcraft's dam, was sister
to Harmony, Heedless, and Hopeful.
On the list for promotion is Manager, son of Merrimac, and Tuneful, daughter
of Ravager and Thetis, whose paternal ancestors were from the Oakley kennels.
Ravager was a son of the Duke of Rutland's Prompter and Redrose, the grand-
dam of Fairplay. The Belvoir blood was intermixed with the Brocklesby, en-
tailing divers strains of their Ranter again.
In similar order is Fleecer, son of Forester and Dairymaid. He is a nice
shaped, lively hound, and of the right size. Hercules, the sire of Forester, and
his immediate paternal antecedents, were natives of these kennels, and Fairy, his
dam, has been introduced in connection with Finder. With faithful allegiance
to Mr. Foljambe's kennels, his Duster was the sire and Princess the dam of
Dairymaid. Duster quickly runs to antecedents identical with Forester's,
whereby the Bluecap and Furrier affinities are again conspicuous.
The senior of the matrons is Witchcraft, the dam of Marmion. She possesses
plenty of power, though age, hard work, and the duties of a mother have had
their influences. There is a very good-looking daughter of hers, Violet, in her
third season, by the Duke of Beaufort's Vaulter. She has lots of bone, and her
character in her work is unexceptionable. Vaulter was a hound of very high
pretensions. His sire, Fleecer, was bred by Mr. Morrel from Lord Fitzhard-
inge's Furrier, and goes back to Mr. Foljambe's Herald and the Vine Pilgrim.
Beatrice, in her sixth season, is one of the few not black, white, and tan ; her
colour is a good hare pie. She is a daughter of the Hon. George Fitzwilliam's
Bluecap and Ruby, Bluecap was a son of Bellman, bred at Brocklesby, but
entered by Mr. Drake ; Ruby was daughter of Falstaff and Roguish.
Laura, a black, white, and tan, in her fifth season, possesses great power and
elegance. She is a daughter of Lord Henry Bentinck's Larkspur ; and Glad-
some Larkspur, son of Comrade, introduces Sir Richard Sutton's famous True-
man family.
Going through the pack, I must not omit Madrigal and IMelody, both hare
276 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1868
pies in their fourth season. They have great power, with rare loins and thighs,
and are daughters of Merriman and Hyacinth, whose immediate predecessors
were bred at their kennels ; Monarch, Matron, and Music are of the same litter.
Ringlet is a daughter of Lord Henry Bentinck's Regulus and Harmony, and
she exemplifies so many excellent qualities that she must not be passed over.
Regulus was always an especial favourite in my estimation, and I give him the
preference over his brothers, Rector and Regent. He was a descendant of Con-
test, and, going back to Mr. Foljambe's kennels, perpetuates two strains from
Mr. Osbaldeston's Fun-iei'.
A year younger is Arrogant, the issue of Comus and Artful, whose sire,
Argus, was bred at Belvoir, from Trusty and Nightshade, consequently brother
to the Duke of Rutland's Alfred and Agent. Comus, son of Hercules, goes back
to Lord Yarborough's Flasher. Columbine, black, white, and tan, daughter of
Conqueror and Garland, is of great size. The sire's antecedents were a happy
combination of the Bramham Moor and Belvoir kennels. Conqueror is also
represented by Countess and Cowslip, both black, white, and tan, with all the
indications of resolution. Hasty, their dam, was a daughter of Reginald and
Heedless. Nimble, sister to Nathan, bears a strong resemblance to her brother,
and possesses the inestimable quality of taking up the fleeting scents, invariably
preventing difficulties on roads. Pamela, a rich black, white, and tan, with fine
proportions and great elegance, is a daughter of the Duke of Beaufort's Guards-
man and Prudence. In racing parlance, she will be heard of as a matron on
future occasions. Guardsman, a hound of great power, but not without some
coarseness, is son of the Duke of Rutland's Guider and Harriet, in whom again
we find a descendant of Sir Richard Sutton's Trueman, and, in the maternal line,
the same ancestors as the Badminton Rufus and Remus, of imperishable fame.
Prudence, being a daughter of Trojan and Pamela, perpetuates the race of Alfred
and Lord Yarborough's Flasher ; and another strain from the same kennel, com-
bined with Sir Richard Sutton's Red Rose, a comely daughter of Rockwood and
Amethyst, has all the appearance of a hard worker, quick in all her actions ;
Amethyst was sister to Agent.
In their second season. Abbess, Adelme, full of bone, and Agnes, come in for
a great amount of admiration ; unexceptionable in symmetry, good workers, and
of hardy constitutions. They are representatives of Rockwood and Amulet,
sister to Artful, who, from the same partner, Rockwood, produced Ardent, a very
comely young lad}'^, with length of frame. Fallacy, sister to Finder, must not be
passed by without distinctive compliments ; neither must Primrose, daughter of
Merrimac and Purity, or Rival, sister of later birth to Redrose. Symmetry, well
deserving her name, is a daughter of Mr. Foljambe's Roderick and Syren. 1
now come, I think, to the choicest inmate of the kennels — Trinket, the produce
of Merrimac and Tuneful, granddaughter of the Duke of Rutland's Prompter, full
of the best blood in the Belvoir and Brocklesby kennels.
This season's entry, although not numerically extensive, is full of character.
Albert and Archer are sprung from Agent and Beatrice ; they are of the right
size, with the character of hard runners. Fatima, daughter of the Duke of
Rutland's Falstaft' and Winsome, has great substance about her thighs, is good
over the loins, on short proportionate legs. Winsome was daughter of Lord
Henry Bentinck's Wanderer, a descendant of Contest's. Mira, of rich black,
white, and tan, on short legs, is the daughter of Albion, and a former Mira, sister
to Merrimac. Needwood, Needful, and Norah are from Nimrod and Gladsome.
Needful will no doubt be promoted to the honours of maternity. Ranter, Rustic,
Rachael, and Ransom are descended from Royal and Lively. The two latter
1868] GEMS OF THE KENNEL. 277
are remarkably good-looking, with freedom of action. Royal was a son of Sir
Watkin Wynn's Royal and Lively, a daughter of Lord Henry Bentinck's Lark-
spur and Gladsome. Regan and Rosamond are from Regulus and Songstress.
Rivulet is a daughter of Albion and Ringlet, and she does justice to her parent-
age. Singer, Sorcerer, and Stormer represent Regulus and Syren ; they are
particularly clean, Sorcerer remarkably handsome, which may also be said of
Stormer, though he is rather light of bone. Wilful ends the list ; she is a
daughter of Wanderer and Dairymaid, very good, and a rare young one to drive
a scent.
Taking the pack in a body, the bitches have an unquestionable ascendancy ;
indeed, it would be difficult to find a better, if so good a lot. What a happy
result ! You may procure the services of dog hounds from other kennels, but
the other sex you cannot procure if they possess high pretensions.
For some years past the supply of water was not of good quality, hence
inconvenience arose, affecting some of the hounds in a peculiar manner. That
has been fortunately overcome by procuring water from a different source, and
the annoyance no longer exists.
Although Mr. Meynell Ingram does not attend his hoimds in the field, nor has
he been able to do so for several years, the interest he takes in the perfection of
the pack, and the sport they afford, is as keen as ever. Mr. Hugo Meynell
Ingram performs the duties with admirable tact and judgment, always in the
front rank when hounds are rimning. The Miss Meynells are also ardently fond
of hunting, and their equestrian accomplishments have gained a -wide-spread
fame. In a conversation I had with Mr. Meynell Ingram at luncheon, after a
very delightful morning on the flags, I was much gratified to find that he con-
firmed an opinion I have for some time entertained and expressed, that the very
upright pasterns and cat's feet, so imperative in the estimation of the most
critical judges of hoimds, were not the most serviceable for useful pui-poses. It
is quite evident that more concussion must exist with such very straight pasterns,
and that upon the same principle that it is known to exist in the horse.
The fact of this lengthy article appearing in the lead-
ing paper for all hunting subjects is sufficient proof, if any
were needed, of the high estimation in which the Hoar
Cross hounds were held at this date.
A similar one appears in 1886, from which they do
not seem to have lost their ancient prestige. After that
Mr. Bass is said to have improved them immensely. It
is worth while for the reader to bear these facts in mind.
For the present, however, it is more to the purpose to
turn to their actual performances in the field.
The season opened on October 26th, and then for some
reason they did not go out again till November 9th. The
Master was kept at home a great deal through indisposition ,
but, which is more curious still, hounds did not come out
one day because neither Tom nor Charles were well enough
278 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [ISG'J
to go. This must have been between the 10th and the
23rd of November, as there was no hunting between those
dates. Several good runs occurred before Christmas, but
nothing very extraordinary.
On January 12th they had a very good, fast forty-five
minutes from Chartley Moss, by Grindley, Boothy, under
Newton village, turned to the right by Swansmoor, Hixon,
Hamerton, Shirley Wych, to ground in Sandon Park.
Bretby, from which there had been such good runs in
old days, was by this time clearly out of favour, for the
diarist speaks of " a regular Bretby day, running round
Repton Shrubs, Hoofing, Levellings, Bretby village, all
day. Killed two foxes."
On January 20th they found in Pipe Wood, ran two
or three rings, and then crossed the Blythe. This from
the diary, but old Tom used to say he never saw gentlemen
so fond of water as Lord Berkeley Paget, Mr. " Dick "
FitzHerbert, and one or two more were that day, for
when they came to the Blythe, which was in flood, not
very far from where the road crosses it going to Blith-
l3ury, they must needs ride smack at it. They got over,
too, with nothing worse than a splash, where the horses'
hind feet lit in the flood water !
' Mr. FitzHerbert seemed partial to timber as well that
day, according to old Jack Bond, for the latter said he
saw him come sailing over a great high gate into the road
near Blithbury. There were giants in those days. We
do not do those sort of things now.
At last, on February 2nd, there came a great run — for
hounds. No one was with them but Mr. Tomlinson, of
Bradley Pastures, and, from the latter's own account, Mr.
Sampson of Langley, a very keen follower of the Meynell
hounds, who is still with us. This is Mr. Meynell Ingram's
account : " Found in Ravensdale Park. Went away very
fast by the New Gorse, Halter Devil Chapel, Jarratt's
Gorse to Bradley fishponds, by Bradley Pastures, over
Atlow Whin, by Hognaston, Hopton, Carsington Pastures,
over the High Peak railway to Wirksworth Town end.
1869J GREAT RUN FROM RAVENSDALE PARK. 279
back by Callow Windmill, Kirk Ireton, Blackwall to
Biggin, wliere they killed him just where Tom's horse
died last year. Tomliuson of Bradley saw them catch the
fox, and took them home. Tom and Charles arrived
fifteen minutes after they had gone. None of the field
ever saw them after Bradley. The points on the ordnance
map make it fifteen and a half miles, and they were
rimnino- about two hours."
Unluckily the master himself was not out, or he might
have seen this extraordinary run, of which Mr. Tomlinson
talked to his dying day. Mr. Meynell Ingram adds, with
pardonable pride, " Dog pack. All at the end but States-
man and Conrad." The latter was the only hound which
Mr. Kichard FitzHerbert could see when he got to the
end of the raw young one which he was riding, being at
that time the only man near them.
There was a printed account of this same day in the
Field, which runs as follows : —
It is just oue yeai' since the great run of more than four hours, which was
considered, and justly so, one of the most famous on record ; but the sport these
unsurpassed hounds have shown on the three Derby days of last week almost
exceeds anything even the most veteran sportsman can remember. Tuesday was
of course the Kedleston daj', when we tried first the Weston covert, which was
blank, and then Ravensdale Park, where a fine old hill fox was found, which,
after being aroused, quietly looked up from his comfortable bed, and made straight
for his native home at such a pace that gave no chance for a start. Th^ scent
was perfect, and the hounds went to work in such style, that, before twenty
minutes were gone, not a horseman was left in view of them, for over the hills
they went like flashes of lightning, and ran to Hopton ; the fox, turning, came back
by Calow Windmill, in a direct line for Blackwall, and, very strange, was killed
within fifty yards of the scene of last year's great finish. The only one up at
the time was Mr. Tomlinson of Bradley, who joined us soon after passing his
house, and who accidentally met the hounds just before Reynard gave it up, and
conveyed them to their quarters.
The meet at Radburne ensures a large field, and last Thursday was no
exception, being one of the largest and most brilliant we have ever seen, with an
immense attendance of ladies in splendid equipages. Month after month the
sport here has been so good that no one who hunts ever thinks of missing it.
The Melton division was strongly and well represented, amongst them the very
popular master of the Quom, ]VIr. Musters, who went in first-rate style. The
Rough was drawn blank, and then on to the Brick-kiln Covert, where a fox was
found, and, after one or two false starts, he made for Kedleston, but did not get
across the Ashbourne road; pointed then for Brailsford, which he shunned to
the left, going through Wild Park, ]\Iercaston, Weston, towards Breward's Car,
which he left to the right, going on for Turnditch, coming round by the Lilies
280 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [18G9
with the hounds within fifty yards of his brush ; still he struggled gamely on to
the Car, where the ladies made short work of him, after a grand run of about
eighty minutes.
Before he could be eaten up another fox was halloaed away, and, after a
short run, was killed in Kavensdale covert. New gorse was next tried, where
a poor wretch was found with a broken leg in a trap. It was now getting late,
but, some sportsmen not having had enough. Spring Car was drawn, where a
rare good fox was found, which, after a fine hunting run, was finally killed in the
Darley osier bed.
The finish of this run was most exciting. Lord Berkeley Paget, Mr. Henry
Boden, Mr. Bird, and Mr. E. Cin-zon had been going, one against the other, all
the way, and the first named had perhaps a little the best of it, ending up with
jumping off his horse and racing with Mr. Curzon, who had done the same, for
the honour of taking the fox from the hounds, and his lordship won. Old Tom,
too, had gone like a hero on Daddy Longlegs, and the eight who were at the
finish, made up a " Cap " for him.
Arleston Gorse was the order for Saturday. It being an unusually fine
morning the muster was again large, especially of the ladies. A fox was soon
found, which, after a fast thirty minutes, went to ground in a drain. Willington
coverts blank, ditto Burnaston. Egginton Gorse next being tried, a bad fox was
found, ringing back two or three times, till at last it got too hot for him to stay.
He then made for Bui-naston, pointing for Radburne, but, heading round for the
Pastures, was killed after a fair hunting run of about forty minutes.
It is a matter of great regret that the popular owner of these wonderful
hounds was not able to participate in this week's brilliant sport, the regret being
naturally increased by the fact that he was prevented from joining it by
indisposition. It is due to Tom Leedham to say that he never rode with more
pluck or with better judgment.
Considering that Tom was now sixty-four years old,
this is no small compliment.
Mr. Meynell Ingram has left a good account of these
days, and tells us how in the last run on the Radburne
day, from Spring, or rather Champion Car, they came away
very fast to Allestree, turned to the right, came back
by Quorndon, Kedleston inn, across Kedleston Park, by
Weston, through Breward's Car, down to Eccelbourne by
Duffield, to the right of Burley Hills, left Allestree close
to the right, went into the meadows and straight up to
Darley osier bed, where they killed him, and Berkeley
(Lord Berkeley Paget) brought him out on his back. One
hour and forty minutes." The comment is, " Very hot.
Eight people at the end." It is pretty safe to assume
that Mr. and Mrs. Musters, who were out, were two of
them. Of the Arleston day mentioned above, the diary
has but little to say, except that the fox was very much
1869] GOOD RUN FROM EDNASTON GORSE. 281
headed. As lie himself was not out, it looks as if Tom
had had a good grumble when he got home.
On February 18th, in the afternoon, there was a good
run from Ednaston Gorse. They ran from there up to
Bradley Bottoms, back by Brailsford Gorse without going
into it, down nearly to Longford, up to Mr. Cox's, by
White's Covert, across to Mercaston, Weston, AVild Park,
Vicar Wood, Langley, Markeaton, Wheathills, Pildock
Nursery, back to the Langley road, where Tom stopped
them, after running two hours and twenty minutes, and
a good twenty miles.
On the 22nd there was another good day at Walton.
They found in Lullington Gorse, crossed the Mease, and
ran hard for forty minutes to Amington Gorse. Here they
hung for twenty minutes. Then away again down to the
Tame, and ran about Tamworth, Wigginton, etc., con-
stantly changing foxes, till Tom stopped them in the end,
when they had been running for three hours and forty
minutes.
The master was not out, probably because of his
father's failing health, for on February 26th, only four
days after this good run, the old squire was gathered to
his fathers, at the good old age of eighty-six.
282 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE OLD SQUIRE — THE MISSES MEYNELL INGRAM TOM
LEEDHAM's broken leg — GREAT RUN TO TAMWORTH.
1869-1870.
This was the title by which Mr. Hugo Charles Meynell
Ingram was best known latterly for miles round Hoar
Cross, and it seemed to suit him. For he was a perfect
specimen of the type, living and dying amongst his own
people. One who knew him well wrote the following
notice of him : —
The family of Meynell, or Mesnil, as it is spelt in the
older records, trace their lineage back to the Norman
period, and the members of this family have in successive
reigns held various important positions in the country.
They settled in Yorkshire and Derbyshire, where the family
place still bears the name of Meynell Langley. It is
with the Derbyshire branch that we have to do.
Hugo Charles Meynell, the eldest son of Hugo
Meynell, Esq., and Elizabeth, third daughter and co-
heiress of Charles, ninth Viscount Irwine of Temple New-
sam in the county of York, came of a race of sportsmen,
his grandfather, Hugo Meynell, having been the celebrated
master of the Quorn, well known as " the father of fox-
hunting."
Hugo Charles Meynell was born in 1784, and educated
at Harrow, where amongst other friendships he formed a
lasting one with a school-fellow who in later life, as Lord
Palmerston, played a prominent part in the history of the
nation. When quite a young man he also formed a
THE OLD SQUIRE. 283
friendship with the Prince of Wales, of whom he used to
recall many anecdotes.
This friendship with the Prince and many others was,
however, early severed by Mr. Meynell's retirement to the
country in order to devote himself to the duties of a
M.F.H., and it was very difficult ever afterwards to
persuade him to leave his country home. He married, in
1819, Georgina, daughter of Mr. F. Pigou, of Dartford,
Kent, a lady whose brilliancy and charm won her the
close friendship of such men as Sydney Smith, Lord
Brougham, Walter Savage Landor, and Charles Young,
and her exchanging the attractions of such society for
the wilds of Staffordshire was often lamented by these
friends. But the charms of the chace were paramount
in her husband's estimation, and, indeed, it is doubtful
whether, in those early days, the family fortune would
have been equal to the heavy drain of keeping a pack
of foxhounds, and the expenses of a London house.
Be that as it may, Mr. Meynell's devotion to hunting
never knew any diminution, and when, in 1842, he
succeeded to the family estates in Yorkshire, and assumed
the additional surname of Ingram, not even the attractions
of his beautiful Yorkshire home at Temple Newsam could
induce him to spend more than six weeks away from his
beloved hounds.
Early in the fifties continued attacks of sciatica
compelled him to resign the active duties of the master-
ship to his son, Mr. Hugo Francis. Still, he never ceased
to take the greatest interest in the doings of the pack
which he had founded and raised to a very high pitch of
excellence. Fox-hunting was the absorbing interest of his
life, from which not even the solicitations of Sydney
Smith could wean him. The latter wrote to ]\Irs. Meynell
Ingram, " Your husband has been chasing foxes for thirty-
five years. Can you not induce him to give it up ? "
But it would have been almost as easy to have dammed
the falls of Niagara as to quench that inbred love of
hunting, which was a part and parcel of the squire's very
284 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
existence. And such sport as lie liad, with his own
hounds too, which is the very acme of enjoyment, was
enough to make any one forget the pleasures of London
society. When he first began hunting the hare, he
carried the horn himself, and his brother Edward,
who was in the 10th Eoyal Hussars, and Henry, who
afterwards became the admiral, whipped in to him.
Capital fun they had. But when fox-hunting became
thoroughly established, and he assumed the responsibilities
of the master of a subscription pack, as his was at first,
he handed over the horn to Tom Leedham the first, his
Jidus Achates in all hunting matters. The latter must
have imbibed some of the lore venatical of Quarndon
from his old master. Thus the relationship of these two
was perhaps more that of tutor and pupil than the usual
one of man and master. However, to judge from the
sport they had, the combination worked very well. As to
his riding to hounds, there is no one who can remember
him as a young man, but, from the little that can be
gleaned from contemporary writers, he was always with
his hounds. Of the latter he was a consummate judge,
and had every detail of kennel lore at his fingers' ends.
It must have been a congenial party at Hoar Cross,
thoroughly united by a common bond. Another thing
which the squire had in common with his eldest daughter
was a love of music, for he was a good performer on the
fiddle, while she was one of Halle's favourite and most
promising pupils. In fact, there was nothing which
she attempted which she did not excel in. Not only was
she, like her sister (who is now living at Binfield in Berk-
shire), a most brilliant horsewoman, but, as has been
said, a most accomplished musician, a beautiful dancer and
skater, while her conversation was so witty and sparkling
that, on one occasion, at least, every one was so taken up
with listening to it that they were all left behind in
Birchwood. There is a tradition that she skated so grace-
fully that the late Queen asked to see her on the ice. In
speaking of the Misses Meynell Ingram's horsemanship it
*\
1869] THE MISSES MEYNELL INGRAM. 285
must be remembered that they rode without the assistance
of the third pommel, which is universal now, and deserve
the very greatest credit on that account. But there is no
need for the present writer to sing their praises. That
has been done by almost every penman whose writings
have been quoted in this volume, and their horsemanship
is proverbial. So long as there is a pack of hounds in the
country — and may the day never come when there is
not ! — their doings will be a household story.
Hounds went out again on March 15th, 1869, and
the date was memorable as being the day on which
Charles Leedham first carried the horn. His uncle Tom
had a cold, and said he should not go. " Let me take the
horn," Charles said — a proposition to which his uncle
agreed, with the encouraging remark, " Much good may it
do you ! "
The nephew found his fox in Eaton Wood, and hounds
ran well by Marston Park, and Roston, crossing the Dove
close to Norbury Bridge, through the Wootton Woods,
and marked their fox to ground under the drive at Alton
Towers. He was got out and killed. Charles used to
have some story about Mr. Keates getting bitten. As
hounds ran down by the Dove one of them snapped at
a lamb, catching him across the loins. When the hunts-
man got home he told his uncle what a good day they
had had, and how he had killed his fox, and so on, but he
either did not know, or, at any rate, did not say, anything
about the lamb. The latter unfortunately died, and in
due course the claim came in to Tom, who, rejoicing at
having something to set against his nephew's success,
growled out, "Well, Mr. Hontsman, ye tell us all the
good things, but ye say nowt about the bad."
On March 21st there is this entry, " Chartley.
■Chopped a fox on the Moss, and some boys killed one in
a trap. Hounds went away with another, and the field
lost them entirely. At the end of three hours, Tom
found them in Bagot's Woods." The master was not
out.
286 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1869
A day or two afterwards there is a mention of his
brother-in-law, Captain the Hon. Harry "Wood, being out.
He was a good sportsman and very fine horseman, who
hunted a Q-ood deal with the hounds.
The 28 th was a day of misfortunes, for Mr. West of
Derby, when galloping across Foston Park at the end of
the day, struck his head against the bough of a tree and
was killed. The wind was blowing a storm of rain
against his face, and he was holding his head down to
avoid it, and consequently did not see a bough, which
struck him full on the top of his head. ]\ir. Nathaniel
Curzon's groom broke his leg.
The last day of the season was spent in Bagot's
Woods. Foxes killed, nineteen and a half brace ; run to
ground, seven ; number of hunting days, sixty.
1869-1870.
The opening day was on October 25th, and sport was
only moderate for some time. The Kadburne days were
the great attraction for strangers, and on December 9th
there was an unusually large contingent from Melton,
including Mr. and Mrs. Musters, and Gillard. There was
rather a nice ring from Eadburne Rough to Brailsford and
back, and Messrs. Dancey and Coupland had each the
misfortune to break a leg.
The first day which is at all out of the common run in
the New Year, 1870, was a good forty minutes on a Blyth-
bury day. The fox took them an unusual line from Pipe
Wood, through Pear Tree Gorse, by the Old Wood, ta
Bellamoor. Hence he crossed the canal, railroad, and river,
and went straight to ground at Wolseley Park. Then
again on the 18th, from Kingston Woods, they had a good
ringing hunt, running pretty much all day, till Tom broke
his leg, when they stopped the hounds and went home.
The extraordinary thing about this is that he was out on
February 24th, which is a rapid recovery for an old man
going on for seventy, and broke it again ! The first
1870] GREAT RUN TO TAMWORTH. 287
Radburne day in February saw no less than twenty-eight
people from Melton, including Lord and Lady Wilton,
Mr. Little Gilmour, and others, but they were hardly
repaid for their trouble. But had they been out the next
day but one, when hounds came to Kedleston Gate, they
would have seen how fast hounds could go. In fact. Sir
Richard FitzHerbert, who is no bad judge, says it was the
fastest " burst " he has ever seen. Mr. Meynell Ingram
says, " Found at Allestree, ran very fast by Colvile's
Covert, Farnah, Breward's Car, Ravensdale Park, to
ground in the earths there ; twenty-four minutes." This
was more than a four-mile point over a very hilly country,
and they were only twelve minutes running from Allestree
to Breward's Car, three miles and a half
There was a scent all day, for, later on, they found in
Potter's, and ran quite as fast, if not faster, to Foston, in
twelve minutes ; then they ran back slower to Barton
Blount and lost their fox. On the 8th they had a good,
old-fashioned day in the woods, sticking to their fox for
two hours and a half, and killing him at last at Bank
Top. On March 7th there was a good day at Walton.
Finding in Walton Wood, they ran very fast nearly to
Lullington, thence to Haselour, where they checked after
a fast thirty minutes. Hitting it oft' again, they hunted
prettily by Elford and killed him on the railway, half a
mile from Tamworth Station, after a capital run of an hour
and forty minutes. Miss Georgiana Meynell Ingram had
not been hunting much this year on account of the illness
of her elder sister, who was not well enough to come out
at all. But the former was out on this day, and no doubt
told the Master, who was not out, all about it when she
got home. There is a printed account of it.
Field, March 12th, 1870 :—
This time-famed and gallant pack had the run of the season on Monday last.
The meet was at Catton, where a fox was found and chopped. The hounds were
then trotted on to Walton Wood, from whence a real varmint was soon got
away. Pointing first to Catton, he then turned in the direction of Lullington, but
changed his course for Edingale, and from thence held his way between Harlaston
and Haselour, and, crossing the Midland llailway, made for Elford, where he
288 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1870
sought refuge in the wood between Elford Lowe and the river Tame. Here,
however, Reynard found short breathing time, his staunch pursuers forcing him
through the wood, leaving which he crossed the meadows in the direction of
Comberford; then, bearing away to the left for Wigginton Fields, he recrossed
the railway, passing over Syerscote Manor and the Tamworth and Ashby turn-
pike road, through Mr. Leigh's shrubberies at Amington Hall, and seemed to be
making for that gentleman's gorse covert. Prevented in this, or changing his
mind, he then turned southward in the direction of Tamworth, hoping, perhaps,
to find a hiding-place in that close borough ; but the fates were against him, and,
after again crossing the Midland Eailway, he was killed in the open within two
or three fields from the Tamworth station. Distance by the ordinary road from
find to finish, eleven miles. Time, one hour and forty-three minutes. This
gallant fox having led his pursuers from Derbyshire through the south-eastern
portion of Staffordshire into Warwickshire. Amongst those who were fortunate
enough to take part in this memorable day's sport, we may mention Miss
Georgiana Meynell, who rode well throughout, the Hon. ]\Irs. Colvile and Mr.
Colvile, jun.. Lord Alexander Paget, Mr. H. Leigh, Mr. Willington, General
Phillips, Mr. Wolferstan, Mr. Moore, jun., Mr. Vaughan Lee, Mr. Evans, Mr.
Curzon, Mr. Tonman Mosley, Mr. Levett, etc.
On March 19tli they had a good run from Bannister's
Rough, by Dunstall, across Mr. Bass's farm, to Yoxall
Lodge, under the Coalpit Slade, Brakenhurst, over Hoar
Cross Park, through the Bath, across Bentilee, and by
Bromley Wood into Bagot's Ley. Forty minutes up to
this. Again across Bagot's Park, into the woods at the
Coach Drive, out at Peacock Wood, when a labourer headed
the fox, and he ran a ring under Gorstey Hill, and into
the Banks at Buttermilk Hill, when they gave up. It was
a beautiful day, and the eldest Miss Meynell Ingram was
out.
The season ended on April 2nd with a day in the
woods.
Foxes killed, thirteen and a half brace ; run to ground,
four brace ; blank days, one ; number of hunting days,
sixty-four.
( 289 )
CHAPTER XXV.
" Charles" — the rev. cecil legard — mr. c. w. jervis-
SMITH death of MISS MEYNELL INGRAM — ELFORD.
1870-1871.
" Ah, he is one of the lucky ones ! " So a brother huntsman
described Charles Leedham to the writer. And he was
not far wrong, for Charles may be said to have been born
with a silver spoon, or perhaps, some people might say,
a silver horn, in his mouth. He began as second horse-
man to Mr. Selby Lowndes in the Atherstone country in
1855. When he left Lord Southampton's service in a huff
in 1858, he knew that Hoar Cross was always open to
him, and that in course of time he must step into his
uncle's shoes. Moreover, he was free from pecuniary
worries. In the latter part of his life, at any rate, he
must have felt that he had enough to retire on at any
time. He therefore had little cause to cavil at fortune.
Most men would be contented if they had what he had,
viz. a position in his native county (for he always gave
the impression of a man who considered himself as one
set apart from the common herd) ; an office, pleasant in
itself, and conferring distinction on its holder ; a com-
petency outside of that office ; as much shooting and fishing
as he pleased ; good health ; and a freedom of intercourse
with his superiors in position, which is vouchsafed to but
few in his station. And yet he was not spoilt. It speaks
volumes for his character, that, in spite of all this, every
master, under whom he served, had nothing but good to
speak of him, and felt a real liking for him as a man.
VOL. I. U
290 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
And so, I think, we all did. He might be at times brusque
in his manner, but there was an inherent uprightness and
honesty about him that you could not help liking and
respecting. He was what the Sussex folk call "an up-
standing, down-sitting sort of a man." His " yea " was
"yea," and his "nay" was "nay." No one could cajole
him into agreeing with them. When he shut that firm
mouth of his, stuck out his chin, and set up his great
shoulders, you might know his mind was made up, and
there was an end of it. But every rule has its exception.
The writer remembers meeting Charles in the summer after
the three great hill runs of 1896. He was describing how
at one point hounds had a line down the road, which they
were picking out slowly, when several of the field shouted
to him that the fox had gone to the left. " I might have
known they were wrong," he said, " for the same hounds
that had been leading all the way were leading up the
road, and I lost my fox by listening to the people."
"That is not much like you, Charles. I never knew
you do that before."
" No ; and I'll take dommed good care I never do it
again," was the characteristic reply.
This was just after the Peterborough Show, where
Charles had had to submit to a good deal of good-
humoured chaff from his brethren in the craft, who would
ask him, "Haven't you killed that old hill fox yetf'
It will always be a question whether he cared about
killing his fox or not. Sometimes he did not seem to care
a rap about it. Apparently he came home just as happy
when he had lost his fox after a good run as when he had
killed him. He would often say in the former case,
"He'll be wanted another day." If he was indifferent
about blood, it may have been because at one time, in the
seventies, foxes were not over plentiful, and one might
well "be wanted another day."
Once when hounds had run clean away from all the
field in the Bretby country, and he was galloping hard in
pursuit, some one said to him, " I hope they'll kill him ; "
" CHARLES." 291
and he said, " I don't care whether they do or not, so long
as we get the hounds and go home."
Against this, on another occasion, when hounds had
run a fox from Woodcock Heath through the woods to
near Ash Bank, Draycott, the run fox, with six couples of
hounds, went away on the lower side and to ground in
a stick heap above Hound Hill. Meanwhile, Charles,
with the main body, was halloaed on to a fresh one, and
had a capital gallop all over Agardsley and Hollybush,
but lost his fox. Some one told him about the other lot,
and he was very much annoyed, and said, "If it hadn't
been for the fool halloaing a fresh one, I should have
hilled my fox and gone home happy."
Perhaps the fault lay in his circumstances. His bread
and butter never depended on the sport he showed, and
therefore it is just possible that he never " fashed himself,"
as the Scotch say, nor exerted his powers to the utmost. If
things went well it was all right. No one could ride up
to hounds better than he could, nor could there be a finer
horseman, and he thoroughly enjoyed a good gallop. But
he never was a man to make a good day out of a bad one,
nor did he ever care much to jump a big awkward boundary
fence to make a cast. His principle — the one on which
he had been brought up — was to let hounds alone. And,
though the Meynell country does not lend itself to bold
casts, he may have carried this to an excess. '* If they
can't hunt him, I'm sure I can't," he would say, as he
trotted round by the road, leaving hounds to work it out
or not, as they pleased. That he understood his business
there can be no doubt, but it is possible that his dislike of
persevering with a cold scent may have affected the hounds,
for latterly they were as impatient of adverse circumstances
as he was.
Still, he was a rare fellow to go hunting with. To
hear his voice in the woods was a treat. Not even
"The cheer of Philip Payne as he
The echoiag woodlands drew "
was any richer in volume than that with which Charles
292 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
would make Bagot's or Kingstone Woods ring again. In
fact, he was quite first rate in the woods. With hounds
running hard over the open it was a pleasure to be with
him. There was no hesitation, no waiting for any one
to go first, and he seemed to slip along over the strongest
country as if there were no obstacles, while his cheer
when hounds hit the line at a check was most inspiriting.
What good company he was, too, on the way to covert,
or on the journey home, with his cigar in his mouth.
Every field and every covert brought out a reminiscence
or a racy anecdote of some one. He was very observant,
and a great judge of character. Every one in the hunt
was carefully weighed in the balance of his mind, and
few escaped his keen and somewhat caustic criticism, A
stranger once asked him how so-and-so, a nice light-weight
and capital horseman, went. First, or second, or where ?
"He likes to go a good last," said Charles. "When he
was born a gentleman they spoilt the best second horseman
in England ! "
Again, on a great county magnate, whose wealth was
proverbial, saying to him, " You know, Charles, I'm a
very poor man," he looked up, in a sharp way that he
had, and burst out with, " If you're poor, the Lord help
the rest ! " One little anecdote is indicative of a trait in
his character which few people would expect from his
bluff manner. Coming up the school lane, Sudbury, on
a Saturday, on his way home from cub-hunting, he was
always most careful to have the hounds kept ofi" the door-
steps of the cottages. " They've just cleaned them, you
see," he would say ; and, of course, the hounds were all
wet and dirty, having just crossed the river. Of all his
horses, and he seldom, if ever, of late years, had tO' ride
a bad one, Gobbo was the one he liked to talk of best.
He persuaded Lord Waterpark to buy him when Mr.
Meynell Ingram's horses were sold at Derby, though he
was only a four-year-old, protesting that, young as he was,
he would do more work than " a dealer's horse stuffed full
of potatoes and such trash." When he had ridden him a
" CHARLES." 293
few seasons, Lord Hartington offered Lord Waterpark a lot
of money (four hundred pounds was the current report), and
he generously gave Charles the option of keeping or selling
the horse. After due reflection, the latter said, " It's a
lot of money. Better let him go." When this horse was
first bought Mr. Clowes condemned him as " coach-ey ! "
Paddy, killed in the Ingestre railway accident, in 1882,
was another great favourite of his, and so were the
beautiful Gobang, Leonidas, and the broken-kneed mare.
She cleared twenty-four feet with him over the Hoar Cross
brook. As a rule, he was very lucky with his horses, and
knocked them about less than most people, but when
Paddy was killed, he said, " I wish I'd ridden him yester-
day, for, if I had, I should have had a good ride, and he
would be alive. As it is he's dead, and I expect the one
I rode yesterday will be dead too by the time I get home."
This was a mare he rode in the great North Stafford run
from Draycott Woods to King's Bromley. The horse he
rode on the Thursday died too, so there were three in three
days.
Of all his hounds Linkboy and Merryman, of the real
old Meynell blood, stood first in his aff'ections, though
Colonel, a son of the latter, and one that he walked him-
self, ran them very close. When not at work, the old dog
was always close to his horse's heels, or trotting by his
side. So was Cracker, a son of Colonel's, whom he always
spoke of as " My crack hound." When this dog died in
Bonner's year, in his prime, Charles said, " He was worth
five hundred pounds. You could make a pack of hounds
with a dog like him." He used to enjoy telling the story
of how Advocate bit off* the man's nose, who had brought
a dog-horse from Radburne. The man was looking through
the bars, and the hound had his nose off" in a moment.
Advocate was walked by Mr. Worthington of East Lodge,
and used to chase the school-girls, who wore red cloaks,
given them by Lady Mosley, so he had to be sent in to the
kennels, where he conceived a penchant for noses ! Per-
haps Charles never showed to greater advantage than
294 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
in his behaviour after his resignation. Of course it is
now a matter of history that things did not run smoothly,
and it would not have been at all surprising if he had
evinced a certain amount of satisfaction at the course of
events, but he did nothing of the kind. His only answer,
if told of any piece of bad luck, would probably be, " It's
happened before."
And yet the enforced idleness was very irksome to
him. " It's the hardest work I've ever put in yet," he
remarked to an old friend, alluding to the difficulty of
passing the time. It seemed odd that a man who had
ridden, and lived in the country all his life, should choose
a house in Uttoxeter for his residence, and not even keep
a pony. He came out hunting once at Chartley on a
horse of Mr. Fort's, and seemed to enjoy himself, but he
was so stiff and sore the next day that he said he would
not do it again for twenty pounds. When pressed to
come out hunting he had always some excuse. He had
always ridden three-hundred-guinea horses, and he could
not come down to a forty pounder, he would, say ; or, " It
was all very well for me uncle Tom. He had horses
given to him, and kept too." But it is not improbable
that the fatal disease, which at last laid him low, was
insidiously at work, and that, as an old friend of his said,
it was really misery to him to ride. He would have a
day's fishing now and then with his neighbour, Dr. Fletcher,
whom he considered the best fly-fisherman he ever saw, or
go to shoot sometimes at Blithfield, as he had been wont
to do in his official days. But he was always ailing. He
came to the Puppy Show in 1899, but did not feel u]d to
staying for the luncheon. A few days afterwards the
writer saw him in his house, looking far from well, and
unlike himself, for his only answer to the query, " Don't
you think Tancred " (the prize puppy) " a bit long in the
back ? " was, " Yes ; perhaps he is." Had he been well it
would probably have been, " No, I don't," or, at least, a
dissenting remark of some kind. A day or two after that
he took to his bed and never rallied. " I cannot make it
THE REV. CECIL LEGARD. 295
out," he said, " I feel so tired. And I never used to sit
down except at meal times, the livelong day, and did not
know what it was to be tired."
On September 6th the end came, and there was not a
soul in the country who did not feel as if he had lost a
friend. He was just a year younger than his father, " old
Joe," for the latter lived to be fifty-nine.
It was with a deep sense of sadness that those who
had so often followed him in the huntinsf-field in life,
trooped slowly after him to his last resting-place, and laid
him with his fathers, for it seemed as if with him was
buried also all that remained of the old Hoar Cross Hunt.
It should have been mentioned in 1868 that the
Eev. Cave Humphrey came to Cubley in this year, where
in 1869 the Rev. Cecil Legard came to help him. He
lived in the little red-brick house at Marston-Montgomery,
at the corner just opposite the old half-timbered house,
with the big yew tree in front of it. The rector is the
nephew of the Rev. Cave Humfrey, of Northamptonshire
repute, who has been immortalized by Whyte Melville as
Parson Dove, in "Market Harborough." The nephew
seems to be as fond of hunting as the uncle was, but he
never lets it interfere with his duty. He was once riding
through his parish with the hounds, when the dissenting
minister espied him. " There ! " said he, to an old dame,
triumphantly, pointing the finger of scorn at the rector,
"there's your parson. Do you suppose he'll ever go to
heaven ? "
" Ay, indeed he will," said the old lady, stoutly ;
" bouts and all ! "
He has walked a couple of puppies for the Meynell for
many years, with the worst of luck, for Warrior, entered
in 1898, is the only one which has remained in the
Meynell kennels. It is more especially to his credit to
walk them, for there is nothing he delights in more, as
regards his dress, than well-blacked boots, the appearance
of which the puppies every morning, as soon as he appears,
spoil for the day.
296 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1870
Though not a hard rider, he is a good horseman, and
only last year, when well over sixty, came out on a four-
year-old, and a one-eyed one at that. When the Rev.
John Russell advertised for a curate of moderate and
orthodox views, his churchwarden's explanation of the
italicized word was that " he reckoned it meant some one
as could ride pretty straight." In this sense, and doubt-
less in the other as well, Mr. Legard was most truly
orthodox, as all who have seen him sailing along at his
ease over this country will readily allow. When he first
arrived in April, 1869, all the ladies thought him a most
delightful young man, just the thing for tea-parties and
mothers' meetings ; but when a horse or two began
to arrive at Marston-Montgomery, they commenced to
shake their heads, and possibly to agree mentally with
the dissenting minister mentioned above. During the
season in which he hunted here, no one had much the
best of him when hounds ran, and he had the knack of
galloping.
It was not a brilliant season on the whole, as there
were eight weeks of frost and snow, and not much sport.
The opening day was remarkable for the fact that, after a
pretty good run, hounds went home at 1.30! If Tom
made up his mind to go home, home he would go,
" whether or no," as Derbyshire folk say. Once they had
a very good gallop in the morning, and Mr. Meynell Ingram
saw by the old man's manner that he meant to be off back
to kennels. The Hon. Mrs. Colvile was a great favourite
with the huntsman, and it was thought that he might be
induced to draw again cheerfully, if she asked him.
" Where are you going now, Tom ? " she inquired, as a
gentle hint to him to do so. " I'm going whoam ! " was the
terse reply. And home he went.
What little sport they had in 1870-71 was in March.
On the 11th of the month they ran from Carry Coppice,
by Bramshall, and Bramhurst, losing their fox at Den-
stone. He was seen going on by Dove Leys for Norbury,
a very unusual line.
f
i
J
Edmund Manningham = Buller, Coote Manningham = BulIer,
Rifle Brigade. Rifle Brigade.
Reginald Manningham = BuIler,
Grenadier Guards.
Frederick Manningham = Buller, Ernest Manningham = Buller,
Coldstream Guards. Rifle Brigade.
\
1870] MR. C. W. JERVIS-SMITH. 297
On the 20th they ran round Chartley, through
Birchwood Park and Draycott Woods, and killed after
an hour's run, part very fast, in the open at Heybridge.
On April 6th the Atherstone had a day in Bagot's
Woods, and killed a vixen, much to Tom Leedham's dis-
gust, as has been mentioned before.
At the Uttoxeter steeplechases, at the end of March,
Captain Goodwin had a severe fall, and was taken to Mr.
Fox's house at Woodgate, not being able to go home till
next day.
In 1870 Mr. C. W. Jervis-Smith came with his father
to reside at Clifton Hall, but it was not till the death of
the latter, in 1875, that he began hunting regularly with
the Meynell. His father, when he lived at Elmhurst,
near Lichfield, was one of the first subscribers to Mr.
Meynell's hounds when he first began to hunt the country
in 1816. The son is not only very fond of hunting, but
is also a capital shot and a good fisherman. For shooting
and fishing he goes every year to his moor in Scotland,
and some good heads, and the model of a salmon,
killed in the Namsen river, which turned the scale at
thirty-eight pounds, are to be seen at Brocksford Hall,
which he built in 1893. He also planted a gorse not far
from the house, which is a pretty sure find. In 1877 he
married the daughter of the Rev. E. Baskerville Mynors,
then rector of Ashley, Wilts. She came with a great
hunting reputation from the Duke's country, which she
amply sustained, when she was one of the four or five
ladies who came out with the Meynell.
Their only son, Mr. Reginald Smith, is in the Cold-
stream Guards, and is, at the present moment, serving
with them in South Africa, whither he was ordered out
directly he joined.
It is interesting to note that the oak panelling
and staircase at Brocksford came from Mr. Jervis-Smith's
house, Fenton Hall, near Stoke-on-Trent, which has be-
longed to his family for many generations.
The opening day was on October 31st, and the Master
298 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1870
was not out. Hounds went home at 1.30. On November
1st they went to New Inn, and in the afternoon had quite
a good gallop from the Brakenhurst by Parson's Brake,
through the Greaves, under the Banks, along the Meadows
nearly to Woodford, and Charles stopped them as they
were going back into the Banks. Again the Master was
not out, nor was his younger sister out at all this season.
In fact, both of them were fully occupied in looking after
Miss Meynell Ingram, who was in a very weak state of
health. Fox preserving was not what it ought to have
been with such a Master. Mention is made of three-legged
foxes, of lame foxes, of foxes being found dead in a trap
in Bannister's Rough, and finally of five dogs and three
foxes poisoned near Rodsley I There is rather a curious
entry on November 28th : " Found in Lullington Gorse,
and ran very prettily down to Catton, twenty-one minutes.
Fox went through a drain under the stable, came out
below the house, and we killed him."
On December 15th there was a very good run, fast
and straight — in fact, about the best thing they had — from
Barton Blount to ground at Brailsford. Under other
circumstances it would have earned a longer notice in the
diary than, " Found at Mr. Bradshaw's. Had a very good
forty minutes to ground at Brailsford," but, as it was,
the Master was burdened with other cares. His sister,
who had been his tried comrade in the chase since her
childhood, was so ill that there was no hope, and on the
next day the end came. As if Nature herself was in
sympathy with the blow which had fallen on Hoar Cross,
a bitter black frost set in that night, and continued five
weeks till February 7th. On that day Mr. Meynell
Ingram went out with his hounds at Kedleston for the
last time, for he met with the accident which he describes
as a strained thigh, but which seems to have been a dis-
location of the hip. He was riding Elford, a great
favourite of his, bred at Elford in the Atherstone country,
close to Lullington. The horse was very fresh and much
above himself after the long frost, and by some violent
Elford,
the favourite hunter of
Mr. H. F. Meynell Ingram,
with
Tom Leedham and hounds.
From a painting
by
Alfred Corbould.
In the possession of the Hon. Mrs. Meynell Ingram
at Hoar Cross.
,bnoil3
nuri 3tHuovr>i 3r?j
•oriit'ii.'jr; t- fnoi^
.bluornoD baitIA
.88Ot0 IBOH iB
1871] ELFORD. 299
plunge or jump hurt his rider. The lattei; was veyy fond
of his horses, and believed in the suaviter mmodo rather
than the fortiter in re. His method was to quiet them by
word of mouth and gentle handling — a mode of treatment
which was in accord with the natural sweetness of his
disposition. But a fresh horse, like a wayward child,
understands none of these things. In an uncontrollable
ebullition of spirits the mischief is done, and there is an
end of it. There was no vice about Elford, but his game
of romps had as serious an effect as intentional malice.
Altogether there was a feeling of a slipping away of all
things at Hoar Cross, The Admiral was gone ; the old
squire, the very fountain head of the hunting establish-
ment, did not very long survive him ; one of his daughters,
the life and soul of the family party, had just passed
away, and now the last of his race was in failing health.
Well might Tom Leedham, himself fast nearing the
alloted span of man's existence, exclaim with the wife of
Phinehas, " Ichabod ! The glory has departed ! "
ninth >
Ingratr
Staffot
The Hon, Mrs. Meynell Ingram died yesterday even- ,
ing, at the age of 61, at the historic mansion of Temple TTnTTXrn«5 n87l
Newsam, near I^eds, which she had occupied for many ^^^^^^' LiB/i
years. Emily Charlotte Meynell Ingram was bom in 1840,
the daughter of Charles, first LogfL Hajifas. and Mary!
, I daughter of tho BOtond Lord Grey. 'sEe^iarried in 1863
METNELi Jlr. Hugh Francis Meynell Ingi-am, of Temple Newsam' / .,
JHou" i ^^ ^^^^ ^^°^^' Staffordshire, who was member of Parlia. ^*- /oS^
Timth -\ ment for West StafEordshLre, and who died in 1871. She
was a stanch Chin-chwoman, a supporter of many charities,
audbniltalargechm-chat Hoar Cross. Towards a new
church at Holbeck, Leeds, she gave about £30,000. She '
was lady of the manor of Leeds, Osmondthorpe, Halton, \
and Temple Newsam, and a lady of justice of the Order of |
St. John of Jerasalem. The present King was the guest of 1
Mrs. Meynell Ingram at Temple Newsam in 1868. The |l
, funeral will talie place at Hoar C OSS on faatxLrday
CHAFiJ^K XXVI.
" THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH " DEATH OF MR. H. F.
MEYNELL INGRAM — MEETING OF THE HUNT — TOM LEED-
HAM — PRESENTATION TO TOM LEEDHAM — THE LYON
FAMILY.
1871-1872.
On May 26tli, 1871, Mr. Hugo Francis Meynell Ingram
passed away. He was quite as devoted to the chace as
his father, and carried on the hounds in the same
public-spirited manner as the latter had done. He was a
Deputy-Lieutenant and Magistrate for the counties of
Stafford, Derby, and the West Riding of Yorkshire,
and Member of Parliament for the Western Division of
Staffordshire. His premature death, only two years after
that of his father, the result of an accident in the hunt-
ing-field, was lamented by a wide circle of friends, both
rich and poor, to whom his sterling qualities of head and
heart, as well as the invariable courtesy with which
he carried on the sometimes difficult duties of his office,
had greatly endeared him. He died without issue, having
married the Hon. Emily Wood, the eldest daughter of
Charles, first Viscount Halifax.
Nothing shows his unselfishness and consideration for
others more than the dispositions which he made for
carrying on the Hunt, not long before his death, at a
time when he must have been in great pain and suffering.
This was thoroughly characteristic of one who was
essentially a lovable man, and who possessed hosts of
1871] DEATH OF MR. H. F. MEYNELL INGRAM. 301
friends and not a single enemy. So brief a notice of hiro,
seems inadequate, but, after all, what is the whole history
of the Hoar Cross Hounds up to this date, but a back-
ground for the scene of which the Meynell Ingrams are
the prominent figures.
This is a good point from which to survey the past.
It will be seen by the perusal of the previous pages that
Mr. Meynell Ingram's hounds started as a quiet, unpre-
tentious, family pack, with a faithful old servant, con-
siderably older than his young master, to hunt them.
The feudal system seems to have flourished longer in
Staflfordshire than elsewhere, and the bond between the
Squire of Hoar Cross and his retainers, especially the
Leedhams, was a strong one. Consequently the latter
were allowed a degree of latitude which would not have
been permissible under different circumstances. They
respected themselves, and they knew their place ; but,
though they were free with their tongues, no disrespect
was ever intended. There was a happy, united state of
things between master and men, and the country at large.
The sport varied, like it does at all times, and in all
places, but the hounds, to judge from contemporary
writers, had reached a high pitch of excellence. They
could and did remain, thanks to the generosity of the
late owner ; the country was as it was ; sport would
probably be about the same, but, still, there was a great
void. There was no one to fill the place vacated by the
late Master. One more old family pack was to be added
to the list of subscription ones, and a — shall we say —
squire-archy was to take the place of the squire. History
will show whether they filled it or no. In the days pre-
ceding 1871, the only requirements to go hunting were
the possession of a horse, and the exhibition of decent
behaviour in the field. A brother sportsman, whose heart
was in the chace, was enthusiastically welcomed. The
Meynell Ingrams could afford to pay for their own sport,
and for that of their neighbours, and they were delighted,
with true magnanimity, to do so. How this state of
302 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [187I
things was altered and liow it all came about can be
gleaned from time to time in the subsequent pages.
The first move after the death of Mr. Hugo Francis
Meynell Ingram, was to call a meeting, which took place
on December 8th, 1871, of which the following account
appeared in the Field of December 16th in that year : —
THE MEYNELL INGRAM HUNT.
On Friday, the 8th inst., a meeting of the members of the Meynell Ingi'am
Hunt was held at the Royal Hotel, Derby, for the purpose of making arrange-
ments consequent upon the death of the late Mr. Meynell Ingram, of Hoar Cross
Hall. Lord Bagot occupied the chair, and there were also present Lord
Vernon, Lord Alexander Paget, Lord Berkeley Paget, Lord Waterpark, Hon.
E. Coke, Hon. A. Strutt, Sir William FitzHerbert, Bart., etc.
The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, said they had been called together
that day for the pui-pose of considering the most desirable means of hunting the
country in the future ; but before they entered into that question, he must express
his sincere son'ow for the cause which had rendered the meeting necessary. He
knew well how much every one present must feel the loss of Mr. Meynell Ingram,
their late master, who had so long and worthily hunted this country. The gap
which this had caused would long remain unfilled. (Hear, hear.)
The Hon. E. K. W. Coke, provisional master, at the request of the chairman,
detailed particulars of information received from Mrs. Meynell Ingram, relative
to the hunt. He said that in June last he received a private letter from Mrs.
Meynell Ingram containing a communication from her late husband. The exact
words were, " On Friday morning he repeated to Tom what he had already told
me, that he wished the hounds to hunt as usual this season, a ad at the end of it
to be offered as a gift to the country." Mrs. Meynell Ingram proceeded to state
that, "He added that some sort of provisional master should be chosen, and Tom
should do his best for the country. That is all he said, and I hope that you will
kindly help me to carry out his wishes." That was the reason why he (Mr. E.
Coke) was acting as provisional master during the present year.
Lord Vernon, in an appropriate speech, moved, " That the first steps to be
taken at this meeting on behalf of the country hunted by the late Mr. Meynell
Ingram should be to express the deepest regret of all the members of the hunt
of the country generally for the loss they have sustained, and to record their
sense of obligation and gratitude which they owe both to the late Mr. Meynell
Ingi-am and to his father for the public spirit, liberality, and courtesy evinced by
them in the maintenance and management of the hounds, and for the manner in
which the country has been hunted during a period amounting to more than half
a century ; and, further, to express their appreciation of the late Mr. Meynell
Ingram's forethought and generosity in having made provision for the continuance
of the hunt during the present season free of expense to the country."
Colonel Wilmot, V.C., M.P., seconded the motion, which was supported by
Sir Percival Heywood, Bart., and carried unanimously.
Sir William FitzHerbert, Bart., then moved, " That it is the wish of this
meeting and the country generally that the hounds be gratefully accepted, and
that the country be hunted in future." He said they would have to labour
zealously if they intended to keep the hunting of the country upto its old standard.
The Hon. Edward Keppel Wentworth Coke.
From a photograph
by
A. Bassano.
riqj5l]j{otnrlrr r. rno-tH
H <iiUrt ^fia-CU, i%. ^o
1871] MEETING OF THE HUNT. 303
The late Mr. Meynell Ingram had defrayed the expenses before his death, and
the members of the hunt had been Hke spoilt children — (hear, and laughter) —
thinking that it was almost a natural course of things to have a pack of fox-
hounds meeting when there was no frost. Help would be forthcoming if they
exerted themselves. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Potter (Barton) seconded the motion,
which was carried unanimously.
Mr. J. Broadhurst then moved, " That a committee be appointed for the
purpose of entertaining and considermg oflers to hunt the country, and that
they do report to a general meeting the result of their proceedings, and that
the following gentlemen be requested to constitute the committee for that pur-
pose : Lord Bagot, Lord Waterpark, Hon. E. K. W. Coke, Mr. J. Levett,
M. A. Bass, Esq., M.P., and W. Boden, Esq." Sir Percival Heywood, Bart.,
seconded the resolution, which was also earned unanimously.
Mr. Mundy then moved, " That the hunt for the future be called the ' Meynell
Hunt,' " remarking that nothing could be more desirable, considering the services
the family had rendered to the county of Stafford. Captain Buncombe seconded
the resolution, which was carried unanimously.
The Hon. E. K. W. Coke said he had been requested by the chairman to
state that Lord Shrewsbury had suggested that new kennels should be built, and
called " Memorial Kennels," with a view to many of his old friends being willing
to assist in their erection. Mr. Allsop had sent him some valuable information
with regard to the erection of stabling and kennels. Something like five thousand
pounds, including the purchase of land, would be required for the purpose. Mr, Coke
then referred to " the Lullington Gorse difficulty," and hoped Mr. Colvile would
be able to throw some light upon the matter. One side of the country was veiy
full of foxes, and a neighbouring hunt was anxious to draw the Gorse, but Mr.
Colvile had expressed an opinion that it belonged to this country. He had been
requested to suggest that an arbitrator should decide the question of ownership,
and it was for the members of the hunt to consider the desirability of appointing
an arbitrator. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. Levett thought it desirable that the members of the hunt should have
some idea of the amount of money required to hunt the hounds properly, and
also how many days per week the hounds should be hunted. (Hear, hear.) It
was his private opinion that the country should be hunted four times in the
week. Staftbrdshire and Derbyshire, comprising a woodland and grass country,
had special attractions.
The Hon. E. K. W. Coke said, from information he had received, he thought
the cost for three days' hunting would be two thousand three hundred pounds,
and for four days' hunting two thousand eight hundred pounds. He agreed
with Mr. Levett as to the desirability of hunting four days weekly. He had
no doubt that the extra expense would be forthcoming, and it was probable
that when it became known throughout England that the country was in
possession of a magnificent pack of hounds, without a master, some gentleman
might offer to come for a thousand or fifteen hundred a year ; therefore, he con-
sidered it would be unwise to put their names down for two thousand pounds,
when they might get the country hunted for one thousand. He hoped, however,
that no one would be accepted from economical motives alone.
The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks to Lord Bagot for presiding.
The upshot of this meeting was that the Hon. E. Coke
was Master for the season, with Tom Leedham as
304 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1871
huntsman, Charles Leedham first whipper-in, and Fred
Cottrell second whipper-in, the hounds remaining at Hoar
Cross. For some time past Tom had been regarding his
nephew Charles with a somewhat jealous eye. Few people
quite like their successors. On one occasion Charles had the
misfortune to jump on his uncle, and it was with difficulty
that the latter could be persuaded that it was not done
on purpose. Everything that went wrong was laid to
Charles's account. One day Tom had a fall and dislocated
his thumb. Going home, he was laying the blame, as
usual, on his nephew for something which had happened,
till at last the latter retorted with, " I wonder you don't
say it was my fault you put your thumb out." But old
Tom was not to be put oflf in that way, for he grunted out^
" Well, so 'twas. If you hadna' joomped there I shouldna'
ha' joomped, and then I shouldna' ha' fallen and put me
thumb oot."
There had been a good deal of good-natured chafi* for
some time about Tom's anxiety towards the end of the
day to get home to " Phoebe and his tea." Phoebe was
the sister with whom he lived, and a great favourite with
the old squire. Not that there was any real grumbling
against Tom. He was far too popular, and deservedly
so, for that, but it is impossible that the same enthusiasm
can exist at sixty-four as in the hey-dey of youth. The
writer well remembers Tom being out hunting some ten
years later on a pouring wet day, and remarking, in his
dry way, " And to think they call this ];)leasureJ' One
day, at Chartley, so runs the story, he looked Mr. Meynell
Ingram's horse up and down, and then burst out with^
" I'll be domned if thee hasna' got a better horse than me.
The'd best get off and change. I've got to go faster than
thee." And his good-natured master humoured the
faithful old fellow's wish. He had the reputation of being
very close-fisted, and so, no doubt, he was towards himself,,
but those who knew him best said that he knew how to
be generous when occasion served, and had been known to
give as much as fifty pounds in a case of real distress.
1871] TOM LEEDHAM. 305
Through thrift and good management, he left as much as
eighteen thousand pounds behind him. He was possessed
of a most powerful and melodious voice, and it was a treat
to hear it ringing amongst the trees in Bagot's Woods or
the Brakenhurst. In the latter he was quite at home, and
a master of the art of placing his men so as to be of the
utmost service. There was nothing he disliked so much
as too many foxes in one place, and he would send away
a litter of cubs to some less favoured locality if they were
too thick on the ground. His master knew he had a man
he could trust and gave him a free hand. When he
retired he lived on at Hoar Cross with his sister, and Mrs.
Meynell Ingram found him a horse or two, and he had
a grey pony. What is more, she gave him another when
one of them broke its leg on landing over the Ash brook
near Abbot's Bromley.
They tell a story of how he had a favourite hound
which always stuck close to his horse's heels when the pack
was not running or drawing. One day he had lost his fox
outside Bagot's Woods and was coming home, when
suddenly Miss Meynell Ingram called out, " Look, Tom,
look ! What is that hound doing ? " This hound had
left his horse's heels, and was going as hard as he could
in the direction of a hill close by. They looked and
saw a man holding his hat in the air. The inference
was that the hound had seen it too and knew what it
meant. AVhether they went on and killed the fox is not
known.
Another anecdote shows his great mastery of his
hounds. One day the hunt was going up Draycott Cliff,
when suddenly a cry of " Mad dog " was raised. Without
a moment's hesitation he jumped over the fence, gave one
note on his horn, and every hound was out of the road
after him much more quickly than these few words can be
read. In that, to a great extent, lay his art. He could
do anything with his hounds. No man was ever a great
success as a huntsman unless he was also what, for want
of a better word, we will call " a doggy man."
VOL. 1. X
306 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1872
His career as huntsman terminated at the end of the
season of 1871-72. The following is a full account of
the proceedings.
The Meynell Ingram Hunt.
presentation of a testimonial to mr. thomas
leedham, the huntsman, 1872.
The hunting season in this district was brought to a
close on Saturday last, March 23rd, the final meet being
at Sudbury village. As it was well known that this would
be the finishing up of the old " Meynell Ingram Hunt,"
and that the opportunity would be taken to present Tom
Leedham, the ever popular huntsman, with a substantial
token of the esteem in which he is held by the gentlemen
of the hunt, there was a very large gathering from all
parts of Derbyshire and Staff"ordshire. Not that much
hunting was to be expected, for the ground was bound
like iron by frost and snow during the night, and there
seemed, when we left Derby, but few indications of favour-
able weather. Winter, indeed, had returned upon us with
a severity which promised to make up for the recent mild
weather, and heavy banks of clouds looming in the horizon
threatened a renewal of the blinding snowstorms which
had swept over the country on the previous day. At first
it appeared very probable that the company would be
more select than numerous, but towards ten o'clock the
sun began to overpower the frost, and Sudbury was soon
in the full bustle and activity of hunting arrivals. The
old inn has been smartened and revived (it has possibly
been improved), and in the large dining-room Mr. Sherwin
had set out a capital hunting breakfast, to which most
sensible people paid their respects before entering upon
the business of the day. About twelve o'clock the word
was given to move ofi" to the park, where it was arranged
the testimonial should be presented by Lord Vernon. A
most picturesque scene was here presented ; nearly two
1872] PRESENTATION TO TOM LEEDHAM. 307
hundred horsemen formed around an open carriage, iu
which Lord Vernon had taken his stand, and near which
was posted the veteran huntsman, Tom Leedham, " the
observed of all observers." The square was closed up by
a variety of handsome equipages occupied by the ladies,
whose presence graced the affair, and whose elegant
toilettes contributed much to the beauty of the scene. In
and out were the " foot people," who, on such occasions,
always appear to trust implicitly to the good nature of the
horses, amongst whose legs they perseveringly thrust them-
selves. The sun, shining brightly upon the group, brought
out a picture of great interest and beauty, and it is much
to be regretted that no enterprising photographer was
present to catch the fleeting shadow and fix it for the
future reference of many who would have gladly possessed
a memento of " The Last Meet."
Amongst the company present we noticed. Lord Bagot,
Lord Berkeley Paget, Lord Alexander Paget, Lord Water-
park, Lord Vernon, Sir William FitzHerbert and Miss
FitzHerbert, Hon. E. K. W. Coke, Colonel Colvile and
Hon. Mrs. Colvile, M. A. Bass, Esq., M.P., Mrs. Bass and
Miss Thornewill, Godfrey Meynell, Esq. (Meynell Langley),
Colonel Reginald Buller, Miss Chandos-Pole, Hamar
Bass, Esq., P. Bott, Esq., N. C. Curzon, Esq., Robert
Curzon, Esq., T. W. Evans, Esq., W. T. E. Cox, Esq.,
Major Fountain, Major Levett and Lady Jane Levett,
Captain C. R. Levett, Oswald Mosley, Esq., and party,
Walter Boden, Esq., Captain Gough, Captain Walter
Coyney, Richard Sale, Esq., John Bailey, Esq., J. Broad-
hurst, Esq., H. Allsopp, Esq., C. AUsopp, Esq., A. Rodney
Blane, Esq., Henry Evans, Esq., T. Smith, Esq. (Clifton),
John Smith, Esq., William Bass, Esq., G. Mitchell, Esq.
(Newton), C. Tennant, Esq., A. W. Lyon, Esq., J. Gas-
coyne, Esq., G. H. Gascoyne, Esq., Messrs. John Leedham,
Charles Leedham, Potter (Barton), Sampson (Langley),
Smith (Langley), W. Ault (Derby), and many other well-
known hunting men of Derbyshire and Staffordshire.
Lord Vernon said : " I do not know whether my voice
308 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1872
will enable me to make myself heard by all present in
the field, but I hope it will be strong enough. It will
not be necessary for me to recall the reason why we have
assembled here to-day, but I may be permitted to say, at
the outset, that I am rather sorry that some older or more
active member of the Hunt than myself has not been
chosen to discharge the duty which has been given to me
on this occasion ; for, although I hunted formerly, I have
not been a hunting man for several years past. This
duty is one which, happily for us all, we have seldom, I
may say we have never, before been called upon to dis-
charge. (Hear, hear.) We can all remember the painful
feelings of melancholy and regret which characterized our
meeting upon a former occasion, when so old a connection
was severed, and when memories of the past, which are
still cherished by every member of the Hunt, were re-
called. Well, we are now again about to sever our con-
nection with one who has served his master well and
faithfully for more than half a century. (Hear, hear.)
He has not only served his master, but he has served the
hunt as faithfully. (Hear, hear.) Not only is Tom Leed-
ham a thorough good huntsman, but he is a successful
breeder and rearer of hounds, and in these two capacities
he is certainly without a rival. (Hear, hear.) But he is
far more than this. As an upright and honest man, he has
earned the respect of all those who have been associated
with him, and I am sure that all those who have hunted
with him in this country or elsewhere will bear unani-
mous testimony to the admirable way in which he has
always discharged every portion of his responsible and
onerous duties. (Hear, hear.) As I said before, it is
some years since I hunted, but ray own experience during
the time when I was an active member of the Hunt en-
-ables me to say that never have I seen a huntsman who
could handle his hounds better than Tom Leedham."
(Cheers.) His lordship turned to Old Tom as he said
these words, and continued — " Thomas Leedham, it is
now my pleasing duty to announce to you that it is the
1872] PRESENTATION TO TOM LEEDHAM. 309
wish and desire of the members of this Hunt, and of others
who have hunted with you, to present you with a testi-
monial in token of the appreciation and esteem with which
they regard you. This silver cup, which I now hand to
you, containing the sum of seven hundred and thirty
pounds (cheers), has been subscribed for by gentlemen of
this and neighbouring counties who have from time to
time come in contact with you, and who, one and all, wish
my presentation of this testimonial to signify to you their
thorough appreciation of your excellent qualities as a suc-
cessful professional huntsman, and their admiration of
your sterling worth as a man of honour and integrity.
(Loud cheers.) I can only express to you, in addition,
my hope that in the retirement which you have so well
earned, health and happiness in this world will continue
to be yours, and enable you to enjoy in comfort the re-
maining years of your life."
The conclusion of Lord Vernon's address was received
with hearty cheers, which were renewed when the old
veteran took off his hunting-cap and bared his white head
to the wind. His emotion was visible, and was shared by
many who witnessed the interesting scene.
Mr. Leedham said : " My lords, ladies and gentlemen,
I am greatly obliged to you for this very munificent
present, and to my Lord Vernon for the extremely kind
way in which he has alluded to my services in connection
with this Hunt. I have not got words to express to you
my feelings at this moment — words, I may say, fail me
altogether — and I can only say that I thank you all very
much for this most handsome testimonial to services which
I am quite sure I have at all times been only too glad to
perform. " (Applause. )
The company then filed through the gates, and pro-
ceeded to di'aw the grounds around the Hall, which is now
in the hands of workmen, who are busily engaged in re-
storing the edifice. The shrubberies proving blank, the
Hunt returned through the village and went off for
the Forest banks. A fox was found and chopped near
310 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1872
Marchington Cliff", and another, after a short run, was lost.
In Bagot's Wood a third was found, which went away ring-
ing, in the ojDen, and, after a thirty-five minutes' run, went
to ground in a sough near the point from which he was
unkenneled. This run was as pretty an affair as ever was
witnessed, and gave great satisfaction to all who were in it,
as well as to Tom Leedham, who, of course, was delighted
to give them a taste of his old style before hanging up his
horn. Though unmarked by any of the sensational incidents
which we have seen recorded on other occasions of this
kind, "Tom Leedham's last run" will long be remembered
by the sportsmen of Derbyshire and Staffordshire.
The testimonial list consists of one hundred and
eighty-six subscribers, and will be suitably illuminated
and framed, a young lady well known in county society
having off"ered her services as artist.*
It is to Mr. Walter Boden that we are indebted for
the capital photograph of " Old " Tom, as we nowadays
call him, or " Young " Tom, as the late Sir W. FitzHerbert
used to style him. After the presentation was over, Mr.
Boden was riding by his side, and said, " Now, Tom, you
ought to be photographed." Tom, who was still a good
deal affected by what he had just gone through, blurted
out, " No one will want my ugly old mug." But Mr.
Boden over-persuaded him, saying it should be no trouble
to him, that the photographer should come over to Hoar
Cross and take him. This was eventually done, and so
we have the dear old man's photograph on horseback in
his huntsman's coat.
In January, 1872, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor came to
Doveridge Hall, and both of these hunted regularly with
the Meynell hounds. Subsequently they moved to
Clownholme, changing places with Mr. Arthur Lyon,
who was at that time at Clownholme. He bought it in
1865 from Mr. Webb.
There were few better known men than Mr. Lyon,
This account was copied from a newspaper cutting with no heading to indicate
the paper in which it appeared.
1872] THE LYON FAMILY. 311
and tie was an extraordinarily bold and dashing rider. He
came from Cheshire, and Mr. Egerton Warburton has a
verse to this effect in his " Huntsman's Lament " —
"Well, soft solder next I'll try on;
Rating only riles a swell ;
Mister Brancker ! Mister Lyon !
Mister Hornby ! Hope you're well.
'Tain't the pack that I'm afi-aid on,
And I likes to see you first ;
But when so much steam be laid on,
Bean't you fear'd the copper'll burst?"
But this excess of ardour cooled down afterwards, and
left a residuum which resulted in the subject of the verse
being always willing to go first, but not too near the
hounds. It was a pleasant sight to see the white-haired
old man, sailing along in the van, closely followed by his
daughter, who hunted regularly with the Meynell, and
well mio;ht he have said —
'&'
" Press where ye see my white plume shine amidst the ranks of war,
And be your oriflamme to-day the helmet of Navarre."
In the latter part of his life he went best on a very
peculiar coloured sort of creamy-dun horse, called the
Sprite, which he bought of Captain Stepney. This was a
very conspicuous horse, or, rather, cob (for he could not
have been much over fifteen hands), but a wonderful
fencer, with an odd trick of galloping with his nose
stretched out close to the ground. Mr. Lyon's third
daughter married Captain Dawson of Barrow Hill, and
died in 1876. The year after that her father returned to
Clownholme, after rebuilding it, and died in 1882.
His brother, Charles Lyon, rebuilt his father's old house
at Silverhill, Barton-under-Needwood, where he lived in
1840. In 1874 he was High Sheriff for Staffordshire.
He was always very fond of hunting, and almost as good
a man as his brother Arthur, and may be said to have died
in the saddle ; for a young mare, on which he was going
out cub-hunting with one of his daughters, reared up at
312 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
his own gate, and, falling backwards, killed him. His
sons, Messrs. Walter and Charles, who live respectively at
Tutbury and Doveridge, were keen cricketers, and the
elder brother, besides being a fine racquet player, played
in the Cambridge eleven against Oxford. The spot where
his house stands, just outside Tutbury, was once thought
of as a possible site for the kennels.
The younger brother was a regular follower of the
Meynell from about 1855 to 1885, and went well,
especially on Gay boy, a fine timber jumper, and, to this
day, no one takes a greater interest in the hunt and its
doings. Of his four sons, who are as athletic as their
father — more so, perhaps, he would say — three are serving
their country, two in South Africa, and one in the artillery
in India.
1872] ( 313 )
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE FIRST MEETING OF THE HUNT KENNELS AND STABLES
— TESTIMONIAL TO TOM LEEDHAM " DERBY WEEK."
1872-1873.
This chapter must necessarily open with a meeting of
gentlemen connected with the hunt, which was held at
the Royal Hotel, Derby, on Friday, February 23rd, 1872.
There were present, Lord Bagot, Lord Waterpark, Hon. E.
K. W. Coke, Hon. A. Strutt, Sir P. Heywood, Mr. W.
Clowes, M.P., Mr. A. Bass, M.P., Mr. E. A. Holden, Mr.
J. Broadhurst, Captain Buncombe, Mr. J. Levett, Mr. W.
Taylor, Mr. N. C. Curzon, Colonel FitzHerbert, Mr. G. J.
Moore, Mr. J. Bailey, Mr. H. Boden, Mr. Evans, Captain
Goodwin, Mr. T. W. Evans, Mr. R. Sale, Mr. 0. Mosley,
Rev. J. Wadham, Mr. C. W. Lyon, Mr. W. Boden,
Captain R. Blane, Mr. W. E. T. Cox, Mr. S. R. Cox, Mr.
J. Smith, Mr. Jacob Smith, Colonel Cavendish, Mr. J. W.
Gascoyne, Major Fountain, Mr. Sampson, Mr. Walker,
Mr. C. Eaton,' Mr. E. J. Bird, Mr. J. Bell, Mr. Walton,
Mr. Wheeldouj Captain Levett, Mr. Tomlinson, Mr. T.
Smith, Mr. L. R. Hall, Mr. Forman, Mr. Fulton, Captain
Stepney.
Lord Bagot, who presided, read the following report of
the Hunt Committee.
Several portions of the report elicited applause.
The committee appointed at a general meeting of the
Meynell Ingram Hunt held on December 8th, 1871, have
to report that they, in accordance with instructions received
314 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1872
have met on sundry occasions, " for the purpose of enter-
taining and considering offers to hunt the country," and
we have also deliberated and consulted on other matters
of detail connected with the future of the Meynell country,
viz. the kennels, stables, and other cjuestions of import-
ance, and they venture, after due deliberation, to make the
following suggestions for adoption :
Future Master.
Your committee have received sundry offers, both local
as well as from all parts of England. Your committee
were strongly impressed with the opinion that it would
he far preferable that the future master should be a local
man if possible, believing that such an arrangement would
be more acceptable to owners of coverts generally, also to
hunting men and farmers in particular, and they have
much pleasure in being able to inform you that Mr. Clowes
with Lord Waterpark are willing to accept the mastership
of the " Meynell Hounds " for a period of three years, the
sum of two thousand five hundred pounds being guaranteed
per annum, and they are willing (in accordance with a
resolution passed at the meeting held in December) to hunt
four days weekly. The above sum is exclusive of all
expenses in connection with rent of coverts, compensation
for poultry, earth stopping, and suchlike charges.
Your committee have much pleasure in having it in
their power to suggest the acceptance of this offer, and
feel it quite unnecessary to dilate on the peculiar advantages
that the country will derive from having the experience
of such a well-known and proved good sportsman and
popular gentleman as Mr. Clowes ; while at such times as
he may be called away by parliamentary duties, both he
and the country will derive valuable assistance from Lord
Waterpark.
For private and local reasons, Mr. Clowes wished it
to be understood that he will not be able to take an active
part in the field during the first season.
1872] KENNELS AND STABLES. 315
Kennels and Stables.
This question has also been much deliberated upon by
your committee. It will be remembered that at the general
meeting it was understood that one of the first steps to
be taken in hand was the erection of kennels and stables,
consequently your committee, meeting shortly afterwards,
decided on opening a subscription list for the purpose of
defraying the cost ; a considerable sum of money was
within a short time promised.
On July 26th a communication was received from Mrs.
JNIeynell Ingram making an offer to the country of the
present kennels and stables at Hoar Cross, and at the same
time expressing her willingness to defray certain incidental
expenses, namely, refreshment to those who came to the
kennels on business, in fact, meaning that she was willing
to continue hospitality for which Hoar Cross had been
proverbial. Your committee have given full consideration
of this most kind and liberal offer, and have, moreover,
when in the hunting field, endeavoured to ascertain the
views and wishes of those who had offered subscriptions
to erect new kennels, etc.
The result of such inquiries, together with their own
opinion, leads them to the conclusion that it will be most
beneficial to the hunt, and far more convenient in the
future, to erect new kennels, etc.
Having found that no gentleman would be willing to
undertake the mastership, unless the kennels are removed
to a more central position, we decline most gratefully Mrs
Meynell Ingram's most kind and generous offer.
Your committee recommend that the hounds, kennels,
stables, etc., of the hunt be vested in the committee to be
appointed, who shall also be considered as guarantors of
the subscriptions for two thousand five hundred pounds
for the three years during which they hold ofiice.
316 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1872
Erection of Kennels and Stables, also Selection
OF Site.
With a view to obtain as large a scope as possible for
the selection of plans, your committee put an advertise-
ment in the Builder. The result has been that a large
number of competitors from all parts of England have
sent in designs and estimates. Your committee have not
yet been able to make a selection, and before doing so
would advise that the- future master or masters should be
members of the committee, in conjunction with such others
as you may think proper to appoint, and to whom we
would also suggest the selection of the site should be
referred, as your committee have not as yet come to any
definite conclusions on this difficult and important point.
Covekt Fund.
The subscription list having been most liberally filled
in, your committee would suggest that it is not necessary
to continue the old covert-fund subscriptions of five
pounds, but that what is requisite for that purpose shall
be drawn from the general fund, after having handed
over the two thousand five hundred pounds yearly, as
agreed upon, to the masters.
The cost of rent of coverts, poultry compensation, etc.,
is estimated at four hundred pounds yearly, consequently
the annual expenses of the hunt will amount to about two
thousand nine hundred pounds, exclusive of interest on
building debt.
At the present moment the subscription list far exceeds
this in amount, and your committee would advise that
the balance over and above what may be required for the
above purposes shall be used in part payment of capital
due for expenditure on kennels, stables, and site, and your
committee would strongly advise and urgently beg that
present promised subscriptions shall not be reduced until
the building debt is paid ofi"; when that is accomplished
1872] TESTIMONIAL TO TOM LEEDHAM. 317
it is hoped that all subscriptions might be reduced pro
rata. Two or three years might bring about this desirable
object.
Non-Hunting Owners of Coverts.
Your committee would suggest that non-hunting
owners of coverts should be honorary members of the
^'MeynellHunt."
Testimonial to Thomas Leedham, Huntsman.
Your committee have great pleasure in calling your
attention to a suggestion which they feel sure has only
to be mentioned to insure its most favourable acceptance.
They refer to the presentation of a testimonial to Thomas
Leedham on his retirement, in such a form as may be most
acceptable to him, as a token of their high appreciation
of the valuable services he has rendered to the country
during the many years he has hunted the " Meynell
Ingram Hounds."
In conclusion, your committee beg to remind you that
they have endeavoured to perform to the best of their
ability such duties as they were deputed to take into
consideration, and that as a committee they now cease to
exist, and that they would recommend the appointment of
a fresh committee for the purpose of further considering the
kennel, stable, and site question, also sundry other matters
of detail that may and will arise from time to time, and
they further suggest that such committee be appointed for
three years.
Mr. W. Boden read the list of subscriptions already
received for the two objects named in the list, viz.
for the purposes of defraying the expenses of hunting
the country next season, the cost of which is estimated at
not less than three thousand pounds, and for the erection
of stables and kennels and the purchase of land, the
estimated cost of which is from four thousand to five
thousand pounds. From this list it appeared that Mrs.
318 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1872
Meynell Ingram had subscribed five hundred pounds to the
hunting fund, and Miss Meynell two hundred pounds to
the hunting fund, and a like sum to the kennel fund.
Mr. H. Boden moved that the report be received. He
stated that it was most satisfactory in every possible way, and
suggested that the retiring committee should be re-elected,
with the addition of a few other gentlemen if necessary.
Sir Percival Hey wood seconded the motion, and con-
gratulated the committee on the very admirable manner
in which they had performed their duties. He agreed to
the suggestion that they should be reappointed, and
moved a resolution to that effect.
It was suggested that Mr. Clowes and Lord Waterpark
should be added, but they preferred to be honorary
members of the committee. This was agreed to, and the
motion was carried, E. S. Chandos-Pole, Esq., and
Captain Duncombe being added to the committee. In
reply to a question by Mr. Broadhurst as to whether
the "Derby Week" was to be continued in connection
with the hunt, the Hon. E. K. W. Coke said that was
a subject upon which it would be well to take the opinion
of the meeting. There was a difference of opinion as to
whether it was desirable to continue the old-established
custom of the " Derby Week." He was in favour of con-
tinuing the custom to a certain extent, and many gentle-
men agreed with him. He looked upon the " Derby
Week " as a great convenience in a social point of view,
and the custom was not without precedent in other parts
of England. There was a great deal to be said against
it and also much in favour of it. During " Derby Week "
there was the usual Hunt Ball ; and it was a great con-
venience also to know previously when there would be
meets in certain districts. He thought if they were to
hunt four days a week, they might have three of those
days set apart for hunting in the grass country ; the first
day's hunting might be in Staffordshire, and the latter
three days in Derbyshire.
Mr. Clowes said, the great object of himself and Lord
1872] "DERBY WEEK." 319
Waterpark in undertaking the mastership of the hunt was,
and ought to be, to provide the greatest amount of sport
for the greatest number the country would afford ; there-
fore the social arrangements of one person or another
ought not to enter into their consideration, but simply
the hunting of the country to the best possible advantage.
He did not think that due advantages would result from
hunting four days a week by the arrangement suggested
by Mr. Coke. To mention one thing only, supposing
frost should come, it might happen in the first week in
December, the first week in January, and the first week
in February, the coverts would be stopped by frost, and
the result would be that the coverts would not be drawn,
and the sport would be confined to cub-hunting. There
was a licence allowed to the master of the hounds, and if
upon any particular occasion any member of the hunt
desired a change in the programme for the convenience of
his friends, he (Mr. Clowes) and Lord Waterpark would
be most happy to comply with the request. He did not
think it of advantage to the country that the hounds, as
a rule, should be kept on one side of the country altogether
during one week.
Mr. Holden stated that during the whole of his hunting
experience, the members of the hunt had been thankful
to Mr. Meynell Ingram for hunting the country as he had
thought best, but he thought that the " Derby Week "
was a somewhat inconvenient arrangement to owners of
coverts, on the grounds Mr. Clowes himself had mentioned,
viz. that there were two or three months in winter when
there was very severe frost, and at such times the coverts
had remained without being drawn more than once in the
whole season. To himself, as an owner of coverts, this
was not satisfactory. As the hounds were now to be kept
in the centre of the country, he would much rather that
the question of " Derby Week " should be left for the
masters of the hounds to decide. The two gentlemen
selected would not fail to give satisfaction with regard to
the question, which might be safely left to them, and he
320 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1872
had no doubt they would consult the convenience of the
ladies upon the subject of the Hunt Ball.
The Hon. E. K. W. Coke said he was quite willing to
agree to the decision of the masters. He then stated that
it was his duty to refer to the disputed boundary between
the Atherstone and Meynell countries. It had been
suggested that an arbitrator should be appointed to define
the boundary on behalf of the Meynell Hunt, on the sup-
position that an arbitrator would be appointed on the
other side. It was, however, for the meeting to decide
what steps should be taken in the matter.
In reply to a question by a member of the Atherstone
Hunt, as to whether, in case an arbitrator be appointed
for each hunt, Mr, Colvile would be likely to agree to their
decision, the Hon. E. K. W. Coke said he could give no
information on that point.
Mr. W. Boden said that wherever the line was drawn,
they would have a covert at Lullington. The subject
then dropped.
Mr. H. Boden proposed a vote of thanks to Mrs.
Meynell Ingram and Miss Meynell for their very handsome
subscriptions, which, he said, showed that they still took
great interest in the hunt. Sir P. Hey wood seconded the
motion, which was carried.
On the proposition of Mr. W. Taylor, seconded by Mr.
Boden, it was resolved that the committee should appoint
a sub-committee of gentlemen living in the neighbourhood
of the coverts hunted by the hounds, to see to their being
kept in proper repair.
Mr. Broadhurst proposed, and Captain Buncombe
seconded, the following resolution, which was also agreed
to, " That the committee write to the landowners request-
ing permission to draw the coverts."
A subscription list on behalf of Thomas Leedham,
the late huntsman, was then passed round, and most of
the gentlemen present gave in their names for various
sums. The amount subscribed in the room was about two
hundred pounds.
1872]
{ 321 )
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE NEW REGIME — LORD WATERPARK S DIARY — FIRST OF
THE GREAT LOXLEY RUNS — SECOND GREAT LOXLEY
RUN — GOOD RUN FROM NEEDWOOD.
1872-1873.
were
Thus Lord Waterpark and Mr. S. W. Clowes, M.P.
the first masters of the Meynell hounds under the new
regime. Charles Leedham was huntsman, with R. Summers
and G. Jones as whippers-in. The hounds were kenneled
at Hoar Cross, and hunted four days a week, in Stafford
shire and Derbyshire promiscuously. The subscription for
the first year was £3995 15.?., and £113 175. was paid
out in compensation for damage. Mr. W. C. Watson was
secretary. The first list of subscribers is as under : —
List
Allsopp, G. H.
Allsopp, S. C, M.P.
Bagot, Lord
Bailey, Jno.
Bass, H.
Bass, M. A.
Bass, M. T., M.P.
BeU, A.
Bell, J.
Bennett, S.
Bird, E. J.
Birkett, W.
Blakiston, Sir M.
Blane, Captain R.
Boden, H.
Boden, W.
Bond, G.
Bott, R.
VOL. I.
MEYNELL HUNT.
OF Subscribers, 1872-73.
Boucherett, Captain
Broadhurst, J.
Butler, Captain
Campbell, C. M.
Cavendish, Lord E.
Challinor, L.
Chandos-Pole, E. S.
Chetwode, Lieut.-Colonel
Clarke, G. D'Arcy.
Clay, C. I.
Colvile, H. E.
Coke, Col. the Hon. W.
Coke, Hon. E.
Cotton, F.
Coulson, J.
Cox, F. W.
Cox, V. R.
Cox, W. E.
322
THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
[1872
LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS — continued.
Curzon, H. E.
Dawson, Captain
Duncombe, Captain A. C.
Evans, H.
Evans, T. W., M.P.
Ferrers, Lord
Fielden, Rev. R.
FitzHerbert, Colonel
FitzHerbert, Sir W.
Flint, A. A.
Forman, R.
Forster, C, jun.
Fox, W. E.
Gascoyne, J. H.
Goodwin, Captain
Gretton, F.
Gretton, J.
Hardy, J., M.P.
Harrington, Earl of
Hartington, Marquis of, M.P.
Heywood, A. P.
Heywood, Sir P.
Holmes, A. W.
Hurt, A. F.
Keates, T.
Kynnersley, C. S.
Lane, Colonel
Leigh, W.
Levett, T. J.
Lyon, A. W.
Lyon, C. W.
Lyon, C. W., jun.
Meynell, G.
Meynell Ingram, Hon. Mrs.
Meynell Ingram, Miss
MitcheU, G. J.
Moore, S. J.
Mosley, 0.
Mosley, Sir T.
Moslej^, Tonman
Oakden, W. Hurd
Okeover, A. E.
Paget, Lord Alex.
Paget, Lord Berkeley
Palmer, C.
Philips, Wm.
Fountain, Major
Ratcliffe, R.
Ridgway, W. H.
Robinson, T. R.
Roe, C. F.
Sale, R., jun.
Salt, W. C.
Shrewsbury, Lord
Smith, J.
Smith, Jno.
Smith, T. H.
Storer, C. J.
Strutt, Hon. A.
Taylor, W. F.
Tennant, C. R.
Tredwell, W. F.
Vernon, Lord
Wadham, Rev. J.
Walton, G.
Waterpark, Lord
Wheeldon, G.
Wheeldon, W.
Wolseley, Sir C.
Worthington, A. 0.
No record
meetings.
Bagot, Lord
Bass, Mr. M. A., M.P.
Boden, Mr. W.
Chandos-Pole, Mr. R. W.
Clowes, Mr. S. W., M.P.
Coke, Hon. E. (Chairman)
COSIMITTEE, 1872 TO 1875.
Names are gathered from Committee present at several
Duncombe, Captain
Evans, T. W.
Levett, Captain
Vernon, Lord
Waterpark, Lord
Bagot, Lord
s, M. A., M.P.
Trustees.
Coke, Hon. E.
Evans, T. W., M.P.
1872] LORD WATERPARK'S DIARY. 323
Still that " grim god of Silence seemed to reign
supreme," as far as the current newspapers are concerned ;
but, fortunately, Lord Waterpark kept an excellent diary,
which he has been kind enough to place at the writer's
disposal. It is illustrated with capital maps of all the
best runs, which ought all to be published, but, in a work
of this kind, space cannot be found for everything, in the
form of illustrations, which ought to be inserted, and we
are forced to limit ourselves to five. From the diary we
learn that on Monday, September 2nd, they went to —
Bagofs Woods. — Found some old foxes, but no cubs. Rattled one about for
some time, but the scent was bad and we had to give it up. Ground very wet,
and the rides as deep as in the middle of winter.
Tuesday, September 3rd, Bagofs Woods. — Very much the same as yesterday.
Scent no better.
Thursday, September 5th, BagoVs Woods.— B.a,n an old fox fast through
the Woods, and down to Prior's Coppice,* through which he went, and on to
Kingston Woods, but stopped the hounds, as the harvest was not in. Went
back to the Woods.
Saturday, September 1th, Bagofs Woods. — Scent bad. No cubs, and we
could not catch the old foxes.
Monday, September 9th, Bagofs Woods. — Scent much better. Ran a little
old vixen about the woods for forty minutes, across the turnpike road, and killed
her.
Tuesday, September 10th, Bagofs Woods. — An old fox crossed the road as
we were going to draw Lord's Coppice ; laid the hounds on, rattled him once
round the Coppice, across Bagot's Park, through the Clitfs, leaving the Park
Lodge to our right, down to Smallwood, by the new church, and killed him in
the open. First-rate run ; thirty minutes, best pace, without a check. The
hounds ran clean away from us all, as the country was very heavy and the fences
very blind.
Thursday, September 12th, Draycott Cliff.— Drevf all the Forest Banks, and
only found a brace of old foxes. Ran one to Bagot's Woods and back to Butter-
milk Hill, and lost him. Scent indifferent.
Saturday, September lith, Neediuood House. — Found plenty of cubs, and
killed a brace. Capital day for the hounds.
Monday, September 16th, Holly Bush.— Found a brace of old foxes. No
cubs. Had a nice gallop with one across the open to Jackson's Bank, and killed
him in the Brakenhurst. Then drew the Brakenhurst, and found pretty well of
cubs, but the scent failed, and we could not catch one.
Tuesday, September 11th, Knightley ParA;.— Found cubs; hunted one to
Rangemoor and round about, and killed liim in one hour and thirty-five minutes.
Thursday, September 19th, Birchtvood. — Found some cubs, but the scent was
very bad.
Saturday, September 21st, Blithjield.— Drew the Warren and found a nice
lot of cubs. Killed a brace. Pouring wet morning, but the scent was good.
* Floyer's Coppice.
324 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1872
Monday, September 2'Srd, Ridioare. — Drew Cavvarden Spring and all that
side blank. Also Pipe Wood. Found an old fox in Pear Tree Gorse, ran a
ring and through Laurence's Wood in the direction of Rough Park, and lost him.
Drew Rough Park blank.
Tuesday, September 2Uh, Sudbury Coppice. — Found plenty of cubs. Rattled
one backwards and forwards between the Coppice and the Bottoms, and killed.
Got on to another, and killed him after a capital hunt.
(I went to Scotland the next day, and only know what was done from
Charles Leedham's letters.)
Thursday, September 2&th, Rangemore. — Found an old fox in the Deanery
plantation, ran him to Byrkley Lodge, and from there to Yoxall Lodge.
Saturday, September 2Sth, Lidlington. — Found lots of foxes and killed a
brace of cubs.
Monday, September 30th, Yoxall Lodge Hills. — Found cubs. Killed one.
Tuesday, October 1st, Henhurst. — Found some cubs, and killed one.
Thursday, October 3rd, Oorsty Leys. — Found cubs, and ran to ground.
Earths badly stopped.
Saturday, October 5th, Wichnor. — A nice lot of cubs, and killed a brace,
Monday, October 1th, Chartley. — A good show of old foxes — no cubs. Went
away with a fox to Draycott Woods, but could not kill him.
Tuesday, October %th, Bangemore. — Plenty of cubs. Ran them from there to
Dunstall and back, and killed a brace.
Thursday, October lOth, Catton. — Found cubs. Ran one to Fisherwick and
killed.
Saturday, October \2th, Bagofs Woods. — Found very few foxes. Capital
scent in the woods.
Monday, October lUh, The Kennels.— Brew the Birch Wood and found foxes.
Scent bad.
Tuesday, October \5th, Chartley. — Found foxes. Ran to ground at Birch-
wood Park.
Thursday, October \lth, Walton Wood. — Found an old fox, ran to Lullington,
and killed at Edingale. Capital hunting run of two hours.
Saturday, October \Wi, Woodford Rough. — Did not find. Very bad night
and foxes supposed to be stopped in. Found an old fox by Buttermilk Hill and
killed him at Moot Spring. Very good day.
Tuesday, October 22nd, Eedleston. — Drew Breward's Car blank. Found a
brace of old foxes in Ravensdale Park, ran to the new gorse and back two or
three times. Found no cubs, though the keepers spoke of having twenty ! The
first day I was out after my return from Scotland.
Wednesday, October 23rd, Kedleston. — Breward's Car, Ravensdale Park, the
new gorse, and sundry small places all blank. Found an old fox in Champion's
Car. Very little scent.
Friday, October 2bth, Kingston Woods. — Met at Housalem's Coppice, where
we did not find. An old fox went away from the far end of Kingston Wood, ran
a short ring and into Bagot's Woods, through Housalem's Coppice. Not much
scent, and we lost him. Found again in Black Gutter Coppice, ran through
Hart's Coppice, across the Park, back again as if we were going to the Birch Wood,
but he turned back across the Park into the woods. We had him, dead beat, in
front of us, when a heavy storm came on and saved his life.
Saturday, October 26th, Hilton Gorse. — Found a nice lot of foxes. Chopped
a cub almost immediately, and afterwards ran an old fox for two hours in cover
and killed. Last day of cub-hunting. Eleven and a half brace of foxes.
1872] FIRST DAY OF REGULAR HUNTING. 325
Monday, October 28th, Sudbury Coppice. — Ran a fox about for some time
between the Coppice and the Bottoms, and eventually lost him. Found again,
but could do no good on the foiled ground. Went to Sapperton. No fox in the
covert, but one lying in the next field to it, which ran to Sudbury Park, and two
more foxes jumped up in a turnip-field. He crossed the Park to the Coppice, and
we could do no good with him. Drew the Plantation in the Park, but did
not find.
Tuesday, October 29th, The Neiv Lin. — Found in Hanbury Park Covert, ran
back through the Needwood House Plantations, and on to Castle Hayes, and lost
him in a storm of rain. Drew the Hare Holds Rough and Cupandition Wood
blank, also Kingstanding osier-bed. Found at Byrkley Lodge and ran to
Yoxall. Three or four foxes on foot, hounds divided, and I went away by the
New Church with nine and a half couples of hounds, through Jackson's Bank
and on to Hoar Cross village.
Thursday, October 31st, SteMson Lock. — A brace, if not three foxes in
Arleston Gorse. Ran one across Sintin Moor almost to Chellaston, when he
turned to the right at the Canal, and killed him by Swarkestone, about thirty
minutes. Fomid in Hell Meadows, ran a ring and back to the covert, where we
got on the line of another fox that had gone away, and the scent was cold,
and we lost him. Trotted to Spilsbury's Plantations, where a man told us he
had seen a fox go in ten minutes before — no doubt our fox from Hell Meadows.
There he was, sure enough, and went back to Hell Meadows and on to Arleston
Gorse, where we viewed him dead beat, but he got into some farm buildings,
where we left him, not caring for more blood.
Saturday, November 2nd, BUthhury. — Cawarden Springs, Ridware Planta-
tions, Pipe Wood, and Pear Tree Gorse blank. Trotted off to Moreton Gorse,
found a brace of foxes, ran one across to Blythe Moor and back to the gorse, then
over the brook up to Newton Gorse, where he was headed back and went to
Kingstone Woods. Capital hunting run.
Monday, November 4tth, Loxley. — Many foxes in Carry Coppice. Ran round
and round for some time, crossed the railway to Bramshall, and lost. Found in
Philips' Gorse, ran up to Carry Coppice, and eventually on, with a fresh fox, to
Birchwood Park, leaving our beaten one with five or six couples of hounds
behind. Any quantity of foxes on foot. Too many for sport.
Tuesday, November- 5th, Boylestone village. — Chopped a fox in Potter's
Covert. Ran another to Mamerton, back below Potter's, slow hunting down to
Sapperton. Went on to Foston, where we again got on to our run fox. We
went back to Barton, leaving Church Broughton on the right, by Potter's
Covert, down to the Alkmonl on Bottoms ; when he turned sharp in the
direction of Cubley, but he turned back, and we left him. Cubley blank. Found
in Bentley Car. The fox went away at the top side by Bentley Hall, and then to
the right almost down to Alkmonton Bottoms, over the road and to within a
field or two of Potter's Covert. Here he turned to the right, and ran below
Potter's House down to Foston Mill, when Charles viewed him in the same field
as the hounds, but a fresh fox jumped up out of a small osier-bed and went back
to Potter's Covert, which saved our run fox's life. Three couples of hounds got
a long start with the one that went back, and we never caught them with the
rest of the pack till we got to Potter's. From there we turned to the right,
ran down the meadows to Mamerton, and we killed him in the stackj^ard of
Hewitt's Farm. Time from Foston, forty minutes. Found in the Spath, ran
fast up to Hilton, through the gorse and back again, down to Sutton Mill, where
he was headed, and we lost him.
326 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1872
Thursday, November 1th, Radhurne. — Two or three foxes in the Rough.
One went away towards Dalbury Lees, then turned to the left, over the brook,
and ran down to Sutton Gorse, Twenty minutes, fast. Two fresh foxes went
away from the gorse, and at last our run fox, who ran a ring by Dalbury and
back within a field of the gorse. Eleven minutes, very fast. Took the hounds
on to the old gorse, where there was a fox, but whether or not our run fox I
do not know. Soon lost him. Found another fox in the large gorse, ran a
ring and killed him in a pit-hole, close to the covert where we had found him.
Drew several coverts about Foston without finding again. Trotted on and drew
round the house at Barton with the same result.
Saturday, November 9th, Anslow. — A long trot to Dove Cliff and no fox in
the osier-bed. Found at Eolleston in the covert near the Burton road. It was
some minutes before he went away. He then crossed the road and bore to the
right by RoUeston Park, over a capital country up to Castle Hayes, through the
covert there, and to ground close before the hounds in the cliff at Coton. Time,
from find to finish, forty minutes, of which thirty minutes was as fast as hounds
could go. Found in the Cupandition Covert, ran by Needwood House plantations,
only just going through the corner of one, left Knightley Park to the right, on
within a field of the Henhurst, turned to the right, on to the Dunstall Coverts,
through them to Bannister's Rough and down to Knightley Park, where scent got
very cold and we stopped the hounds. Capital fox and a capital hunting run,
hounds at times going very fast.
Monday, November- Wth, Dover idge. — Only one fox in the whole of the
parish, which ran a ring and got to ground in a drain by Minors' House. Trotted
off to Cubley. Drew all the coverts blank. Found a fox in Bentley Car, which
broke in the direction of Longford, and no doubt went on, but we got on a fresh
fox in a pit-hole the other side of the road, which came back, and we himted him
slowly by Cubley, and to ground in a rabbit-hole by the Sudbury and Ashbourne
road.
Tuesday, November 12th, Wichnor. — Very nearly chopped a fox, but he got
clear through the hounds and went along the meadows by the Trent, and crossed
the river by King's Bromley. We had to go round by the bridge, and found the
hounds at fault in King's Bromley Park, the fox, no doubt, having gone on for
Black Slough. Bad scent, but a capital line of country. Went back to Wichnor
and found another fox, but the scent was so bad we had to give it up and go
home.
Thursday, November lUh, Kedleston. — Found one fox in Breward's Car, ran
him about for some time, and lost him. All the other Kedleston coverts blank.
Trotted off to Wild Park, but no fox at home. Very wet day and very cold, and
no scent at any time.
Saturday, November IQth, Chartley. — Found on the Moss, ran a couple of
rings with him and lost. There were four or five couples of hounds forward
which stopped us. Found anotlier fox in Handleasow Wood, ran down to
Gratwich Wood, back to where we found him, across Chartley Park, through the
Moss, over the road as if he was going for Newton Gorse, but he turned instead
to the left, crossed the Blythe, ran through the corner of Kingston Wood and
through Housalem's Coppice into Bagot's Woods, where we stopped the hounds.
Nice hunting run.
Monday, November \9>th, Egginton. — Four foxes in the gorse. Got away
with one over the road, leaving Burnaston to the i-ight and Etwall to the left, up
to Dalbury, on by the brook side almost up to Sutton village, where he was viewed,
dead beat, in the road. Could make nothing of it, so went on to the Spath,
1872] LORD WATERPARK'S DIARY. 327
where, sure enough, our run fox was, but the hounds were halloaed away on a
fresh one, and ran very fast for a bit along the meadows towards Longford, then
turned to the right and came back close to the Spath, without going into it, and
on, as if for Hilton, but he turned again to the left and came back towards
Sutton Mill, and we lost him in the very same way and in the very same place
as we did our fox on the 5th. Good day's sport.
Tuesday, November \Qth, Henhurst. — A fox went away towards Anslow, but
turned to the left, crossed the turnpike road, and the hounds raced him to ground
in a main earth in Sinai Park. He was only just before the hounds, and
they must have killed him in another five minutes. Trotted off to Knightley
Park, hunted a cub about for some time, and across the road to Eangemore,
where we killed him. Drew the Deanery Plantation blank. Found in Yoxall
Lodge Hills, ran by the New Church into Jackson's Bank, through the Covert,
by Hoar Cross village to the Birchwood, where the scent was bad and we went
home, as Ve could make nothing of it. We heard afterwards that the fox had
gone round in front of the old Hall at Hoar Cross, and so no doubt back to
Yoxall.
Thursday^ Novemher 2\st, Siielston. — Did not find till we got to the little
covert by Cockshead Lane, where there were a brace of foxes. Ean one by
Birchwood Park. Hunted on to Mamerton, and finally lost our fox at nearly
five o'clock by Hewitt's Farm. Scent never very good, but it got worse
towards evening.
Saturday, November 23rc?, Blithfield. — Horrible morning, wet and windy.
Did not find in Moreton Gorse. Found in Stanley Wood. Scent very bad,
walked after our fox into Bagot's Woods. Here a fresh one jumped up amongst
the hounds and went straight oxit of the woods by Prior's Coppice, down to
Smallwood and on to Marchington through Kynersley's yard and straight down
to Woodford Eough, where we thought he had gone to ground, but we heard
afterwards that he crossed the river, went through Palmer Moor and up to
Sudbury Coppice.
Monday, Novemher 25tk, Foston. — Wet morning. Found below the house
and ran a bit in the direction of Tutbury, and crossed the Uttoxeter road up to
Church Broughton, turned to the left, and ran up to Potter's house, over the brook
and checked for a long time by the Bentley brickyard. Scent very indiiferent
and we could only just make out that our fox had gone in the direction of
Longford. Chopped a three-legged one in a pit-hole close by, which the hoimds
thought was our hunted fox, which did very well, as we wanted blood for them.
Drew Alkmonton Bottoms blank. Found several foxes at Longford. Ran one
round the house and back into the car, but he would not break again, and we
could not kill him, though we stuck to it till nearly five o'clock.
Tuesday, Novemher 26th, Eangemore. — Found in Bannister's Rough, ran
through Rocket's Oaks to Knightley Park and back again, and lost. Scent very
bad indeed. Went to Needwood, found in Hanbury Park covert, but could do
nothing.
Thursday, Novemher 28th, Stenson Lock. — Drew Arleston Gorse, Hell
Meadows, and Spilsbury's blank. Found three foxes in Egginton Gorse, ran a
ring with one over the line, and lost. Came back to the Gorse, but the foxes had
all gone. Trotted off" to Hilton Gorse. Found a fox at once. He went away at
the lower corner, up the brook side, over Limberstick Brook to Church Broughton,
which he left on the left and ran nearly up to Barton Blount. Here he bore
again to the left by Potter's house to the Boylstone Lane, where the first check
was. On again to Bentley Car, through the corner of which he went, bore to the
328 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1872
left by Bentley Hall, over the brook, and perfectly straight by Stydd up to the
Hollywood, Snelston, where he was viewed, dead beat; but a fresh fox jumped
up, and we lost him. Time, up to the first check in the Boylstone Lane, twenty-
three minutes ; distance, close on five miles. Time, up to the Hollywood,
Snelston, fifty-three minutes, and the distance ten miles.
Saturday, Novemler 30th, Bramshall village. — Found a fox in Philips'
Gorse, ran up to Carry Coppice and through the covert, out at the top end, over
the lane between Field Hall and Painley Hill, over the railway to Withington,
on to Park Hall, leaving Leigh on the left, down to Checkley ; here he bore to
the right past High bridges and Broadgate Hall, through Broadmoor plantation
by Sandy Lane and Light Oaks, to the right of Free Hay, crossed Moss Lane by
Light Wood, through Monks Wood, and, leaving Hales Hall to the left, went on
to Woodhouse, through Gibriding Wood, over the Churnet to Jackson's Wood,
where he turned to the left, and was killed close to the railway at Rake Edge.
Distance, fifteen miles, and the time one hour and fifty minutes. The field could
not get over the Churnet, so they had to go round by Oakamoor, and the hounds
had killed their fox fully twenty minutes before any one got to them. We had
out twenty-seven and a half couples of bitches, of which number twenty-seven
couples crossed the Churnet and killed the fox : the one absentee being old
Rachel, who had been lame for a fortnight and was short of work, and she only
stopped at Woodhouse. The first part of the run, up to Checkley, was over a
beautiful grass country, and quite fast enough for the state of the giound. After
that the country was rough and the hunting slower, and, curiously enough, had
we known of it, there was a ford over the Churnet within one field of where the
fox crossed the river. A hound carried the fox's head all the way back to Hoar
Cross.
Monday, December 2nd, Blithhury. — Pear Tree Gorse blank. Found a fox
in Pipe Wood, ran him round the covert four times, and killed him. A brace in
Laurence's Wood ; went away with one over the Blythe, along the side of which
he ran for a bit, and then re-crossed the river, which we could not do, as it was
bank fiill, so the hounds ran clean away from us, and we never got to them till
they had raced into their fox and broken him up by St. Stephen's HUl, near
Blithfield. The hounds positively flew up the meadows, and they must have run
into their fox in about fifteen minutes. There was evidently another fox before
the hounds, for they got on a fresh line at once and ran within a field of Moreton
Gorse, wliich we left on the right, and ran up the meadows to within three fields
of Chartley, which was evidently his point (we had come through Blithfield and
by Newton village, and changed foxes once if not twice). Here he was headed
and turned back by Newton Gorse, and ran into Bagot's Woods. Got on a fresh
fox again there, ran back to Newton Gorse, almost up to Chartley, and back by
Moreton Gorse, as if they were going to Bishton, where we stopped the hounds,
as it was almost dark, the horses were all tired, and every one had gone home.
From the time we went away from Laurence's Wood till we gave over, we were
running three hours and forty-five minutes.
Tuesday, December 3rd, Braihford. — No foxes in any of the coverts at
Brailsford. Found at Ednaston, ran a ring for twenty-five minutes, and to
ground in a rabbit-hole in the gorse. Country very heavy and boggy. Culland
plantation blank. Found in the Reeve's Moor at Longford, raced up to the
car, but the brute would not go away for a long time, and, at last, when he did,
he went to ground in an old earth by the Icehouse.
Thursday, December 5th, Badbvrne. — Frost.
Saturday, December 7th, Cation. — Two or three foxes in Catton Wood. One,
London Sampson Low. UarsLon & Co Ltd
1872] FIRST OF THE GREAT LOXLEY RUNS. 329
after being headed several times, went away by Walton Wood up to Lullington,
where he went to ground. Found several foxes in Homestall Wood, ran one to
Lullington to ground, Colvile having suddenly taken objection to having the
earths stopped. Found again in the covert below Walton Hall, but could not
do much. Plenty of foxes all over this country. I was not out, having gone to
Hugby to try and buy a horse.
Monday, December 9th, Sudbury Coppice. — A brace of foxes went away at
once, one turned back to the Bottoms, the other, which we hunted, went by
Vernon's Oak, leaving Cubley village to the left, up to Bentley Hall, where we
checked. There was a great deal of snow on the ground, and up to this point —
twenty-five minutes, very fast — the hounds ran clean away from us. Went on to
Bentley Car, where the hounds showed a line into the covert, but whether or not
our run fox I cannot say. A brace of foxes here. One went away towards
Longford, the other tried to do the same, but was headed in the road, thence
back through the covert, went almost down to Cubley village, within a field of
Cubley Gorse, up to Marston Park, and down to Marston village ; here three
couples of hounds got forward, and we had to hunt slowly up to them, to Cubley
Stoop, when we turned to the right, back by Vernon's Oak, across the Ashbourne
and Sudbury road, doAvn the meadows to Boylestone, where the fox jumped up
before the hounds, and they raced him for five fields up the brook side towards
Cubley, and killed him. Capital day's sport. Just thi-ee hours from the time we
found at Sudbury.
Tuesday, December 10th, Dunstall. — Very thick fog. Could not draw till
twelve, and even then it was not really fit to hunt. Found a fox, and walked
after him for about an hour, when the fog came on so thick again that we were
obliged to go home. Not a particle of scent.
Tliursday, December 12th, Langley Fark. — Frost.
Saturday, December lUh, Chartley. — Frost.,
Monday, December 16th, Marston-on-Dove. — Very thick fog. Waited till
twelve, and then drew Hilton Gorse. A fox was halloaed away over the brook,
as the hounds went into the cover ; some time before we got them away, as they
were running another fox in the cover ; ran down to Sutton and lost close to the
Mill, the third fox we have lost in the same place. Drew the Spath and Potter's
cover blank. Trotted on to Foston, and drew all the covers there without find-
ing a fox, but found one by the icehouse at the back of the kitchen garden. Kan
over the road towards the Foston Woods and on as if for Barton, but turned to
the left by Sapperton and into Sudbury Park; twenty- five minutes. Here the
scent was very bad, and after walking after him slowly round the Park we gave
it up, as it was late,, and the scent got worse every minute.
Tuesday, December 11th, Bretby. — Blank day !
Thursday, December 19th, Radburne. — Certainly three, if not four, foxes in
the Rough, but the scent was so very bad that we could do nothing. A brace of
foxes in the Nursery, and result the same. Trotted down to Newton's osier-bed,
found a fox, but could not run him above a couple of fields, and the hounds
turned back. Got on the line again, however, and walked after him to Sutton
Gorse, through which he had evidently passed. No fox in the large gorse.
Found in the Ash (or else got up to the fox we had been hunting from Newton's
osier bed), went away towards Trusley, where he bore to the right as if for Rad-
burne, but, instead of going there, he went along the brook-side up to Etwall,
through Hilton town end, just below the gorse, where he began to run like a
beaten fox, crossing and recrossing the road, the hounds himting beautifully, and
so up to Sutton village, and here it got so dark that we had to stop the hounds,
330 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1872
though our fox was only just before them, '. iCapital scent with this fox, and the
hounds ran hard up to Hilton, after that it was slow hunting. Time, one hour
and eight minutes.
Saturday, December 21st, Kingston village. — Very foggy all day. Found at
Windy Hall, and soon got into Bagot's Woods, where there were too many foxes
on foot to do much good.
Monday, December 23rd, Wychnor.—^o fox here, or at Rough Park ! Found
at once in the Brakenhurst, ran to Yoxall Lodge Hills, and back to the
Brakenhurst, on to Jackson's Bank, back thiough the big woods, to Yoxall
again, through Byrkley Lodge and to ground by the kitchen garden wall at
Kingstanding.
Tuesday, December 24th, Shirley Park. — One fox reported to have gone away
towards Yeavely, while we were running another in cover, which eventually went
to ground in the cover. Trotted off to Ednaston and found in the gorse. A very
bad fox, and after two short rings he got to ground in the main earth in Brails-
ford Old Gorse. Found again at Culland, ran almost up to Brailsford village,
where a fresh fox jumped out of a pit-hole, and seemed as if he was making for
Longford, but bore to the left, by the Long Lane, almost up to the Parson's
Gorse, over the road and down to Radburne Rough, where we stopped the
hounds. Poor scent all day.
Friday, December 27th, Langley Park. — Found in the gorse, and hunted
slowly by Langley village, the Parson's Gorse, through Radburne Park, on to the
osier bed below Mickleover, where our fox had evidently waited and not heard
us coming, as it was up wind, and here we got up to him, and ran fast down to
Mackworth, where he made a sharp turn to the left and back to the turnpike road.
He was viewed, dead beat, and must have got to ground somewhere, as we could
make nothing of it. A brute of a sheep dog chased him over the road, or we
must have killed him in a few minutes. Very provoking. Drew Markeaton and
Radburne blank, and went home. The time of our run from Langley to where
we lost him at Markeaton, was one hour and fifteen minutes.
Saturday, December 28th, Chartley. — Found in the gorse at Shaw, ran a ring
and back across the Park — twenty minutes, fast, and checked. The fox had
tiu-ned short back, and the scent had got very bad, so we trotted back to
the gorse and found another fox. He went away through Birchwood Park up to
Sherratt's Wood, in the North Stafford country, where we gave it up, there
being no scent whatever. Found again in Handleasow Wood, rattled him once
round the cover, when he broke at the far end, and went by Gratwich Wood,
close to the village up to the road, where we came close to a long check and
lost him.
Monday, December 30th, Eaton Wood. — A brace of foxes in the wood. Ran
one for forty-five minutes in the wood and to Doveridge and back, and killed him.
Trotted off to Sudbury and found in the coppice. The fox pointed as if for
Bentley Car, but, turning to the left, went through Cubley village, and we hunted
him slowly to Cubley Gorse ; here we got up to him, and had a very fast spin up
to Bentley Car, and killed liim in cover. Four other foxes in the gorse.
Tuesday, December 31st, Ntwborough village. — Drew Holly Bush, the Parson's
Brake, Hanbury Park Cover, Needwood, Byrkley Lodge, and Yoxall Lodge Hills
without finding. Found a lot of foxes all together in Brakenhurst. Hounds
divided, part running to Yoxall, and a ring to the right and back to Braken-
hurst, the others going by Kingstanding, Needwood House, and up to Castle
Hayes.
Thursday, 1873, January 2nd, Kedleston. — Only one solitary fox in the
THE SECOITD GREAT LOXLETi' RUN.
London Sampson Lovf. MarsLon & Co. Ltd
1873] SECOND GREAT LOXLEY RUN. 331
whole place. Found him in Breward's Car, and ran across the Wirksworth
railway towards Duffield, but there was no scent, and we could only walk after
him. Ravensdale Park, the new gorse, Wilde Park, Brailsford, and Culland, all
blank !
Saturday, January 4i^, Loxley. — Very wet day. Found in the Park Cover
three foxes at least. Hounds divided, but at last we] got them together, though
by this time the fox had got a long start. Ran by Woodcock Heath, over the
Blyth, up to Handleasow Wood at Chartley, where we got on better terms with
our fox ; on by Shaw, through the corner of Fradswell Heath up to Sandon, by
Shaw's Wood, right through the middle of Hardewick Heath, over the Uttoxeter
and Stone road, through the Holly Wood, and Cotwalton Durable, and on to
within a few fields of Moddershall Oaks, where we whipped off, having only
eight couples of hounds, and the scent so bad that we had no chance of getting up
to our fox. We were with the hounds up to Fradswell Heath, but there, owing to
two impracticable durables, they gave us the slip, and we never got to thera
again till Sandon. Three couples of hounds got on a fresh fox at Chartley, and
the first whip had to go and stop thera, and at Hardewick Heath, five and a half
couples ran a fox back, and eventually to ground in the earths at Sandon, so that
we had to go on with only eight couple, and neither of the whips. Whether it
was our run fox or not which went to ground at Sandon it is impossible to say,
as we must have had, at least, a brace of foxes before us all the way from Shaw's
Wood. Another fox was seen to go into a pit-hole, dead beat, just beyond the
Holly Wood, and we went back to look for him, but of course he was gone. The
distance of this run from point to point is over nine miles, and must have been
at least thirteen and a half the way we went. The country was so deep that
no horse in England could have lived with hounds the pace they went.
Monday, January 6th, Walton village. — Brace of foxes in the Grove at
Drakelowe, ran one round and round, and at last to ground in the Park. Tried
to dig him out, but could not. Found another fox in the fox-covert, ran very
fast alongside the railway as if for Seal Wood, but he turned to the right, back
through Caldwell, and on to the covert where we found him, through that and up
to the Grove, and here the scent turned so bad, and the ground was so foiled from
running about in the morning, that he got a long way ahead, and we could only
walk after him as far as Coton, where we gave it up, the fox having evidently
gone on to Lullington.
Tuesday, January 1th, Spread Eagle. — A fox broke at once from Egginton
Gorse, crossed the brook, over Hilton Common, by Hilton Cottage, up to Hilton
Fields, his point evidently being for the Ash, but being headed at the Sutton and
Etwall road, he turned to the left and made his point, passing by the Ash, over
the Sutton and Radburne road, and went to ground in a new-made drain close to
the brook at Rook Hills, just below Trusley. A capital gallop of thirty-five
minutes, and quite fast enough for the state of the country. Drew the Spath and
Sapperton blank. Found in the Lemon hole at Foston, ran a ring at first, and
then went up the meadows towards Tutbury, crossed the turnpike road by the
Pennywaste almost up to Hilton Gorse, where we stopped the hounds, as it was
too late to go into the gorse.
Tliursday, January dth, Radburne. — Drew the Rough, Parson's Gorse, Squire's
Gorse, the Nursery, and Newton's osiers blank. Found in a small plantation just
beyond the latter place, but, owing to false halloas and an unruly field, soon lost
him. Drew Bearwardcote, and then on to Sutton Gorse, where we found at once,
and ran by the Ash to Trusley and back to Sutton, but the scent was bad and
the fox worse, and we gave it up.
332 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1873
Saturday, January l\th, Stretton village. — Found in the osier-bed at Dove
Cliff, and killed within a field of Knightlej'- Park.
Then follows a printed account : —
On Saturday, January 11th, the meet was at Stretton (a new one for these
hounds), and a good field assembled to join in the sport. They trotted off to
Dove Cliff, where a fox was found near the gardener's cottage. He ran over the
Newlands meadows, skirting the river Dove and across the North Staffordshire
Railway, then up the meadows and across the Rollestone brook, in the direction
for Tutbury, and leaving Tutbury on the right, crossed the road leading from
Rollestone to Tutbury, at the Mill Lane End. Skirting the coverts here, he
crossed the Burton and Tutbury turnpike road, near Rolleston Park, which farm
he went over in the direction for Bushton ; leaving both former and latter farm-
houses to the left, he went towards Belmot Green, near which place a short check
occurred — letting in a few stragglers, as the pace up to this point was tremendous,
and the field had become very select. Several casualties had occurred during
the early part of the run, and those, who had second horses to ride, showed some
anxiety as to their whereabouts. From this point the fox went towards Stockley
Park, crossing the brook below Belmot. He afterwards came round to the right,
over some heavy land towards Hanbury, and, leaving lower Castle Hayes to the
right, ran in the direction for the Top House. Here a man in a large stubble
field headed him, when he again turned to the right, and was in view for a short
time. On leaving Castle Hayes he crossed Belmot Green, and a second time
crossed the brook below Belmot, and again ran towards Stockley Park. After
dodging about the farm for some time, he crossed the road leading from Anslow
to Hanbury, near Anslow Church, and, passing through some gardens at the Bell
House, he crossed the Bell House brook, and, leaving Anslow Church to the left,
made for Collingwood covert ; passing this, he went towards the Henhurst, but,
doubling back, ran to Rough Hay, where a check occurred, delaying the hounds
a long time ; after which they again got on the line, and ran a short distance
towards Knightley Park, but the scent again failed before reaching the covert,
and another hindrance — about fifteen minutes — took place. The hounds were
then taken towards the New Inn, and many thought the fox had saved his
brush, but the hounds caught scent again, and ran him to Rough Stock Farm
and back towards Knightley Park ; and he was pulled down in the open near the
latter place, and proved to be one of the finest foxes ever seen in the neighbour-
hood. Many horses and riders had now had enough ; but others went on, and,
after drawing Knightley Park blank, a fox was found at Rockets Oak, and ran to
Yoxall Lodge.
Galloper.
An account of these days will also appear in Lord
Waterpark's Diary later on.
Field, January 18th, 1873:—
Thursday, January 9th. — Meet, Radbourne Hall. Rather an unfortunate
day; no fox at home, the excessive wet having placed the osier-beds imder
water.
Saturday, January llth. — Met at Stretton village. A large meet and a
lovely morning. Drew first of all the osier-beds below Dove Cliff House, and
1873] GOOD RUN FROM NEEDWOOD. 333
found immediately a rare old fox, who took us merrily along the meadows by
the Dove almost to Tutbury, across the Burton and Tutbury road for Stockley
Park, and a ring round Anslow village, and on for a small covert close by
Rangemoor church, where Master Charley doubled back, and tried very hard to
save his brush by gaining Knightley Park ; but this gallant fox had to succumb
to the patience of the Meynell blood and Charles Leedham one field from the
above-mentioned big wood, after a most excellent run of over two hours.
Monday, January ISiA. — Met at Sutton Mill. Not much sport, a poor
scent, a good many people rolling about. Had a burst of about twenty minutes,
and a kill.
Tuesday, January \^th. — Meet, The Henhurst. Not a very large gathering,
as it is not an over popular meet ; but among the noble sportsmen were the
worthy master (Lord Waterpark), Lords Berkeley Paget and Tarbet, Captains
Paget, Mosley, and Butler, Colonel Chetwode, Mrs. Colvile, Messrs. Bass, Arthur
Bass, Hardy, H. Evans, George Allsopp, Levett, Gretton, Pole, etc. Found
immediately, and had a bit of a ring, and lost our fox very soon, partly owing to
the excessive noise of the foot-people. Drew some of Mr, Bass's coverts blank,
but no wonder, as hounds were in them on the Saturday previous and found a
brace of foxes, then drew all Dunstall — mirahile dictu —hl&nk. On for Needwood,
and found in a small and nice covert directly, called Black Wood, I believe, and
away for Castle Hayes, across the Burton and Sudbury road, by the Draycott
turnpike, leaving Coton House on the right, and on for Marchington, then sharp
to the right across the North Stafford Railway, down the meadows opposite
Sudbury Hall, across the river Dove, which was almost a swim for it, and which
only Lords B. Paget and Tarbet, Captain Butler, Messrs. George Allsopp and
Mitchell, and Dick Somers (first whip) crossed ; the rest went round, and found
us with our gallant fox marked to ground ; he was bolted, and could hardly make
a go of it, and so these beautiful hounds gained their well-merited prize, after a
very sharp fifty minutes over a big grass country.
An Old Boy.
334 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. » [1873
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE GREAT RUN FROM SUDBURY COPPICE TO WOOTTON
THE BULLERS — LORD WATERPARK's DIARY.
1873.
From Lord Waterpark's Diary : —
Monday, Janwxry 13<A, Sutton Mill. — Trotted off to Longford. Found in
the Car, ran down to the village, up to the Reeves Moor and on for Culland,
where we came to a long check, as the fox had run up the road and skirted the
plantations. After this we hunted him slowly in the direction of Burrows ; but
the scent got so cold that we gave it up. Found in the cover by Potter's house,
ran up to Longford Car, and killed him in the cover. Drew Bentley Car, where
a fox was at home. Ran a short ring and lost him, the evening turning very cold
and the scent very bad.
Tuesday, January lAth, The Eenhurst. — Several foxes on foot, had a bit of
a ring with one, and lost him above Sinai Park. Drew the Rangemore, Dunstall,
and Needwood House covers blank. Found in the Black Brook cover, went
away for Castle Hayes, across the Burton and Sudbury Road, by the Draycott
turnpike, leaving Coton House on the right, and on for Marchington, then sharp
to the right, across the North Stafford Railway, down the meadows opposite
Sudbury, across the river Dove, and to ground in the Wood Yard at Sudbury
village. Bolted him and ran into him the other side of the lake. Time, fifty
minutes, over a magnificent country, all grass.
Thursday, January \Qth, Elvaston. — Found some bad ringing foxes at Aston,
which would not go away, and killed a brace. Trotted on to Arleston, found a
three-legged fox, which we ran for six minutes and killed. Drew Hell Meadows
and Spilsbury's covers blank.
Saturday, January 19>th, Bramshall. — Slight frost, cold, starving east wind.
Found two, if not three, foxes in Philips' Gorse, but could never fairly settle to
one till Carry Coppice, where he was halloaed away over the lane, and hounds
ran sharp towards Chartley, over the Blyth by Field Mill, to Shaw's Rough,
where we probably changed foxes. A longish check by Shaw Farm, then ran,
but only at a moderate hunting pace, and leaving Birchwood on the left, towards
Brindley's Coppice, bent to the right over the railroad below Dairy House,
between Blyth House and Team Leys to Oak Hill, over the Newcastle and
Uttoxeter road, just to the right of Totmanslow, to the Draycott Fox covert,
over the road by Bond's House, close up to Draycott Cross, then through
London Sempeon Low, UarsLoa & Co.LLd
1S73] THE GREAT RUN FROM SUDBURY COPPICE. 335
Callow Hill Wood, and lost at the Forsbrook road, between Field House and
Dilhorne, pointing for Blakeley Bank. Time, two hours and fifteen minutes.
Never a good scent, but a good fox. Distance, certainly not less than fifteen
miles.
Monday, January 20th, Cation. — Found directly in Catton Wood, ran a ring
and through Walton Wood on to the Grove at Drakelowe. Here the hounds
hung for some minutes in cover, and we hunted slowly on towards Caldwell,
turned to the right and went on to Homestall Wood, and from this point we
never fairly hit off the scent again, though we heard our fox had gone on to
Lullington. A good scent on the grass, of which there was mighty little, but
none on the plough, which was hard at the top, owing to the frost last night.
No fox at LulHngton, and the same at Drakelowe, but we had run through the
Grove at the latter place, and a fresh fox had been viewed away. Heavy fall of
snow before I got home.
Tuesday, January 21s^, Snelston. — Snow and frost.
Thursday, January 23rd, Kedleston Toll-bar. — Could not draw till twelve-
thirty, owing to the frost, and even then it was really hardly fit to hunt. Found
a fox in Darley osier-bed, the hounds got away close to his brush, raced him up
to Allestree, and killed him. Found again at Allestree, had rather a pretty ring
down the meadows towards Duftield and back to the cover, through which they
rattled him, and he came out as if he meant going for Markeaton, but turned
back, and eventually went to ground in a large rabbit-hole. Trotted off to Langley
Gorse and soon found. The fox went as if for Radburne, but turned back before
he got there, and, the scent being very bad and the day late, we gave it up.
Saturday, January 25th, Blithhury. — Frost.
Monday, January 27th, Sudbury. — Found at once in the Coppice, and ran,
very slowly at first, into the park, and here the scent seemed to improve a bit,
and we hunted, at a fair pace, by Sapperton up to the cover by Potter's, without
going into either of these covers. From Potter's they began to run hard, up to
Middleton Park, where the fox turned to the left and then again to the right, bj'
the back of Cubley Church, across the Sudbury and Ashbourne road, leaving
Cubley Gorse to the right, where we came to a slight check on a wheat-field.
From this point they ran very fast over Birchwood Moor, to the right of Marston
Park, down to Boston, crossed the road and ran nearly up to Norbury station,
where he bore a bit to the left and crossed the Dove, just before the hounds,
opposite Dove Leys. A slight check occurred at the top of the hill, by the
Rocester and Ashbourne road, but they soon hit it off again, and hunted by
Prestwood, up to Wootton Park, where we viewed the fox by a farm-house, and
killed him under the wall of the cover, and within fifty yards of the main earths
he was making for. It was slow hunting up to Potter's, but from there they ran
hard to Cubley, and from Cubley down to the Dove it was very fast. Distance,
fourteen and three-quarter miles in all, and eleven miles nearly straight from
Potter's to Wootton. Time, one hour forty-five minutes. The fox never went
into a cover the whole way, and the hounds were never cast.
Tuesday, January 2%th, The Henhurst. — Very hard and frosty, too much so
to hunt in the open, so at twelve-thirty we trotted off to the Forest Banks.
Found in the Greaves, and ran out towards Hanbury, but the fox turned back
and we soon lost him. Found again in tlie Far Wood, ran across Bagot's Park,
through the Woods, and back to the Banks, and, at a quarter past five, Charles
and I found ourselves alone in the middle of the woods, with a beaten fox before
us, and no light to kill him. Every one gone home and both whips lost.
Four days frost.
336 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1873
Thursday, February Qth, Badburne.—Drew the Rough blank. Found in
the Parson's Gorse. Ran hard for a quarter of an hour and to ground, near
Langley village, in a sough under the road. Found again in Langley Gorse, a
very bad ringing fox, which we hunted round and round, and finally lost near
Radburne. The Nursery and Newton's osiers blank. Trotted off to Sutton,
found and ran by the Old Gorse, over the road towards Hilton, but there was
not much scent, so we stopped the hounds, not wishing to get into Hilton.
Saturday, February Sth, BUthbury. — All the covers there blank, also Moreton
Gorse, at Blithfield. Found three foxes all together in Blythe Moor, and killed
a dog fox almost immediately. A brace of foxes in Hart's Coppice, but the very
worst scent I have seen this year.
Monday, February 10 th, Boyleston village. — Found at Sapper ton, ran by
Sudbury Park into the Coppice, out towards Cubley village, and down to
Marston Park, where we killed him, after a nice gallop of forty-five minutes.
Never a good scent, but the hounds were close behind their fox the whole way.
Drew Bentley Car, Longford, Alkmonton, and Potter's Cover blank. Found
at Foston, ran up to Hilton Gorse, and killed him in the cover.
Tuesday, February llth, Walton village. — Frost.
Thursday, February ISth, Egginton. — Several foxes in the Gorse. Ran
round and round, and got away two or three times, but the foxes were bad ones
and kept coming back. Scent very bad. Drew Sutton blank, and the Spath
Covert, but found in a little osier-bed by Sutton Mill, and walked after him
almost up to Radburne, where we stopped the hounds, the fox having gone to
Newton's osiers.
Saturday, February 15th, Char tley.— Found in the Gorse at Shaw, ran by
the corner of Handleasow Wood, close by Gratwich Wood, over the Blythe and
the railway to the Park Covert at Loxley, where the fox was viewed quite beat ;
but, unfortunately, we went away with a fresh one, by Kingston village, on to
Prior's Coppice, through the Woods, and across Bagot's Park, where he turned
sharp to the left and back along the cliffs to Buttermilk Hill. Here he doubled
short back, ran along the Woods and out at the bottom end towards Marchington,
but turned to the right at Smallwood, went by Littlewood's Farm, through the
Banks, across Agardsley, over the road and through Hollybush Park, by HoUis'
house, and killed him in Bull's Park. Capital hunting nm of three hours and
ten minutes from the time we found at Chartley.
Monday, February llth, Yoxall village. — Wychnor blank, also the Fir
Covert by Silverhill. Found in Bannister's Rough, Rangemore, had a capital
slow hunting run all over the Forest for three hours and five minutes, and killed
our fox by Hoar Cross village. Several fresh foxes on foot in the Brakenhurst,
and innumerable halloas, but the hounds stuck to the line of the hunted fox, and
regularly walked him to death.
Tuesday, February ISth, Snelston. — Found in the Cinder Hills, went away
at a great pace as if for Eaton Woods, but at Raddle Wood he turned to the left,
crossed Marston Common, down to Cubley Gorse, and on to Vernon's Oak, where
we came to a check. Time, thirty-three minutes, very fast indeed. Here we
were a long time before we got on to the line again, but when we did, went
through Sudbury Coppice, across the Park, and down to Sapperton, beyond which
place we could make nothing of it. A capital gallop down to Sudbury, though
the hounds slipped on for a bit between Sudbury and Cubley. Drew again, but
did not find another fox.
Thursday, February 20th, Swarkeston Bridge.— Found a fox in Gorsty Leys,
but the scent was bad, and we soon lost him. Drew Ingleby Heath blank, and
Coote Manningham-Buller, Reginald ManninghafBuller,
Rifle Brigade. Grenad Guards.
Edmund Manningham = Buner,
Rifle Brigade. '
Frederick Manningham = BuiIer, Ernest Manninghfi-Buller,
Coldstream Guards. He Brigade.
.2b-isu£irberi9-i0
.r>lliiJjMnBri-injnriBm bnumbH
airiRuO rofisilabloO
'»!uet/^:£.4i,iU.i/A..yc.
1873] THE BULLERS. 337
then trotted off to Calke, where we soon found, and ran across the Park to
Stanton Harold ; here he doubled back by Calke Abbey, and ran in the direction
of Ashby, but turned again to the right, and went to ground in the earth at Harts-
horn Gorse, close in front of the hounds. Time, one hour and thirty minutes.
Saturday, February 22nd, LoxJey. — Found in the Park Covert, but there was
no scent, and we could only walk after him. He went pretty nearly straight to
Bagot's Woods, over the road, and into Kingstone Wood, then turned sharp back,
went through Bagot's Woods again, and to ground in the main earth at the
Wan-en at Blithfield. Drew Prior's Coppice, and then trotted back to Loxley.
Found a brace of foxes in the covert by the railway, but the scent was even
worse than in the morning, and we could only hunt slowly up to Bagot's Woods
again.
In this run Colonel Edmund Buller unfortunately broke
his leg.
Among the most constant frequenters of the Meynell
Hunt were the Bullers. The Hon. John Yarde Buller, the
father of the present Lord Churston, from the time of his
marriage iu 1845, came from Devonshire every winter to
hunt from Radburne Hall, staying with his father-in-law,
the grandfather of the present squire, until the death of
Mr. Chandos-Pole in 1863. Then there were his cousins —
Bullers from Dilhorne, Staffordshire — who began certainly
as early as 1849, and never missed a season until death
thinned their ranks. They were all soldiers. The eldest
and now only surviving brother. Sir Morton Manningham-
BuUer of Dilhorne, was in the Militia, and for some years
Colonel of the 2nd Staffs. The other five were two of
them in the Guards, and three in the Rifle Brigade. They
were keen sportsmen, well mounted, considering their
means, and all good riders — bound to have a good many
falls amongst them, so that " a few Bullers in the brook,"
or " another Buller down," became a familiar saying. But,
mercifully, there were no serious accidents — a broken leg,
a collar-bone, a wrist, a slight concussion, being all there
was to record during forty years and more of persistent
riding to hounds.
One day their cousin, the Hon. Eleanor Buller (now
the Hon. Mrs. Northey Hopkins), came out when she was
only a slip of a girl, and, knowing no one in particular to
follow, selected as her pilot a nice, quiet-looking, gray-
haired old gentleman. It was not many minutes before
VOL. I. z
338 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1873
the quiet old gentleman popped over an innocent-looking
little fence, and she followed him, to find herself up
to her neck in a brook. The " old gentleman " was Mr.
Clowes !
Monday, February 2ith, Mar ston-on- Dove. — Frost.
Tuesday, February 25th, Stretton village. — Frost and snow.
Thursday, February 27th, Walton village.— Cho^^^ed a fox in the Grove at
Drakelowe. Did not find again till we got to Catton, where there were either
two or three foxes. Walked after one by Lullington, over the river to Clifton
Hall, and lost him. One of the worst scents we have had this season.
Saturday, March 1st, Chartley. — Quite impossible to hunt here (Doveridge)
on account of the snow, so I was much surprised to hear, in the afternoon, that
the hounds had gone to Chartley. However, as they were there and wanted
exercise, Charles took them to Kingstone Wood, and they ran hard in the woods
for an hour and a half, and out towards Loxley, where Charles stopped them.
Monday, March 3rd, Marston-on-Dove. — Trotted off to Egginton Gorse,
found at once, but the scent was very bad, and we could only get on slowly.
However, the fox went over a fine line of country, by Etwall, through Sutton
Gorse, almost to Trusley, where we lost hira. Drew Hilton Gorse, the Spath,
Potter's Covert, and Bentley Car blank.
Tuesday, March 4th, Newhorough. — Found in Roost Hill Coppice, ran through
the Birchwood, on through Tomlinson's Corner to Marchington Cliff, and all
along the Woods to Bagot's Park. Several foxes on foot, and the hounds divided.
Hunted across the Park and through the Woods several times. Not much scent.
Thursday, March 6th, Bradley. — Found a brace of foxes at Ednaston. Very
poor scent, and, as the fox we were hunting had evidently gone to Shirley Park,
I stopped the hounds, not wishing to go there on account of Mr. Wright's death.
Viewed a fox as we were going to draw Brailsford Gorse, ran him for ten minutes
and killed him. Trotted off to draw at Culland. A fox jumped up in a field
just before the hounds, and they ran him up fast to Shirley Park, where there
was one, if not two, fresh foxes on foot. Got away over the Ashbourne and
Derby Road and hunted slowly, with a bad scent, up to Mansell Park, where we
gave it up. Hounds could only run to-day when they were close to their fox.
Saturday, March 8th, Bramshall. — Found in Philips' Gorse, ran to Carry
Coppice, and to ground in a pit-hole on Mr. Blurton's farm. Four foxes in the
Park Covert ; got away with one through Carry Coppice, over the railway and
back again, on by Loxley Hall, and from here they ran well to the Red Cow on the
Uttoxeter Road, where be turned sharp back to the right, back across the Park
and through the covert we found him in, and, after ringing about a good deal,
we finally killed him in the open below Carry Coppice.
Monday, March IQth, Chartley. — Found on the Moss, ran -a short ring and
lost. Very poor scent. Found again in Shaw's Rough, ran by the corner of
Handleasow Wood, over the Blythe to ground in Carry Coppice. Went to King-
stone Woods. Ran hard for forty-five minutes in the Woods, with a much
better scent, and stopped the hounds when we found it was a vixen.
Tuesday, March Wth, Strettori village. — Drew Dove Cliff osier-bed and the
Rolleston coverts blank. Trotted oft' to the Henhurst, where we found a brace of
foxes, got away on very bad terms with one, hunted hira slowly on to Tatenhill,
■where we lost hira. No fox in Knightley Park, nor in the Rangeraore coverts.
Found a brace in Yoxall Lodge Hills, ran to Rangeraore very prettily, where a
1873] LORD WATERPARK'S DIARY. 339
violent storm stopped us for a long time, and afterwards hunted him slowly on to
Dunstall and over the Burton road, and there he turned short back and went to
ground.
Thursday, March \Bth, Meynell-Langley. — A fox went away from the gorse
before the hounds came, which accounted for drawing it blank. Drew a good
many small coverts, but did not find till we got to Egginton. A fox broke at
once from the gorse and went up the meadows towards Hilton, crossed the Derby
road by Hilton Town end, up to Sutton, within two fields of the Ash, where a
man headed him, and we had a check — twenty minutes up to this, and very
pretty. Hit him off a2;ain and went by Dalbury as if he meant going to Radburne,
but he turned to the left by Trusley, kept on up the brook side, over the Long
Lane, up to Burrows, where he checked again for some time, but got on the line
and went on to Brailsford, where we gave it up, as the fox was a long way ahead
of us, and had evidently gone on to Ravensdale Park or to Kedleston. Went to
Culland with a field reduced to five, found three foxes, ran one very fast within a
couple of fields of the Parson's Gorse, where the ploughs stopped us, and we went
home. Very good day's sport.
Saturday, March 15th, Loxley. — There was a fox in the Park Covert, but
absolutely no scent, and we lost him immediately. Found in the Kingston
Woods, ran to Bagot's Woods, turned to the left and across the open to Loxley,
where we lost him.
Monday, March llth, Yoscall village. — Drew Eough Park blank. Found in
the covert by the Cross Hayes, ran to Hoar Cross, leaving the Birchwood to our
right, very fast up to Lord's Coppice. Here we took a ring round the woods and
out over the park towards Hart's Coppice, but turned short back, and was pulled
down in the open after a good run of an hour and eight minutes. Drew Birch-
wood, Roost Hill, and the Chantrey blank.
Tuesday, March 18th, Snelston. — Found in Holly Wood, ran fast for twelve
minutes and to gi'ound in a drain near Cubley Gorse. Drew the rest of the
Snelston coverts, Shirley Park, and Longford blank. Chopped a vixen in Bentley
Car. Went aw^ay with another fox, but, as she turned out to be a vixen, we
stopped the hounds. Drew Sapperton blank.
Thursday, March 20th, LtiUington. — Drew Lullington, Catton (earths open
and vixens in them), and Walton AVood blank. Came over the water and drew
some coverts of Mr. Hardy's, in the meadows, but did not find. Found in the
Brakenhurst, and ran rather nicely for a bit, as if he meant going for Hollybush,
but turned to the left by Newborough, and went on to the Chantrey, where we
lost him.
Saturday, March 22nd, CJiartley. — A brace of foxes in Shaw's Rough, but
could do nothing with them. Earths open on the Moss and no fox to be found.
Drew some plantations at Hixon blank ; the Coley coverts the same ; ditto
Moreton Gorse and Blythe Moor. Found a fox on Newton-hurst, but there was
no scent, and we only walked after him as far as the big woods and gave it up.
Monday, March 24<A, Brereton village. — Found a fox in Brereton Hayes.
Ran very fast for ten minutes, to ground in an earth on the Chace, and soon
found another fox, which we ran for some time, but the scent was bad and we
could not kill him.
Tuesday, March 25th, Draycott Cliff. — Drew the Greaves blank, and, hearing
there were some cubs above ground near Marchington ClilV, we trotted off to
Castle Hayes, where we did not find, but we found a fox close by in Hare Holds,
and had a capital gallop. He pointed at first for Rolleston Park, but turned to
the left by Castle Hayes Park, down to Fauld, ran along the meadows by the
340 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1873
riverside to Coton, where he turned up the hill, went straight through the Greaves,
by the New Lodge, through one corner of Parson's Brake, over the road towards
HoUybush, and here occurred a most extraordinary thing. Charles viewed the
fox in a grass field, and actually saw two couples of hounds roll him over, and,
when he got up to the spot, no fox or hounds were to be seen. A man working
on the Bank at Hollybush said he had seen the fox go down a ploughed tield, but
though we cast all round we could not hit off the line, and it was not till a week
afterwards that we heard that the fox had gone into a pit-hole and laid down.
It was a capital gallop of about forty minutes, and very fast. Found three vixens
and a dog fox at Needwood House, and fortunately got away without doing any
mischief. Drew Byrkley Lodge blank.
TJmrsday, March 27th, Bagofs Park. — Found in Hart's Coppice, ran a wide
ring by Tomlinson's corner and back, across the park, into the woods, where we
got on a fresh fox, and were a considerable time before we got on the line of our
hunted one, he having evidently gone for Loxley and the scent was cold, so we
gave it up. Found another in a little covert beyond Hart's Coppice, but soon
lost him, the scent getting worse. Drew the Birch Wood and Boost Hill blank.
Found in Brakenhurst late in the evening, ran hard for forty minutes, and had
the greatest difficulty in stopping the hounds just as they were running into a
vixen, which must have had cubs laid up in the wood.
Saturday, March 29th, WoJseley Bridge. — Found immediately and ran over
the Chace, and through Heywood Park to Shugborough, and lost him in the
covert by Stafford Lodges. Chopped a fox on the Chace. Found again, and ran
hard for an hour and a half all over the Chace, and finally gave it up near
Hednesford, as we had missed our second horses, and those we were on had had
enough, as it was a hot, close day.
Foxes killed, twenty-seven brace ; run to gi'ound, eleven and a half brace i
hounds out, a hundred and eight times ; stopped by frost, twelve times.
Foxes killed in regular hunting, fifteen brace and a half.
1873] ( 341 )
CHAPTER XXX.
LORD WATERPARk'S DIARY — " TOM " SMITH.
1873-1874.
The subscriptions for this year amounted to £3941 25. lOd.,
while £167 185. 6d. was paid in compensation for damage.
In Mr. Meynell Ingram's time the huntsman paid all
claims for the poultry which farmers lost through foxes.
The Rev. A. Col vile, a welter weight, who went well,
especially on a bay, Mowcop, and a thick dun horse, came
as curate to the Rev. R. C Buckston, of Sutton-on-the-
Hill. The latter is the son of the famous Mr. German
Buckston mentioned before. Mr. Colvile left the Meynell
country in 1885. In this year, 1873, Mr. E. S. Chandos-
Pole, of Radburne, died.
The new-comers seem to be Mr. Crowder, Master of
the Dove Valley Harriers, Mr. Mould, and Mr. George
Troutbeck.
The entry for this season includes the famous Linkboy,
whose skin eventually decorated Charles's room. This was
a hound he was never tired of talking about, and no
wonder, for he was everything that a foxhound should
be — a good drawer — stout and staunch in chase, and he
would hunt the coldest scent. But he was a fearful
savage, being so quarrelsome that, when he was lent to
Mr. Corbet, that gentleman sent him back next day with
a note to say that he could not afford him a kennel to
himself! James Tasker took the place of G. Jones as
second whipper-in.
342 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1873
From Lord Waterpark's diary : —
Cub-hunting began on August 25th, in Bagot's Woods ; there^was a good show
of foxes everywhere, sport was excellent, and sixteen brace of foxes were brought
to hand.
Monday, Noveviber 3rd, Sudbury Coppice. — Found in the Coppice, ran
across the Park, down to Sapperton, where a man headed him and he turned to the
left, went up to Hare Hill, and laid down, dead beat, in a field. Here Eummager
(a fifth season hunter by Fairplay — Ringlet, the heroine of the great 1868 run)
got hold of him, but he managed to slip into an earth in the middle of the field.
Went back to the Coppice, got on a tired fox, and ran him to ground in the
main earth in the Aldermoor, which had not been stopped. Found in the
Bottoms, hunted over the Park, on to the left of Boylstone village, through
Potter's Covert, and on to Mamerton, where we lost him. Not much scent at
any time, and it got worse towards evening. Good day's sport.
Tuesday, Needwood House. — Found in the far covert by the road, ran through
the Parson's Brake, as if he meant going through the Greaves, but he turned to
the left, ran by Hollybush Covert without going into it, down to Newborough.
Here he was headed and turned to the right, crossed the road by Newborough
Hall, ran through Daisy Bank and into Bagot's Pai'k, not far from the Park
Lodge. Eight across the Park, where the deer stopped us very much, into Lord's
Coppice, and through the corner of the Woods, across the Uttoxeter turnpike
road and on up to Blithfield, where we lost him. About nine miles as the crow
flies, and very pretty up to Bagot's Park, after that slow hunting.
Thursday, lladburne. — Ran a ring from the Rough with an old fox and lost
him. Trotted back to the Rough, got away on better terms with another fox,
and ran very well up to Langley village (twenty minutes). Hunted him slowly
after this to Breward's Car, where he went to ground in the main earth, which
ought to have been stopped. Found a brace of foxes in Ravcnsdale Park; one
went to gi-ound at once ; the other we hunted twice round by the New Gorse, and
he then got to ground. Five foxes run to ground by the dog hounds this week
owing to imperfect stopping.
Saturday, Blithhury. — Found in Pear Tree Gorse, ran a ring by the Black
Flats and into Pipe Wood. Not a particle of scent. Got on a fox which was
halloaed away from Pipe Wood, ran over the Blythe and across Bromleyhm-st
very fast, up to Hoar Cross Park, and on to the Brakenhurst, where we kept
changing foxes and running out to Yoxall Lodge and back again. It was a
very pretty gallop of twenty-five minutes.
Monday, Novemlei' lOfk, Egginton. — It was an hour or more before a fox
broke from the gorse, and then we lost him in about two minutes. Found a brace
of foxes in an osier-bed close by. Got away on the back of one and lost him
immediately. Hilton Gorse blank. No covert in it to speak of. Found again
at Foston, hunted him down to the Decoy, and over the road towards the river,
and lost him. One of the worst scents I ever remember.
T/nirsday, Kedleston, — The hounds hunted from the new Kennels at Sudbury
for the first time. Found a three-legged fox in the Vicar Wood, ran him to Langley^
and killed him. Trotted off" to Breward's Car, found, and ran a wide ring, slowly,
over the hills, round by Chapel Intake, towards Hulland Ward and back by Turn-
ditch to the Lilies and Breward's Car, and killed. Good hunt for hounds, but a
vile country to ride over.
Saturday, Wiclmor. — Found several foxes, but there was no scent, and we
1873] LORD WATERPARK'S DIARY. 343
could do nothing with them. Found a fox in Eough Park, but soon lost him.
Went to Laurence's Wood and hunted a fox slowly from there by the Black Flats
and back bj' Walter's farm, and lost him. Wretched scent.
Monday, November 11th, Newborough. — Found an old fox in the Birch Wood,
rattled him about for some time, when he went away, and then ran into him in
the middle of Bagot's Park. Twenty-five minutes. First rate. The coverts at
Hollybush had previously been drawn blank.
Tuesday, November \%th, Boylestone village. — An old fox went away from
Potter's Covert, back towards Boylestone, turned short back again, and ran by
Church Broughton to Hilton, to Hilton Gorse — twenty-five minutes ; first class.
After this no hurry, and slow hunting to Sutton, Hilton Gorse, Marston-on-Dove,
and Tutbury, and " accounted for him by losing him." The Spath blank, found
in osier-bed close by, hunted by Barton Blount and Potter's to Bentley Car, half
an hour there, and then to ground in a drain by Bentley Hall, Got him out in
half an hour — a cub, not our Spath fox.
Thursday, Stenson Lock. — No fox at Arleston. Found in Hell Meadows,
and to ground under the railway in two fields. Spilsbury's Covert blank. Found
at Egginton. Fox went away at once, ran round by Etwall, and to ground in a
regular earth in a pit. Drew Bearwardcote and osier-beds beyond, but did not
find. Found a fox in the Potluck osier-bed, but he went away over the Trent at
once.
Saturday, Chartley. — Found in the Shaw, after drawing nearly an hour. Ran
a ring for twenty minutes, and killed him. Handleasow Wood blank. Four
foxes on the Moss ; scent very bad ; ran a cub about, and eventually to ground
in a pit-hole. Wild, stormy day.
Monday, November 24:th, Anslow. — Found three or four foxes in the Hen-
hurst, ran out and back again several times, and lost hira. Found and killed a
very bad cub in Knightley Park.
Tuesday, Eaton Wood. — Ran down to Sidford Rough, and back to the Wood ;
then out at the far end by Marston, nearly up to Snelston, through the Cinder
Hills, and killed in a quarry at Birchwood Park. Capital hunt for hounds.
Found in Cubley Gorse, and ran do^vn to Sudbury Coppice, and lost him. Found
again in the Bottoms, hunted slowly by West Broughton, nearly down to the
river, and gave over, as it was nearly dark. The fox went to ground.
Thursday, Brailsford. — The Gorse and Ednaston blank. Found and killed
at Culland. Trotted off" to Longford. Found in the Reeve's Moor, ran very fast
up-wind, through the Car, on to Mamerton, and lost him. Chopped a fox in
Potter's Covert. Another one went away, hunted him by Barton and Church
Broughton, and up to Boylestone, where we gave over. Very bad scent all
day.
Saturday, BlithfieJd. No fox till we got to Lord's Coppice, and then ran a
short ring out, and lost him. Another fox in Black Gutter Coppice. Ran across
the Park and mto the Woods, and finished the day in them. Wild, stormy day,
with heavy showers.
Monday, December 1st, Walton. — Drew Walton Wood blank. Found a brace
of foxes at Catton, and ran one to ground immediately in Croxall Hills, earths
badly stopped. Found again in Homestall Wood — scent very bad. Ran in the
direction of LuUington, but, owing to the foot-people halloaing every fox that
got up, soon lost hira. A brace of foxes in the little gorse at LuUington : chopped
one, had a smart ring with the other for a quarter of an hour, and ran him to
gi'ound in a drain, where we left him.
Tuesday, Snelston. — Found in the Holly Wood, ran slowly almost down to
344 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1873
Rodsley, bore to the left, through Shirley Park, up to Ednaston ; here the fox
was headed, and turned to the left, across the Bradley Bottoms, where the scent
improved, and the hounds ran hard up to Hulland. After this slow hunting, and
to ground, in the main earth at Ravensdale Park, good fox and excellent day's
sport. The distance from Snelston to Ravensdale Park, as the crow flies, is seven
miles, and cannot be, the way the fox went, less than twelve.
Thursday, Meynell-Langley. — Crowds of people from Derby. One fox broke
from the gorse in the direction of Radburne, but was headed back. Another
towards Kedleston, and we hunted him slowly by the Vicar Wood up to Allestree,
rattled him about in the covert till he went away at the bottom end, crossed and
recrossed the turnpike road, and hunted him up to Farnah, and eventually back
to Allestree. Here we got on a fresh fox, and ran hard down to Derby Town
End, and to ground in a drain by a nursery garden. Found a fox in Darley
osier-bed, ran up to Allestree, and out in the direction of Duffield, but the scent
was bad, and it was getting late in the day, so went home.
Saturday, Loxley. — Found in Carry Coppice, ran at first as if he meant
Philips' Gorse, but turned to the left, and we ran very fast up to Chartley Park —
thirty-five minutes, very pretty — across the Park, by the corner of Handleasow
Wood, down over the railway, under Laurence's Wood, through Woodcock
Heath, to the Park Covert at Loxley. Here the fox had turned very sharp to the
right, under the covert, and, owing to the people riding over the line, we had a
long check. Hit it off again, and hunted down to the Alder Car — where I have
little doubt we left our run fox and got on a fresh one. Hunted him over the
railway by Bramshall crossing, up to the village, where he bore to the left, went
through Carry Coppice, up Fradswell, and on through Birchwood Park. From
this point we had two foxes before us, and the scent got very bad, so we gave
it up. We were running almost without stopping for two hours and forty
minutes.
Monday, December 8f.h, Tutbury Station. — Found in the Hanging-pit at
Rolleston, ran down to the osier-bed at Dove Cliff, where the fox crossed the
river, and we had to go round by the bridge at Clay Mills. Got to them again
by Egginton, ran a ring by the Spread Eagle, and viewed the fox into the gorse
not fifty yards before the hounds. Time, one hour and fourteen minutes. Three
fresh foxes went away, but we stayed back on the chance of picking up our hunted
fox, but the scent was bad, and we had to leave him. Found in the Blakeley
osier-bed, and ran by the gorse, over the road by Burnaston, down to Findern
Windmill, where we gave it up, as the scent was getting worse every minute.
Tuesday, Bradley. — Blank. Shirley Park the same. Found at Longford,
ran as if for Shirley Park, but turned to the right, and ran down to Culland, and
from there very fast up to the Long Lane, where we checked for a minute or
two. Hit it off over the road, and ran very prettily down to Barton, leaving the
Spath on our left. Here there were a brace of foxes before us, and the hounds
divided, part going on for Church Broughton, where the first whip stopped them,
the remainder with the huntsman running up to Hoon Clump. After this the
scent failed, and we hunted slowly on, over the road, by Marston-on-Dove, to
Tutbury Station, where he turned back, re-crossed the _turnpike road, and went
up nearly to Barton. But, as it was late, and no scent to kill him, we gave up.
Thursday, Kedleston. — Frost.
Saturday, Blithhury. — Frost.
Monday, December 15th, TJie New Inn. — Frost.
Tuesday, Doveridge. — Drew all the coverts and Eaton Wood blank. Found
a brace of foxes in the Dingle. Ran them into Eaton Wood, and left them there.
1873] "TOM" SMITH. 345
Trotted off to my little osier-bed, found a brace of foxes, ran one, by West
Broughton, into the meadows by the river, and to gi'ound in a drain. Sixteen
minutes. Drew all the coverts at Sudbury blank, including the Park and
Sebastopol.
Thursday, Sutton Mill. — Found in the old gorse, ran slowly up to Newton's
osier-bed, and on to the gorse at Langley. Hunted through it and up to Langley
village, when he turned back, and we lost him near Radburne. Found in the
Squire's Gorse on Langley Common, ran fast up to the Vicar Wood, which he
did not touch, and went on as if for Wild Park, but turned to the left, and we
hunted him back to where we had found him, and had him dead beat before us,
but he either got to ground, or the scent failed over the foiled ground.
Saturday, Chartley. — Found a very bad fox in the Shaw, ran through Hand-
leasow Wood, down to the Moss, and backwards and forwards till we lost him.
Drew Gratwich Wood blank. Trotted off to Loxley, and drew the Park Covert,
the Alder Car, and Baker's Pit, without finding another fox.
Monday, December 22nd, The Neio Inn. — Found in the Deanery Plantations
at Rangemore ; kept ringing about between there and Dunstall, and killed him.
Found again at Dunstall. Ran down to Barton, back along the meadows, and to
ground in a main earth at Dunstall. Drew the Needwood House Coverts, Black
Brook, Cupandition, and the Hare Holds blank.
Tuesday, Foston. — A fox went away of his own accord from the Lemon Hole,
crossed the turnpike road, and went by Sapperton up to Potter's Covert, but,
though we hunted down to Barton, and on by the Spath, it was quite useless,
as there were certainly four foxes on foot, and we kept changing from one to
another. Found again at Sapperton, raced up-wind to Sudbury, but, unfortu-
nately, he was headed at the Windy Bank, turned back through the Bottoms,
back by Sapperton, and we killed him in the open, just beyond Bentley Brickyard-
Very good day.
Kedleston.— Found in Ravensdale Park. No doubt the same fox we ran to
ground there from Snelston on December 2nd, as he went back almost the same
line as he came, but, unfortunately, we checked in a lane after we had been going
ten minutes, and were only able to walk after hira, so we gave it up by HuUand.
Found again in Bradley Bottoms, a real good hill fox, ran up to Bradley, when he
bore to the right in the direction of Wirksworth, turned again by Atlow Mill,
over the hill to Kniveton, and on to Ashbourne Green, where we lost him.
Never a good scent at any time during the day.
Saturday, BUthbury.— Killed a fox in Pipe Wood. Got on another that was
halloaed away at the bottom end of the covert, and ran him very prettily by
Cross Hayes, and across Hoar Cross Park into the Brakenhurst, twenty-five
minutes. The same fox, no doubt, as he came exactly the same line, that we
hunted on November 8th. Four or five foxes on loot in the Brakenhurst.
Hunted one about the wood, along Jackson's Bank, through Byrkley Lodge, down
to Knightley Park, and back to the Holly Bank, where we killed him.
Monday, December 29th, Hanbury village. — Frost.
Tuesday, Boylestone. — Frost.
Wednesday, Castle JJayes. — Bye day. Found in the gorse, ran down to the
Dove, which he crosseS' opposite Scropton, and bore to the right along the
meadows to Marston-on-Dove, where he re-crossed the river, ran by Rolleston,
and went to gi-ound in a drain near Rolleston Park. Time, one hour and a
quarter. Capital line of country, all grass, but hounds never ran fast.
Mr. Thomas (better known as "Tom") Smith, of
346 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1873
Clifton was a capital heavy-weight, especially when
mounted on his grey or his roan. His two black horses,
Raymond and Mayboy, used to puzzle a good many
people, as to which was which. Some one once said to
Mr. F. Cotton, " I never can tell them apart ; " to which
Mr. Cotton replied, " Oh, there's not much difference, only
one has got long shoulders and a short back, and the
other short shoulders and a long back ! "
Mr. Smith was Master of the Dove Valley Harriers for
two years. He died some time in the eighties. His
brother, Mr. (afterwards Sir) John Smith, was legal adviser
to the Hunt.
At the time of his death, in 1900, he had a wonderfully
good-looking grey horse up to any weight, which no one
could hold. He was sold to Mr. Stokes, the dealer, who
sold him again to Mr. Chaplin, with whom he went as
nicely as possible. Mr. Smith was a hard rider, and had
some capital horses, notably a grey, by Master Bagot,
which he bought from Mr. Nuttall.
( 347 )
CHAPTER XXXL
THE KENNELS — LORD WATERPARK'S DIARY — AN UNRULY
FIELD — GOOD DAY FROM BOYLESTONE — END OF THE
SEASON, 1873-1874.
It is very doubtful if any kennels in England are more
architecturally beautiful than those from which the Mey-
nell Hounds first issued on Thursday, November 13th,
1873. But even after that date there was a considerable
delay before everything and everybody was comfortably
installed — men and horses being quartered up and down
Sudbury village for a long time. The first move in
building the kennels was of course to appoint a committee.
Next, Lord Bagot (chairman) called a meeting to be held
at the Eoyal Hotel, Derby, on Friday, February 23rd,
1872, "for the purpose of receiving the report of the
committee which was appointed at the last general
meeting."
A complete account of the whole business connected
with the kennels will be found below.
General Meeting, February 19th, 1875.
(report carried.)
When your committee was appointed in 1872, and it
was decided to remove the hounds from Hoar Cross to a
more central position, architects were invited by adver-
tisements to submit plans and estimates for approval, and
from a large number received by the committee the
plans of Messrs. Giles and Brookhouse were selected as
348 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
the most suitable in elevation and the lowest estimate.
The committee were assisted in their selection by Mr.
Koberts, the Duke of Sutherland's Clerk of the Works.
(report.)
Great difficulty was experienced in obtaining a site
properly supplied with water, and affording facilities for
exercising the hounds.
This difficulty was met by an offer on the part of
Lord Yernon to lease four and a quarter acres of land
adjoining Sudbury Park for a period of twenty-five years
at a rent of £30 per annum.
Estimates were now sent in for the kennels only, and
the lowest was that accepted from Messrs. Slater and
Vernon for £1664, Messrs. Giles and Brookhouse's estimate
for the whole of the buildings, kennel, yard and stables
being £2800.
At this period at a committee meeting held on
November 8th, 1872, a communication was made by Lord
Vernon to the committee to the effect that he disapproved
the elevation submitted by Messrs. Giles and Brookhouse,
and that their estimates were manifestly untrustworthy,
coupled with a suggestion that the erection of the whole
buildings should be entrusted to his (Lord Vernon's) own
architect, Mr. Devey, at a cost not to exceed £5000.
This arrangement was carried into effect, Messrs. Giles
and Brookhouse receiving £279 as compensation.
A second estimate was now submitted and accepted
from Messrs. Slater and Vernon for the stables at a cost
of £4550, which, with the original estimate for the kennels,
amounted to a total of £6493, and the building was pro-
ceeded with under the charge of Mr. Devey, architect, and
Mr. Agar, Clerk of the Works.
At a meeting of the committee held on March 20th,
1874, it was found that over £5000, the sum originally
mentioned by his lordship, had already been expended,
and a communication was made to him to that effect.
THE KENNELS. 349
Lord Vernon replied that, as a considerable increase of
accommodation had been required by the committee, and
a consequent increase of expenditure authorized by adding
to the original plans, he could not be responsible for any
extra expense until the whole building was completed and
a correct survey and estimate made of the various extra
expenses authorized by his lordship or his architect, and
those incurred by the committee.
It was absolutely necessary to complete the buildings,
and it was resolved at once to borrow the required sum
and push on the work, and it was subsequently considered
that under the circumstances it would be far better to
relieve Lord Vernon from any pecuniary responsibility,
his lordship agreeing to give the committee a lease of forty
years in lieu of the original one for twenty-five years,
such extended lease to date from the time it becomes
possible to execute it, i.e. on his lordship's son attaining
his majority. This will in effect be a lease for forty-three
years or more.
The sums now expended or incurred as estimated are
as follows : —
Summary.
The kennels
Stables, etc. ... ...
Cottages ...
General ...
General Meeting, March 18th, 1881.
(report submitted.)
It will be remembered that on the completion of the
kennels, stables, and other buildings, the expenditure on
this account beyond the receipts was found to amount to
the sum of £5324 55. 3d., and this sum has remained
owing to Messrs. Crompton and Evans' Bank down to the
present time.
This large outlay, though much regretted by the
£ s.
d.
.. 2489 11
0
.. 5095 0
0
.. 1020 0
0
.. 1403 10
4
£10,008 1
4
350 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
committee, was unavoidable on their part, being principally
caused by the great and sudden increase in the cost, both
of materials and labour. The original agreement with
Lord Vernon was for a lease of twenty-five years, but in
consequence of the increased expenditure on the buildings,
it was arranged between the Committee and Lord Vernon
that the term should be extended to forty years.
Subsequently, however (viz. in January, 1877), on the
request of the committee, and upon a representation of
all the circumstances connected with the erection of the
buildings, Lord Vernon voluntarily agreed to extend the
lease from forty to sixty years, for which concession his
lordship received no consideration whatever.
The necessity of dealing with the debt of £5324 55. 3c?.
has for some time forced itself upon the committee, and
in January last they received a communication from the
Bank, calling their attention to the fact that the loan had
already existed for nearly six years.
It became necessary that some fresh arrangement
should be made, and it was suggested that if Lord Vernon
would kindly consent to waive the restriction in the lease
as to assignment or underletting, a greater portion of the
debt might be raised on mortgage of the lease.
On a representation to this effect being made to Lord
Vernon, his lordship at once offered to advance £4000 of
the debt on security of the lease, provided the balance
were paid off by the country, and provided the payment
of the interest and of a sinking fund of not less than £200
per annum were duly provided for. To meet this require-
ment, the committee at their last meeting passed the
following resolution : —
That a sinking fund of £200 be established, and that
it be a first charge upon the subscriptions received each
year, and that the interest on the kennel debt, viz. the
£4000 proposed to be advanced by Lord Vernon, be also
a first charge upon the subscriptions, and with this his
lordship has expressed himself satisfied.
The committee are glad to take this opportunity of
THE KENNELS. 351
expressing their grateful sense of the manner in which
they have been thus met by Lord Vernon.
To provide for the remainder of the debt, £1324 5s. Sd.,
the committee agreed to subscribe the sum of £50 each,
and have appealed to the country to furnish the balance.
This appeal, they are glad to report, has been liberally
responded to, and they feel sanguine the required amount
will be forthcoming.
General Meeting, January 25th, 1884.
(report.)
The committee are happy to be able to report that the
appeal made to the country for subscriptions towards
the repayment of a portion of the debt on the kennels
which it was agreed at the last meeting should be paid
off, enabled them to borrow on mortgage a sum of £3600,
being less than the amount agreed to be lent by Lord
Vernon.
The advance has since been reduced by yearly instal-
ments of £200 each, and now stands at £3200.
The annual repayment of mortgage (£200) was con-
tinued to December, 1897, the last payment, when the
kennels became the property of the Hunt.
Total cost of kennels, £12,240 16s. 6d
Meynell Hunt.
At a general meeting of the subscribers to the Hunt
held at the St. James's Hotel, Derby, on Friday, the 20th
January, 1888, for the purpose of taking into considera-
tion the desirability, or otherwise, of purchasing the
freehold of the kennels, and also to report as to the repairs
to stables and kennels, it was, after full consideration,
unanimously resolved that it is desirable in the interests
of the Hunt that the freehold of the kennels should be
purchased, and it was further resolved that the offer of
Lord Vernon to sell the same for a sum of £1000 be
accepted.
352
THE MEYNELL HOUNDS.
Bills and estimates of work done and in process of
completion at the kennels and stables, etc., had been
procured by the committee, amounting in all to the sum
of £1250. The total amount of subscriptions paid and
promised in answer to the appeal sent out by the com-
mittee in July last is £1710 15.s. Oc?., from which it will
be seen that there is a deficiency to be made up of
£539 55. Od.
It was also resolved that all subscriptions on purchase
and repairs account should be merged into one fund, and
that an appeal be made to those gentlemen who have not
already subscribed, asking them for a donation in aid of
the fund now being raised for the purposes stated. On
behalf of the meeting I beg to solicit your support.
S. W. Clowes,
Chairman of the Meeting^
Fred. L. Sowter,
Secretary.
7, Corn Market, Derby, January, 1888.
SuBSCKiPTioxs Promised.
Allsopp, Hon. George, M.P.
Arkwright, F. C. ...
Bagot, Lord
Bass, Hamar, M.P.
Bird, E. J.
Boden, Henry
Boden, Walter
Burton, Lord
Butler, Col. R. F. ...
Campbell, J. F. ...
Cavendish, Col. J.
Clowes, S. W.
Coke, Col. the Hon. W.
Crossman, Alex. ...
Curzon, Hon. A. N.
Duncombe, Capt. A. C.
Fane, W. D.
Fort, Richard
Fox, W. Dudley ...
Frank, Mrs.
Hardy, Sir John ...
Hardy, Gerald H....
Hardy, Laurance ...
£ s. d.
50 0 0
5 0 0
.. 25 0 0
.. 100 0 0
.. 25 0 0
.. 100 0 0
.. 25 0 0
.. 200 0 0
.. 10 0 0
.. 10 0 0
.. 25 0 0
.. 200 0 0
.. 25 0 0
.. 30 0 0
5 5 0
.. 25 0 0
.. 20 0 0
.. 50 0 0
5 5 0
.. 20 0 0
.. 50 0 0
.. 10 0 0
... 10 0 0
1874]
LORD WATERPARK'S DIARY.
353
Harrington, Earl of
Hindlip, Lord
Hodgson, Geo. A.
Keates, T.
Kempson, T. P
Meynell Ingram, Hon. Mrs.
Milligan, Lieut.-Col.
Pole, K. W. Chandos
Poyser, E. and F.
Sale, Eichard
Smith, C. W. Jervis
Smith, Sir John ...
Tumbull, Peveril ...
Waite, R
Walker, Sir Andrew B. ...
Wallroth, C. A
Wood, Jno. B
Total
£ s. d.
25 0 0
100 0 0
25 0 0
10 0 0
25 0 0
200 0 0
10 0 0
100 0 0
5 0 0
5 5 0
10 0 0
25 0 0
5 0 0
5 0 0
100 0 0
10 0 0
25 0 0
... £1710 15 0
From Lord Waterpark's Diary : —
1874.
Thursday, January \st, Elvaston Castle. — No fox till we got to Egginton at
2.30, and then ran one to ground in fifteen minutes in the same earth as on
November 18th. Earth open at Arleston and the hounds said there was a fox in it !
Saturday, Bramshall village. — Philips' Gorse, Carry Coppice, the Park
Covert, Woodcock Heath, and Laurence's Wood blank. Found in Kingston
Woods, ran to Bagot's Woods and back again, and the same again, and out over
the Warren to Blithfield, and lost. Soon found again in Lord's Coppice, but
there was no scent, and a vile day.
Monday, January 5th, Walton village. — Snow.
Tuesday, Marston-on-Dove. — Frost and snow.
Thursday, Langley Common. — No hunting till 12.30. I was at Shipley
and could not get to covert for the ice on the roads. They found a fox in the
Rough at Radbume, and ran him to ground at Broward's Car. Almost the same
line and no doubt the same fox we ran on November 6th. Trotted back to
Langley, found in the plantation near the house, ran a ring, fast, down to
Radbume and back to Markeaton, where the hounds were stopped in the dark.
Charles Leedham calls it the best scent and the best day's sport of the season.
My information derived from him.
Saturday, Blithfield. — As we were going to draw, a fox was halloaed on the
opposite side of the brook on Charles's farm at Moreton. Got on his line, but he
was too far ahead to do any good. Drew the gorse, but did not find till we got
to Newton Hurst, and then ran a very nice ring along the brook side towards
Kingston Woods, but turned to the right back to where we had found him, and
eventually he went to ground in a regular earth in a pit on Charles's farm.
Forty-five minutes. Found again in the Warren Covert, and raced for fifteen
minutes and to ground in a pit near Forge Coppice. First-rate scent with this
last fox.
VOL. I. 2 A
354 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1874
Monday, January 12th, Walton village. — Walton "Wood, Catton "Wood, and
the Grove at Drakelowe blank. Found at the back of the Hall, ran very hard
for nineteen minutes, up to Greslej' Wood, and killed him a few minutes after-
wards among the coal-pits and colliers.
Tuesday, January Idth, Snehton. — Found in the Holly Wood, ran down by
the village to the railway, where he turned up the hill, ran through the Cinder
Hills up to the turnpike road, where he was headed and we came to a check,
twenty-one minutes, and we never could do anything with him afterwards. Cubley
blank. A fox was viewed, sneaking away, just as we got to Bentley Car, ran
him down to Longford, when he turned back and went to ground in a sewer at
Bentley Hall. Drew Sudbury blank ; people working all over the coppice.
Tliursday, Spread Eagle. — After some time a fox went away from Egginton
Gorse, ran by Burnaston, where a fresh fox jumped up in a spinny, and the
hounds divided. One fox turned back, and we hunted him with half the pack
almost back to the gorse, where he turned again, and we ran him down to Sutton
Gorse and killed him. A brace of foxes had gone away in the mean time. Got
on the line of one and hunted slowly up to Trusley, where we gave it up. Found
a fox in the little gorse, but could not hunt him, as there was no scent. Drew
the Spath, where we found men at work, and the same at Barton,
Saturday, Chartley. — Three or four foxes on the Moss. Ran a ring with one
to the Salt Works and back past the Manor House to the Moss, and on, through
Newton Gorse, to Blithfield, where we lost him. Found again in Dirasdale, ran
up the meadows towards Chartley, turned short to the left by Newton village,
and lost on the same ground as the first fox. The rabbit-catcher was at work
with dogs all over the place.
Monday, January IWi, Yoxall village. — Several foxes on foot at Wichnor.
Ran one down towards the canal and up to Barton, where the people in the
road got before the hounds, and we came to a long check. Got on the line again
and hunted very slowly along the meadows to Dunstall, and lost him. Found in
Bannister's Wood — a real bad fox — and killed him by the gardens, after running
him about for half an hom\ Another fox in the Rocket Oak Covert, but he went
to ground in two fields. Knightley Park blank, Needwood blank.
Tuesday, Bentley Brickyard. — A brace of foxes in the Car at Longford.
Had a ringing run with one towards Alkmonton, back through the Car, and
killed him by Shirley Mill. Found again in Reeve's Moor, and had a nice
gallop up to Ednaston, when we had a long check and could make nothing more
of it, Brailsford Gorse, White's Covert, and spinneys by Brailsford all blank. A
fox at CuUand. Ran hard up to Burrows, where he bore to the left and went
close by Brailsford Gorse up to Ednaston. Here I viewed him going back, and
we hunted him by Brailsford Church almost back to Culland, where he got to
ground in a large earth in a gravel-pit, which ought to have been stopped,
Thursday, Kedleston Toll Bar. — Fog.
Friday, Kedleston. — Instead of yesterday. Found at AUestree, ran through
Colvile's Covert towards Duffield and back through Farnah, and on to Breward's
Car and lost him. Several foxes in the Car. Ran to the Lilies, and round
between the New Gorse and Ravensdale Park, and up and down the hills, till he
went to ground in a rabbit-hole. Got him out and ate him. Foxes in all the
coverts, at Kedleston and a regular Kedleston day's sport.
Saturday, Blithbury. — Chopped a fox in a small covert by Cawarden Spring.
Found in a pit-hole near Black Flats, ran a nice ring for twenty minutes and to
ground at St. Stephen's Hill. Found again in Ox Close Covert, and ran over the
Blythe, at a good pace, up to Hart's Coppice, thirty-five minutes, over a nice line
1874] AN UNRULY FIELD. 355
of country. Here one fox was viewed, but must have laid down, as we could
make nothing of it. Good day's sport.
Monday, January 26th, Tuthury Citation. — Found at Rolleston, ran up to the
coverts at Needwood House and killed, forty minutes altogether from the time
we found. Drew Black Brook Covert, Cupandition, and Hare Holds blank.
Found in Castle Hayes Gorse, but the fox went to groimd in the main earth in
the next field ! Drew along the Forest Banks, found by Marchington Cliff, ran
all along the Banks, and through Bagot's Woods and back again.
Tuesday, Norbury. — No fox in Hope Wood, the osier-bed, or Marston Park.
Several on foot in Eaton Wood. Ran one by Marston Montgomery and on to
Sudbury Coppice, and over the Ashbourne road, but the scent was very bad and
we lost him. Found a brace of foxes in the osier-bed at Doveridge. Ran one
down the meadows to Sudbury, when he turned along the lake and went over
the Park to Sapperton, without going into the covert ; hunted him on for a bit
and gave it up. Poor scent. Found. again at Sapperton, ran hard within a field
of Sudbury Park, when he turned back and ran by the left of Boylestone Hill,
almost back to Sapperton, but kept on up to Barton, and pointed as if for
Alkmonton, but unfortunately a fresh fox jumped up in a small spinny, and we
changed. Good gallop of twenty minutes. Scent much improved.
Thursday, Dalbury. — Found in the Rough at Radburne, ran a wide ring,
by Sutton Gorse, back to Radburne, and killed near Newton's osiers. Fifty-five
minutes. Sutton blank. Found at Foston, ran over the road and nearly down
to Scropton. Here he turned back, and eventually went to Sapperton and back
to Foston, where the scent failed over the foiled ground, and we gave it up.
Saturday, Swarkeston Bridge. — A brace of foxes in Gorsty Leys. Had a
very fast ring with one, through Ingleby Heath, and to ground in the earths at
Anchor church. Found again at Calke, by the Pistern Hill, and ran to ground
in Hartshorn Gorse. The best scenting day altogether I have seen this season,
and we should have killed both these foxes, if they had stayed above ground.
Found a third fox in Repton Shrubs, ran down to Calke and gave it up, as it was
late. I did not get home till 7.35.
Monday, February 2nd, Anslow. — Killed a brace of \e\'y bad foxes in the
Henhurst, after running them a short time. Found again in Sinai Park, ran to
the covert above Tatenhill, where we checked a long time, and the scent was so
bad when we got on the line again, that we gave it up. Knightley Park blank.
Found in the Rocket Oak, ran a ring to ground near Callingwood. Found again
in the Deanery Plantation, walked after one fox for a bit, but there was no
scent.
Tuesday, Boylestone. — Found in the covert by Potter's House, but the field,
generally, tried to catch the fox, and, as there were only three couples of hounds,
the fox was not caught. Longford, Bentley Car, Cubley, Aldermoor, at Sudbury ;
osier-bed, Dingle, and Lady Coppice, at Doveridge, all blank. Found several
foxes in Eaton Wood, but there was no scent, and we could only walk after one
as far as Doveridge.
Thursday, MicMeo ver. — Frost.
Saturday, Loxley. — Frost.
Monday, February 9th, Newborouyh. — Frost.
Tuesday, Bretby. — Frost.
Friday, Eggiuton. — Frost sufficiently gone by twelve o'clock to hunt, but
only about six people out. Found in the gorse, hunted up to Burnaston, but
there was no scent, and we could not get on, so went back to the gorse, where
there were a brace of foxes. Result the same as with the first one. Went to
356 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1874
Sutton. Found at once, ran by Dalbury and Bearwardcote up to Findern wind-
mill and back by Burnaston to Egginton. Not much scent, but a beautiful line
of country, and hounds could just keep going on.
Saturday, Churtley. — Found in the twenty acres, ran across the Park,
through Handleasow Wood, up to the Shaw Gorse, and killed. Chopped another
fox. Found another in the gorse, ran down to Field, where he turned to the
right, went through Carry Coppice, and we hunted him about for some time, and
eventually lost him near Bramshall, Not much scent. Drew Philips' gorse and
Baker's pit, but did not find.
Monday, February \Qth, Yoxall village. — A lot of foxes at Wichnor.
Hunted a vixen round and round for some time, and lost her. Found again in a
small plantation at Wichnor, hunted up to Dunstall. Did not find again till we
got to Yoxall Lodge Hills, and then ran to ground at Byrkley Lodge.
Tuesday, Snehton. — A brace of foxes in the Holly Wood. No scent. Drew
the Cinder Hills, spinny by Cockshead Lane, Raddle Wood, and Marston Park
blank. Found in Eaton Wood, ran through the Lady Coppice and the Birch
Coppice to Sudbury, over the Park, by Foston Mill, nearly to Church Broughton,
and on to Pennywaste, where we lost him. Found again at Foston, but could do
very little.
Tlmrsday, Kedleston. — Found in Breward's Car, ran by the Lilies up to
Tumditch, and on through Shottle up to Handley Wood. Here we had a long
check, but hit the line off again at the far end of the wood, and ran close down
to Belper. From here the scent improved, and the hoimds ran nicely back to
Breward's Car, where, unfortunately, we got on the line of a fresh fox and went on
towards Ravensdale Park. In the mean time our run fox was viewed back to
Breward's Car, but had sneaked off by the time we got back, and we lost
him. A capital day for hounds. One hour and thirty minutes, and at times
they ran well. Found again in Ravensdale Park, ran back to Breward's Car,
and gave it up.
Saturday, Loxley. — Found in Cany Coppice. No doubt a vixen, as she ran
three fields and went to ground. Another fox in the Park Covert, ran to
Laurence's Wood, and kept dodging about round the Kingston village, but at
last ran through Kingston Woods into Bagot's Woods, and, after running him
up and down for some time, he got to ground in a drain under the turnpike road.
Found again in the woods, ran over the Park, back through the wood and out
towards Marchington, but the scent got very bad and we had to leave him.
Monday, February 23rd, Newborough. — Holly Bush, the Birch Wood, and
coverts by Hoar Cross blank. Found a vixen in Rough Park, but she went to
gi'ound directly in a pit-hole. Trotted off to Brakenhurst, found a lot of foxes,,
and had a regular Brakenhurst day.
Tuesday, Bretby. — A brace of foxes in Repton Shrubs, ran over the Park and
lost in a moat mysterious manner. Found again in Carver's Rocks, hunted, with
a very bad scent, almost to Ingleby Heath, and back to Repton Shrubs, where we
gave it up.
Tlmrsday, Dalbury. — Very wet day. Found in the Rough at Radburne,
ran by Dalbury, leaving Sutton Gorse to the right, up to the Derby and Uttoxeter
road below Findern, where the fox had been run by a dog, and we came to a long-
check. Got on the line again, but he had been gone too long to do any good.
Found again in Newton's osier-bed, ran a ring and back through it, and then on
by Radburne up to Langley Gorse, where the fox went to ground (the earth
being left open for a vixen). Fair scent and a nice gallop, but the country ver^'
heavy. A very bad fox in Langley Gorse, which ran two fields and was killed..
1874] GOOD DAY FROM BOYLESTOKE. 357
Drew the Parson's Gorse, Raclbnrne Coverts, and Sutton without finding, and
went home.
Saturday, BUtlibury. — Found in Laurence's Wood : ran a wide ring and
back to a httle covert by Black Flats, where we changed foxes. The fresh one
took us down the meadows by Rugely Station, up to Bellamoor, where we
checked for some time, but hit off the line and hunted up to Nicholl's pit, and
here the scent was so cold we could not get on at all. Chopped a fox (some
said om- run fox) in Blithe Moor. Drew Forge Coppice blank. Trotted off and
drew, with the same result, Field House Coppice, Jock o' th' Wall, and Hart's
Coppice.
Monday, March 2nd, Cation. — Found in Catton Wood, ran by Homestall
Wood, and to ground in a rabbit-hole close to Walton Wood. Meant to get the
fox out, but found it was a vixen, so left her. A brace of foxes in Walton
Wood. Ran one very fast through Drakelowe down to Stapenhill, where he
kept dodging about amongst the houses till we killed him. Good scent all day.
Tuesday, Boylestone. — Found at Sapperton. Ran over the brook bvFoston
Mill up to a little covert at Barton, near the road to the Spath, and here we
viewed the fox just before the hounds (twenty minutes, fast, up to this), but,
owing to the field pressing on hounds, he managed to get away. Found again
in the covert by Potter's ; the fox just put his head in the direction of Boylestone,
but turned to the right, ran through Alkmonton bottoms, and almost straight up
to Shirley Park, when he went to gi'ound. Thirty-five minutes, very fast, and a
capital day's sport ; best scent I have seen this year.
Thursday, Mermstou StoojJ. — Two or three foxes in the New Gorse; one
went away at the bottom, and the hounds ran him well, till a sheep-dog coursed
him, after which we could not get on. Found in Breward's Car, ran out by the
Lilies, through Ravensdale Park, back to the car, out at the far side, and killed
about three fields from the covert. Ireton Rough blank. Found at Allestree,
ran hard towards Markeaton, but he was unfortunately headed short back, and
went to Darley osier-bed ; hunted with a cold scent back, through Allestree, on
to Colvile's Wood, and lost him.
Saturday, BUthfidd. — Drew every covert in the place, but did not find till we
got to the woods. Ran a ring out over the Warren and Newton Hurst back to
the woods ; then over the Park, by Dunstall, and to ground in the Warren coverts.
Got on the Ime of another fox old Winnifred had been hunting ; hunted through
the woods and out towards the Birchwood, where we stopped.
Monday, March 0th, Draycott Cliff. — A brace of foxes in the Greaves. Ran
<nit to Hanbury, and back all along the Greaves and the Banks as far as Butter-
milk Hill. A lot of foxes on foot, and a good scent till a heavy snowstorm came
on about 2.30 o'clock.
Tuesday, Eaton Wood. — Frost.
Thursday, Spread Eagle. — Frost.
Friday, Spread Eayle. — A fox broke from the gorse immediately, but, after
a ring round, went to ground in a pit near Findern. It was a ^^xen, heavy in
cub. Sutton and the Spath blank. Found in the Pennywaste another vixen,
and she, too, went to gi-ound. Sapperton and Sudbury and my osier-bed blank.
There was a good scent, and it was a pity we could not find a dog fox.
SatxLrday, ChartJey. — Several foxes on the Moss, one of which the hounds
devoured. This delayed us a good bit, and a train passing just then, it was a long
time before we could get on the hne of a fox that had gone away. Found in
Haiidleasow Wood, raced a vixen up and down and out to (iratwich Wood,
where she saved her life by putting up a fresh fox. This gentleman came back
358 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1874
through Handleasow Wood, over the Park, towards Plixon, but turned to the left,
and ran down the meadows by the Moreton brook almost to the gorse at Blith-
field, but turned to the right, and tried the earth on Charles' farm, and we lost him
soon after, and I have no doubt he turned back for Chartley. Found a vixen in
the Coley coverts, ran her down to Great Haywood and lost her. Not much scent.
Monday, March l^th, Hoar Cross village. — Found in the Brakenhurst, ran a
ring and killed. Found a second fox in the covert by the road between Braken-
hurst and Yoxall, ran through Yoxall, and .back to the Bi-akenhurst, where he
got to gi'onnd just before the hounds.
Tuesday, Bentley Brickyard. — No fox in Longford Car, but found in the
Reeve's Moor. Ran by Yeavely up to Snelston, where he turned just short of the
Holly Wood, and ran down to Cubley, through the covert there, and pointed as
if for Sudbury, but turned to the left near the turnpike road up to Bentley. As
his point seemed to be the car, Charles held the hounds on, and we were obliged
to go away with a fresh fox, as there were two, if not three, vixens heavy in cub in
the gorse, and we were afraid of catching one of them. Hunted this fox down to
Longford, but could not get on with him. Went to Potter's Covert, but did not
find. The first run was very good, and hounds ran fast, but the fox never went
straight. Country very heavy. Good day's sport.
TJiursday, Bretly. — Found in Repton Shrubs, ran into the Park, whore four
or 6ve couples of hounds got on unseen, and ran hard through Carver's Rocks up
to the road beyond. Here we got up to them with the rest of the hounds, and
hunted down to Calke, where we lost in a heavy storm of wind and rain. Calke,
Gorsty Leys, and Inglesby Heath blank. Trotted back to Bretby, but did not
find again.
Saturday, Blithhury. — Drew all the coverts blank. Rough Park the same.
Found in Brakenhurst. Ran along Jackson's Bank to Hollybush and lost.
Monday, March 23rd, Yoxall village. — Very hot day. Ran a ring from the
coppice, Wichnor, and killed. Found again in Yoxall Lodge Hills, ran by
Byrkley to Rangemore, through the Deanery Plantation back to Yoxall, almost
the same ring again, and killed at the back of the stables at Rangemore. Both
dog foxes.
Tuesday, Spread Eagle. — After a long delay a fox went away from Egginton
Gorse, and we ran hard up to Spilsbury's Covert. Here he turned back, and we
hunted him down to the canal by Egginton, and should have killed him if the
people had not persistently ridden before the hounds. Found at Rolleston, and
ran to ground by Rolleston Park. Castle Hayes, Hare Holds, and Cupandition
Covert blank.
Thursday, The Neio Inn. — Found in " the Oaks " at Rangemore, ran a ring
by Dunstall, back by HighHns Park, through the far corner of Bannister's Rough,
up to the Firs, on through Yoxall and Byrkley, and back to Rangemore, where
we viewed him, dead beat, by the gardens. Forty-two minutes up to this.
Here we had a long check, but found he had gone through the garden, and hit it
off again, and killed him in Knightley Park. Parson's Gorse blank. Found in
the Greaves, but did nothing.
Saturday, Bagofs Woods. — A regular woodland day, and very little scent,
but managed to get hold of a brace of foxes.
Monday, March 30th, Ansloiu. — Found in the Henhurst, and ran to ground
almost immediately. Left a vixen there. Drew Sinai Park and Dunstall blank.
A fox slipped away from the latter place just after we had left it. Found at
Byrkley Lodge, ran a ring to Knightley Park and back, but stopped the hounds,
as we found it was a vixen.
1874] END OF THE SEASON 1873-1874. 359
Tuesday, Charttey. — Found in the Shaw. Ran three short rings over the
same line, and gave it up, concluding it was a vixen. Several foxes in Hand-
leasow Wood, hounds divided, and both foxes went to ground in the same pit-
hole ! Found again in Gratwich Wood, ran by Gratwich village, over the brook,
close by Philips' Gorse, down to the railway, along which he ran for a bit, and
then turned back, and we killed him in a hovel by Bramshall Crossing. Found
our fourth fox in Carry Coppice, ran through the Park Covert, up to Kingston
village, through Kingston Woods, and lost him down by the Blythe.
Thursday, WolseJey Bridge. — Found a brace of foxes together outside the
Park, but there was no scent, and we lost almost immediately. Drew Shug-
borough, all over the Chace and Pottal Pools till five o'clock, but did not find
another fox.
Saturday, Marchington — Found in the Swilcar Wood, ran to Buttennilk
Hill, where the fox turned back, and out by Hanbury, and on to Castle Hayes,
but the scent was so bad we could not get after him. Drew Needwood, Hanbury,
Park Covert, and Kingstanding without finding. Found in Brakenhm-st, ran out
of the wood by Newborough up to Hollybush, but the scent was even worse
than in the morning. Found again at Hollybush, walked after our fox to the
Greaves, and went home.
Foxes killed, thirty-five brace ; foxes run to ground, twenty-three and a half
brace ; hounds out, one hundred and sixteen times ; stopped by frost, fourteen
times. Killed in regular hunting, nineteen brace.
360 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1874
CHAPTER XXXII.
LORD WATERPARK's DIARY — MR. GODFREY MEYNELL —
CAPITAL OPENING WEEK — A FORTNIGHT'S FROST —
CAPITAL RUN TO BRAILSFORD GORSE — ROUGH WEATHER
— A BAD MARCH.
1874-1875.
The subscription was £3781 105. Sd. Compensation
amounted to £124 15^. 6d. There was no change in
either the staff or the committee. With regard to the
hounds, it is evident that Lord Yarborough's strain was
in the ascendant, for the only three sires from other
kennels are his. In the previous year the whole entry
was by home-bred sires.
The new arrivals in the country were Mr. Alexander,
the great racing man, who took Wichnor, and whose
daughters also came out hunting, and rode well. Lord
Churston, who had taken Brook House, Marchington ;
Lord Petersham (now the Earl of Harrington), whose
sisters. Lady Jane and Lady Fanny Stanhope, also hunted
regularly from Elvaston ; Lord Harrington, a wonderful
man to hounds and a thorough sportsman, belongs more
properly to the South Notts hunt. Previous to this year
there were but four or five ladies out hunting, one of the
principal of these being the Hon. Mrs. Col vile, of whom
an old sportsman writes : "In connection with my early
acquaintance with the Meynell hounds Mrs. Colvile's form
appears. I may put her down as the most successful
1874] MR. GODFREY MEYNELL. 361
exponent of ladies' riding to hounds, over an extended
term of years — perfect hands and perfect seat — so grace-
fully and quietly did she ride to hounds." There is not
much to add to this, except that she knows more about
hunting than nine men out of ten who come out, and that
she still has a day with the Meynell whenever they are
within reach of Lullington.
The other ladies were two or three Misses FitzHerbert,
with Mrs. Frank, Ashbourne Hall, and Miss Goodwin (now
Mrs. Dawson, of Barrow Hill), who both rode well, and
knew what they were about. Besides these, there were
Mrs. Taylor, Mrs. C. Allsopp, Miss Lyon, and Miss Bott.
Captain R. Goodwin, who subsequently took the name
of Gladwyn, was a wonderfully nice quiet rider to hounds
and was always in a good place. He had a bad fall on
his head at Plymouth in his soldiering days, which affected
his hearing and the sense of taste, and possibly his sense
of enjoyment as well, for he was very chary of praise,
however good the sport might be. But this trait in his
character had one o-reat merit. One word from him in
fjivour of any person or thing meant volumes. He and
Mr. Meynell, of Meynell-Langley, were very staunch
allies.
There is no better sportsman than the latter. His
gorse is hardly ever drawn blank, and, if it is, there is
generally a good reason for it. Unfortunately, partly
owing to a bad fall which he had two years ago, and
partly, perhaps, from those bad times which most land-
owners have been experiencing, he does not come out with
us now, but when he did he was very hard to beat. In
his style of riding he rather resembled Mr. Gerald Hardy ;
that is to say, he went equally straight, always rode his
own line, and usually rather wide of the hounds. His
best horses were Brampton, a brown horse, very stout and
a wonderful fencer, and Peter, both of which carried him
ten seasons.
He was a most entertaining companion, full of quaint
and original sayings. He would say of any one, who only
362 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1874
hunted " for conformity sake," " Why, when he's pulled
off his boots, and grumbled at his horse, it is the happiest
time of the day for him ! " Or of a very fat man he
would say, " He ought to be set to follow the plough."
"Why?"
" Because he would lard the earth and improve the
land ! "
These are but poor samples of an original vein of humour,
from which something pungent was always emanating.
No hunting day passed without his saying something
worth repeating. He was one of the very last of the
native-born landowners to give up hunting, and now,
alas ! he too has retired from the field. If it is any
consolation to him to know it, it is quite certain that he
will be missed.
His brother, the major, is still hunting with the
Meynell, and lives at Bowbridge, Langley, but the parson,
who was once rector of that parish and a capital man to
hounds, gave up hunting on principle when he took orders.
He is now rector of Stapenhill, near Burton.
This season did not begin very brilliantly, for hounds
went out (commencing in Bagot's Wood, where there were
plenty of cubs) seven days without killing. However, on
the eighth day they got one into a drain in Lord's Meadow
and dug him. All of these eight days were in the woods.
They also went cub-hunting in Derbyshire in September,
visiting Doveridge, Sudbury, Bretby, Shirley, Brailsford,
and Egginton. During cubbing they brought eighteen
brace of cubs to hand and ran seven brace to ground.
From Lord Waterpark's diary : —
Monday, Nouemher 2nd, Sudhury. — Found a lot of foxes by the Lake banks,
killed a brace in covert, went away with a third down the meadows within a field
of the Hare Park, crossed the river, up by Wood Villa, over the North Staff,
Kailway below the Gendals at Loxley, and killed in a garden by Bramshall
village. Capital line, and not a single plough field the whole way, but hounds
could never go fast. Found again in Hare Park at Doveridge. Ran through a
corner of Sudbury Coppice, almost to Cubley Gorse, where he turned to the left
towards Marston Park, recrossed the road, and we stopped the hounds, it being
nearly dark, by Birchwood Park. Good day's sport.
1874] CAPITAL OPENING WEEK. 363
Tuesday, TJie New Inn. — Found at Needwood House, ran a ring by Kniglitley
Park and back, through the covert, where we found, out towards Hanbury, and
killed. Fifty minutes.
Found again at Byrkley Lodge and ran to ground near Kangeraore. Went
back to Byrkley, got on another fox, ran a very wide ring, and eventually killed
in the Cupandition covert. One hour and three minutes. Capital day.
Thursday, Jiadhurne. — Three foxes in the Rough, went away with one by
Dalbury Lees, ran him slowly down to Barton, and lost him near Boylestone.
Found again at Sapperton, ran very fastnearly up to Potter's Covert, where he
bore to the left by Bentley Car, and went nearly up to Cubley village, turned
along the brook side, and we killed him in an orchard within half a mile of
Boylestone. Capital forty-five minutes.
Saturday, BUthlmry. — Poor scent in the morning. Ran a ring with a fox
from Pipe Wood up to the Black Flats, and back by Laurence's Wood, and lost
him. Killed a fox, with a foot recently off, in a small covert by Cawarden Spring,
and a very soft-hearted cub at Ridware. Trotted off to Forge Coppice, found a
fox and ran very fast up to Abbott's Bromley, and back to Forge Coppice, through
the covert and back the same line, and he got to ground just in front of the
hounds. First-rate scent in the afternoon.
Monday, Yoxall village. — Found at Wichnor. Rattled him up and do^vn
the wood, out towards Barton, and killed him in the road by Cross Hayes. About
forty-five minutes. Found again in the covert by Cross Hayes (Nichol's Wood),
ran through the Bath, by Dunstall, into Bagot's Woods, all through the w^oods,
across the Park, and killed him. One hour and ten minutes. Capital scent, and
hounds could turn and hunt like beagles.
Tuesday, Boylestone. — Lots of foxes in the covert by Saint's (late Potter's).
Mr. Potter had now gone to live at Ashbourne, whence
he eventually migrated to Scotland, where he died. He
was quite a character, and his green-coated figure was a
familiar one with the Meynell for many years. He was
noted for his hospitality and preservation of foxes, and,
though not a hard rider, like his friend and neighbour,
Trevor Yates, yet he was a thorough good sportsman, and
saw as much of a run as most people.
Ran a ring with one towards Longford and back through the covert, and lost
him. Found again at the Spath, ran by Sutton Gorse to Dalbury; here we
viewed him along the brook side to the left, and went back by the gorse, and
pointed as if for Radburne. But he turned again and came back by Etwall and
Hilton Gorse, and we lost him by the turnpike road near Marston-on-Dove.
Long hunting run over a good country, but never scent enough at any time to
press a fox.
Thursday, Stenson Lock. — Several foxes in Stenson fields ; no scent, and we
could do nothing with them. Drew the Potluck osier-beds blank. Found in
Spilsbury's Covert, ran to Egginton, and lost. Another fox in the gorse, but
could do nothing. Nine degrees of frost last night and not an atom of scent
to-day.
Saturday, SoUesfon.—A brace of foxes in Dove Cliff osier-bed. Ran one to
364 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1874
Stretton, up to the Henlmrst (a brace of foxes before us the latter part of the
way), back from the Henhurst to Rolleston, and lost him. Found in Rolleston
Park Covert, ran almost to Dove Cliff, along the meadows below Rolleston,
turned up over the road, and killed within a field of where we found. Forty
minutes, and the last part very fast.
Monday, November IQth, Charthy. — Found in the Birch Coppice, but could
do nothing with this fox. Had a good gallop of twenty-five minutes, fast, from
Norman's Wood to Hixon, and a ring back. Fox dead beat in front of the
hounds, but could not pick him up. Chopped a fox in Newton Gorse. Found
again in Grindley Coppice, hunted slowly across the Moss, and eventually stopped
the hounds as they were going into the wood. Very little scent in the evening.
It should have been entered in this book Charthy, Saturday. BoUeston, Monday.
Tuesday, Doveridge. — Found in the Lady Coppice, but he got to ground
almost immediately. Found again in the Birch Coppice, ran into Eaton Wood,
back by the Upwoods and Wardley Coppice to Clownholm, on by Marston, nearly
up to Sudbury Coppice. Held the hounds on to try and get on better terms with
him ; but went away with a fresh one from the Coppice. Raced him down to
Ley Hill, when the hounds checked ; hit it oft' again and ran hard down to the
river below the Hare Park. Stopped the hounds, as the river was in high flood
and we could not cross, but heard next day that one hound, Harriet, hunted him
up to the Forest Banks. Very poor scent, except with the last fox, and he went
bang up wind.
Thursday, Kedleston. — Did not find till we got to Broward's Car, and then
lost directly in a violent storm of rain. Went back and found another fox with
the same result. Ravensdale Park and the new gorse blank. Covert at Wilde
Park ditto. A brace of foxes at Brailsford by the house. Wretched stormy day,
with heavy rain and thunder. No scent.
Saturday, Loxley. — Could not draw till twelve o'clock, owing to fog. Found
in Carry Coppice, poor scent, luckily, as we had to stop the hounds, owing to the
fog coming on thick again. Waited till it cleared a bit, and then found in the
Park Covert, but had to give it up at two o'clock owing to the fog.
Monday, November 23rd, Tlie New Inn. — Drew all the Rangemore coverts
blank. Found at Dunstall, but a dense fog came on, and we lost immediately.
Found again at Yoxall Lodge Hills, hunted through the Brakenhurst, and back
to Yoxall, where three fresh foxes were on foot, so gave it up, as there was no
scent.
Ttiesday, Bradley. — Found a fox in the old lime-pit covert, ran over Atlow
Whin, up to cross roads at Knockerdown, and back to Kniveton, where the hounds
came to very slow hunting, so Charles did not persevere. Very sharp frost, and
Clowes and myself, who were at Norbury, thought there was no chance of hunt-
ing and did not go. Only three or four people out, and Charles, when he left
Sudl)ury with the hounds, did not expect to hunt. No frost to speak of at
Bradley.
Thxirsday, Sutton Mill. — Snow.
Saturday, Admasfon. — Snow and frost.
Monday, November 30th, Ntwhorough. — Hollybush blank. Three foxes in
the Birch Wood ; ran one to ground in a culvert, went away with another to
Bagot's Park, hunted him through the woods and out to Blith field, back into the
woods, and changed. Spent the rest of the day in the woods.
Tuesday, December \st, Oubley. — Found in the gorse, ran very fast towards
Sudbury, when the hounds slipped us all and turned down towards the Mill, but
hunted back towards Vernon's Oak, where we got to them again, but did not
1874] A FORTNIGHT'S FROST. 365
persevere, as we were not wanted in the Sudbury coverts. Chopped a fox ia
Bentley Car, went away with another, but lost him by Barton Park. No fox iu
the covert there. Found in Foston, and ran to ground in a few minutes under
the turnpike road. Found again in the Lemon Hole, ran down the meadows
towards Sudbury station, turned back and hunted up to Tutbury. Here he
turned short back and they ran hard, up wind, to Aston, where he turned again,
and after some very slow hunting over the foiled ground, got up to him, and
killed him by the pond at Foston. One hour and twenty- five minutes. Capital
day for hounds.
Thursday, Marston-on-Dove. — Frost.
Saturday, Charthy. — Found in the Shaw, ran by Fradswell, almost up to
Birchwood Park, where the scent failed, and we checked for some time, but got
on the line of our fox again going into the covert, where he had waited for us.
Kan very prettily by Leigh up to Bramshall, and down to the railway at Loxley.
Here our fox was headed in the road, turned back, ran a ring by Carry Coppice,
and eventually got to ground in a pit-hole, not sixty yards before the hounds.
Chopped a fox in Baker's Pits, after drawing the rest of the Loxley coverts
blank.
Monday, Decemher 1th, Walton Village. — Drew Walton village, Catton, and
Homestall Wood blank. Found a fox at Lullington, but there was no scent, and
we could not get on at all. A brace in the Grove at Drakelowe. Pan one a few
fields, and lost him. Found another by the house with the same result. Heavy
snowstorms, thunder, and sleet, throughout the day.
Tuesday. — Snelston blank. Raddle Wood and Hope Wood ditto. Found in
Eaton Wood, walked after our fox to Doveridge, back through the Birch Coppice,
and on towards Sudbury, and lost him. A fox jumped out of a pit-hole on Mr.
Lawley's farm near the kennels, but hounds could not nm him one field. In-
cessant heavy rain all day, a good deal of snow on the gi'ound, and no scent.
Thursday, Eadburne. — Frost.
Saturday, Admaston . — Frost.
They were then stopped fourteen days by frost, and
did not get out again till Thursday, January 7th, when
they came to Radburne.
Found in the Rough. Ran by Dalbury Lees, over the Long Lane, and a ring-
by the Parson's Gorse to Brailsford, down within three fields of the CuUand
Plantations, when the fox turned back and we killed him near Brailsford. One
hour and ten minutes.
Found again in Longford Car. Ran to Alkmonton, where the fox turned
short back to the right, and pointed as if for Shirley Park, but the scent got worse,
and we had to give it up. Very bad riding about Longford, and the roads
almost impassable.
Saturday, Admaston. — Found by the Rectory at Blithfield, ran over IVIoreton
brook, and to ground in the Coley coverts. Came back to Bhthfield, found
again, and ran to ground in the same place. Found a third fox in the Spencer's
Plantation, ran up to the Coley coverts, fast (earths stopped this time), on to
Hixon, and hunted backwards and forwards between Hixon and Shirleywick, and
at last stopped the hounds near Stowe. We must have changed fuxes near
tiie end, as our beaten fox was close to us, and could not have lasted so long.
Very long, hard day for horses.
366 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1875
Monday, January \lth, Yoxall village. — Foggy morning and no scent.
Found in Eough Park, and ran out a few iields towards Blithbury, turned back
through the covert, and walked after him towards Wichnor, but had to give it up.
No fox at Wichnor ; the same at Yoxall Lodge. Found at Byrkley, but could
not run two fields.
Tuesday, Shirley Park. — Just such a morning as yesterday, and could not draw
for the fog till twelve o'clock. Shirley Park blank. Killed a real bad fox at Bentley
Car. Potter's Covert and Sapperton blank (foxhound puppy hunting in the latter).
Found a fox in a trap at Foston, which the hounds killed, and another was
halloaed away at the same time. Ran very hard below the house and over the
road, when he was headed short back, and we could do very little with him over
the foiled ground. Found again. Ran nicely down to Sudbury, over the Park,
by the kennels, down to the Bottoms, and stopped the hounds as they were going
into the coppice. Fair scent in the evening.
Thursday, Kedleston Toll Gate. — Found at Darley, hunted a fox to AUestree,
ran about some time in covert, then on to Farnah, and lost. Found again
in Langley Gorse, and ran to ground at Radbume. Got on the line of a fox that
had been disturbed from Newton's osiers, but he had been gone too long to do
any good.
Friday, Draycott Cliff. — Found in the Greaves and ran to ground at Coton.
Found again in the Greaves ; ran two rings by Coton and Hanbury, and killed in
the Greaves. Found again in Bull's Park, and ran over Agardsley, and by
Hollybush back to the Greaves, over by the New Lodge and Parson's Brake to
Hanbury Park, on to Castle Hayes, up the meadows by Draycott Mill to Hound-
hill, where the fox turned into the Forest Banks, and we stopped the hounds.
Capital day's sport.
This last run was at least twelve miles. — Ed.
Saturday, Chartley. — Found in the Shaw. Ran a ring back to the gorse, and
killed. Another fox. on foot immediately. Ran by Fradswell up to Sandon
and back, by Birchwood Park, to the Shaw, and lost him owing to a heavy storm
coming on.
Monday, January ISth, Anslow. — No fox till we got to the Rocket Oak.
Ran a couple of rings by Dunstall and Rangemore, and to gi'ound near Tatenhill.
Knightley Park, the Needwood House coverts, Black Brook, andi Cupandition
coverts, blank. Found in the Hare Holds, ran by Castle Hayes to Coton, then by
Hanbury, into the Greaves. Here the fox turned short back, and no one got
away with the hounds except Charles, and they raced up to Anslow, where he
managed to stop them just as they were going into the Henhurst. First-rate
scent in the evening.
Tuesday, Sudhury. — Found in the coppice. Ran a short ring and lost him.
Came back and did precisely the same thing again. Found a third fox in the
Aldermore, but he ran against some wire netting and the hounds caught him.
Did not find another fox.
Thursday, Etwall. — Found in Sutton Gorse ; ran a ring, back through the old
gorse, and lost. Found again in the Dusseybed Covert; ran by the village
towards Mamerton, where he turned back over the foiled ground and we could
make nothing of it. Got on the heel scent of a fox that had been disturbed, and
ran through the Spath, but soon found out our mistake. Hilton Gorse and
Sutton blank. Found at Sapperton ; ran by Mackley, back by Foston Mill to
Barton, left Barton House on the left, Church Broughton on the right, over the
brook by the Spath, nearly up to Longford, turned to the right by Burrows, on to
1875] CAPITAL RUN TO BRAILSFORD GORSE. 367
Culland, under Edraaston village, over the brook by tlie old gorse, and up to the
new gorse at Brailsford. First-rate run of one hour and ten minutes. Six and
a quarter miles point, and eleven and a half as hounds ran. Several fresh foxes
on foot, and so dark that we had to leave our run fox in the gorse.
In this capital gallop Mr. W. Boden and Mr. Crowder
were first over the Sapperton brook, and had a slanging
match all the way to Longford, when Mr. Crowder's horse
stopped, dead beat, and the argument came to an end. It
was somethino; about crossins; or interfering at the brook
Into this Mr. Lyon had got, and Mr. Bird coming up from
behind, jumped the brook with him in it. At Culland,
Mr. Lyon's horse stopped dead at some post-end-rails, and
could go no farther. Mr. John Thompson, of Burton,
came to the end of his tether in the bridle road to Culland.
Mr. Bird's horse had had enough and to spare at the top
of Brailsford Park, and his rider had to drive him in
front of him to an inn, where the horse remained all night,
while the man hired a pony and rode home. Mr. Walter
Boden's horse cried " Enough ! " as he fell over the last
fence before the gorse — his rider finishing on foot. Col.
Reginald Buller, Capt. (now General) Fowler Butler, and
Charles, were the others who were well up at the finish of
this great run.
Saturday, BlWhhury. — Found in Pipe Wood ; ran a ring, by the Black Flats,
over Bromley Hurst to the Bath Covert at Hoar Cross, and on to the Birch Wood,
where we killed a fresh fox. Drew the La^vn Pit. Found, and ran by Cross
Hayes down to the Park, and back to the Lawn Pit to ground in a sough.
Monday., January 25th, The New Inn. — Found at Byrkley Lodge. No
scent at all. Hunted round by Yoxall Lodge Hills, and lost him. Went to
Brakenhurst, found a fox, ran him once round the covert, and to ground in a
rabbit-hole. Found again, and they slipped away fast, through Yoxall Lodge,
Byi-kley, the Holly Wood, Knightley Park, down to Tatenhill, where we checked
some time, but hunted him on by Dunstall, over the road, and back by Taten-
hill, and here we had three foxes before us, and evidently changed on to a
fresh one, as we kept ninning about by Rangemore, and could not get up
to him.
Tuesday, Brailsford. — Found by the house ; ran a couple of rings, by Cul-
land, up to White's Covert, and on to the gorse, where we killed. Found again
at Ednaston ; ran a ring through the coverts to start with, then by Ednaston
village, down to Longford, through the Reeve's Moor, and killed him in the
middle of a wheat-field, within one field of the Car. Drew the Car and found ;
ran nearly up to Shirley Mill, turned to the left through the Alkmonton bottoms,
on to Potter's Covert, where there were three foxes on foot, and I expect we
368 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1875
went away with a fresh one. Hunted on up to Bentley brickyard and stopped
the hounds. Good day.
Thursday, Stenson Lock. — Found in Stenson fields, ran very nicely, but not
fast, up to Radburne, and killed in the Squire's Gorse, a fresh fox also, at the
same moment, falling a victim to the hounds. Fifty-four minutes. Found in
Langley Gorse, ran a few fields and back into the gorse, out over the Derby road,
almost to Brailsford, turned to the right near Wilde Park, and ran, parallel with
the brook, down to Kedleston, very fast over the Park, nearly to Markeaton, and
here there were two or three foxes before us, so we gave up, as every one had
had enough. Very good day's sport.
Saturday, Loxhy. — Drew all the coverts blank. Found in Wanfield Hall
Coppice, ran a ring through Kingston Woods and back to where we found, and
lost. Found again in Bagot's Woods, ran about for some time, but there was no
scent any time during the day to catch a fox.
Monday, February \st, Newhorough. — Hollybush blank. Birchwood and
Field House Coppice the same. Found in Hart's Coppice, ran a ring round the
covert, over the Park, along the Woods, and to ground in the Warren at Blith-
field. Thirty-two minutes as hard as ever hounds could run. Found again in
Lord's Coppice, ran over the Park several times and along the Forest Banks to
Marchington Cliff, and at last the fox got to ground under an oak in the Park, not
twenty yards in front of the hounds.
Tuesday, Eaton Wood. — A brace of foxes on foot, both of which ran to the
Lady Coppice, where one went to ground, and the other we hunted on through
the Birch Coppice and across Walwyn's farm, but had to give it up, as the scent
was very bad, and the fox was a long way in front of us. Found in Sudbury
Coppice, ran a ring out towards Cubley and lost him. Killed a shocking bad fox
by Lake Banks. Drew all the Foston coverts and Sapperton blank.
Thursday, Radburne. — A fox went away from the Rough immediately and
pointed for Sutton, but he, unfortunately, went to gi-ound in a hedgerow after
going six or seven fields. Found again in Newton's osiers, ran a ring, by Rad-
burne, back to where we found him, and then on, by Bearwoodcote, up to
Burnaston. Here a fresh fox jumped up in a spinny, and they ran him back hard
to Radburne, and to ground under a gateway. Put up a fox in a plough field near
Etwall, ran him within two fields of Egginton Gorse, through Spilsbury's Planta-
tion, back, by Sutton Gorse, to Dalbury, and here he was close in front of the
hounds and dead beat, but slipped away, and we must have changed directly
after, as our run fox was viewed going into the Rough, while we went on with a
fresh one into Sutton, where we stopped the hounds. Good day's sport, and a
large crowd out, which pressed on hounds all through the day.
Friday, Elvaston Castle. — Very sharp frost. Drew the grounds at twelve
o'clock, and found a fox. No scent, and, when we got outside, it was too hard ta
hunt, so went home.
They were stopped by frost for four hunting days, and
then went to Kedleston on Friday.
Found in Breward's Car, ran three times round the covert, and killed. More
foxes on foot, but they all got to ground. Found again in Ravensdale Park, ran
to ground in Breward's Car, and the same from the New Gorse. Trotted oflF to
Allestree; found and ran through Colvile's Covert to Quarndon, but there was
no scent.
1875] ROUGH WEATHER. 369
Saturday, Neioton village. — Drew the Coley Coverts, Swan's Moor, Newton
Gorse, Blithe Moor, and the Warren blank. Found in the little covert below, ran
a ring round Blithfield, fast, and came to a check at Newtonhurst, got on the
line again and hunted him down close to Bellamore and over the road to Colton,
but the scent failed, and we had to give it up.
Monday, February 15th, Ghartley. — Found on the Moss, ran very nicely for
about twelve minutes towards Swan's Moor, where the fox was coursed by a dog,
and we came to a check. Hunted slowly after this to Coley and on to Blithfield,
but he was too far before us to do any good. Got on the line of a fresh fox by
the Warren, ran through Lord's Coppice, over the Park, and into the Forest
Banks, up and down which we hunted for some time with a very bad scent, and
then went home.
Tuesday, Bradley. — Did not find till we got to Longford, and then ran very
prettily by Alkmonton to Potter's Covert, and probably changed foxes there, as
we could only hunt slowly after that by Boylestone, and, eventually, back to
Longford. Here we got up to our fox in the Car, and ran him down to Foston,
but there was very little scent in the evening, and hounds could never run hard.
Thursday, Foremark. — Found in Gorstey Leys, ran a ring by Anchor church,
and to ground in Carver's Rocks. Forty-five minutes. Found in the gorse there,
but could do nothing with this fox, which must, I think, have got to ground.
Got on the line of a fox in the Pistern Hills, walked after him towards Calke,
but the scent was bad, so we trotted on and found another fox at Calke, and ran
him down to Hartshorn Gorse, and over the railway, by Ashby, to Willersley.
Here he turned short back, and we hunted him slowly towards Calke, but it
turned very cold, and the scent failed altogether.
There was no hunting, on account of frost, till the
following Friday, when they went to Etwall.
Found in Egginton Gorse, ran over the railway and back to the gorse, almost
to Hilton, then back again through the gorse, over the road, by Etwall, up to
Radburne ; left the Rough on 'the left and went almost up to Parson's Gorse,
turned back by the Rough again, and ran down to Dalbury, and, by Sutton Gorse,
up to the village, where we gave it up. Only middling scent at any time, but none
towards evening. We were hunting the same fox for more than three hours.
Frost intervened till Saturday week, March 6th, when
they went to Chartley.
Found in the Shaw, ran very nicely by Gratwich village, up to Handleasow
Wood, over the Park and down to the Moss. After this could only get on slowly ;
crossed and re-crossed the railway and lost him. Got on the line of a fox that
had been gone some time from the Birchwood, but could not hunt him. Drew
Gratwich Wood and all Loxley blank.
Monday, March 8th, Walton village. — Found in the Grove at Drakelowe ;
poor scent. Hunted slowly nearly up to Seal Wood and lost. Found again at
Lullington. Tiie fox crossed the brook, but was headed at tlie top of the hill,
and re-crossed and ran up to Seal Wood, where he got to ground not ten yards
before the hounds. Twenty minutes ; very fast indeed. Found a lame fox at
Gatton, which must have got into a hole.
Tuesday, Eaton Wood, — Two or three foxes on foot. Ran by the Dingle and
VOL. I. 2 B
370 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1875
the Birch Coppice down towards the brook, but there was no scent, and our fox
had been gone twenty minutes. Got on the line of another fox at the top of
the hill, and he, too, had been gone too long. Found in Cubley Gorse, ran sharp
down to the little fir covert by the brook side beyond the church ; here the fox
was headed, and turned back, and went by the gorse again up to Snelstou, where
we viewed him, but the wind was so high the huntsman could not hear the halloa,
and by the time we got the hounds on the line the fox had been gone too long.
Found again in Bentley Car, ran towards Longford, turned to the right, by Boyle-
stone and Cubley, up the brook side almost to Snelston. Bad scent all day, and
the only time in the day hounds ran hard was when the fox had gone up-Avind.
Thursday, Elvanton Castle. — Did not find till we got to Aston. Ran then up
to Weston, where the people got before the hounds ; held them on, and killed
our fox at Chellaston. Found again at Spilsbury's Coverts, ran to Egginton,
where there were several foxes on foot, but there was no scent to do anything.
lilithbury. — Found in Pipe Wood and ran to ground — a vixen — in fifteen
minutes. A brace of foxes in Bough Park. Ran one round the covert twice and
killed. Found again in Brakenhurst and ran to ground. Drew Dolesfoot spinny
and found a brace of foxes. Ran one through the Chantrey and the Birch Wood
to Field House Coppice, and gave it up. No scent.
Monday, March 15th, Anslow. — Henhurst blank. Found in the Rocket Oak,
ran to Dunstall, and down to Tatenhill, and lost. Found again in Bannister's
Rough, ran down to Knightley Park, and back to Rangemore, and killed.
Found at Yoxall, ran to the Brakenhurst, and lost our fox. Drew the Parson's
Brake, found and ran very fast to the Greaves, which the fox only just went into,
turned across by Eland Lodge, through Holly bush, up to Kingstanding, when he
got into the buildings, and we left him. Nice twenty-five minutes.
Tuesday, Snelston. — No fox there or at Shirley Park. Viewed a fox sneak-
ing away from the Reeve's Moor, ran him up to Shirley Mill, and on to Wyaston,
where we lost him. Found again in Longford Car, hunted slowly to Alkmonton,
and on towards Potter's Covert, and lost. No scent, and the first plough field
stopped hounds.
Thursday, Badburne.— Found in the Rough.. Ran up to Parson's Gorse, and
on towards the Burrows, and lost him. Drew Langley Gorse, found and ran
towards Radburne, turned back almost to Langley, and ran to Markeaton, and
from there hunted slowly to Newton's osiers, and had to give it up. A brace of
foxes, one a vixen heavy in cub, in Sutton Gorse ; got on the dog fox, hunted him
by Sutton village to the Spath, and lost him. Found again at Foston, ran slowly
for thirty-five minutes towards Barton, and went home. Very little scent, and
bounds could only run when they were close to their fox.
Saturday, Chartley. — Found in the Shaw. Hunted down to the Moss and
slowly on to Blithfield, and lost. Found again in Hart's Coppice, ran very fast
for nineteen minutes, by Field House Coppice, back to where we found him, and
hounds after this divided, and we could do nothing more.
Monday, March 22nd, Itolleston. — Did not find till we got to the Hare Holds
Rough, ran down to Castle Hayes Gorse, back through the Hare Holds by Need-
wood, through Byrkley Lodge, Yoxall, and the Brakenhurst, and killed in the
open within two fields of Hamstall Hall. Good hunting run — a seven-mile point,
and nine miles as hounds ran. Drew, but did not find again.
Tuesday, Boylestone. — No fox at Bentley. A brace of vixens at Longford.
Barton Blount, Sapperton the same. Three vixens at Sudbury. No scent, no
sport.
Thursday, Kedleston. — Allestree blank. Found in a small covert by Weston,
1875] A BAD MARCH. 371
but lost immediately. Killed a fox in Breward's Car. Ravensdale Park, the
New Gorse, Brailsford, and Culland blank. Scent worse each day.
Saturday, Kingston village. — Found in Kingston Wood — a vixen — and ran
to ground in a pit-hole. Found again, but could not get on. Went to Bagot's
Woods, ran a fox hard, in covert, for half an hour, and had him, dead beat, but
unfortunately changed at the last moment. Found again in Lord's Coppice, but
hounds could not hunt at all directly they got on the foiled gi-ound.
Monday, March 2^th, Draycott Cliff. — Found in the Greaves, ran to Hanbury
back through the Greaves, and on to Hollybush. Found again in Bull's Park,
ran to the Swilcar Lawn, out over the open towards Agardsley, back through the
woods, and to ground at Coton. Found again in the Banks, ran across Bagot's
Park into the woods, where the hounds divided, and we stopped them. Poor
scent. None at all on the plough.
Tuesday, Eaton Wood. — Found and ran to the Lady Coppice, where most
probably the fox went to ground, but there was no scent. Found again in the
plantation in Sudbury Park, near the Kennels, ran two rings, and stopped the
hoimds, as it was a vixen. Killed a lame fox at Foston.
Thursday, Etivall. — Found in Egginton Gorse, ran over the road up to
Etwall, and on as if for Radburne, but turned to the left by Sutton Gorse, and
within a field of Hilton Gorse, down to Marston-on-Dove, and here we had a long
check, as the fox had crossed the railway by a new culvert. Got on the line
again and hunted him by Rolleston in the direction of the Henhurst, where we
had to give him up, as there was nothing but plough, and the hounds could not
get on at all. Went back to Egginton, and found again in the Gorse, but the fox
declined to leave the covert.
Saturday, Bretby. — Met at Foremark instead, on account of Lady S.
Des Vceux's funeral. Found in Gorsty Leys, and ran to ground in an old stone
quarry. Chopped a fox in Repton Shrubs, and went away with another. Hunted
him slowly nearly down to Calke, and lost him. Went back to the Shrubs, found
again, ran fast up to the house and to ground in a rabbit-hole.
Monday, April 5th, Yoxall village. — Found at Wichnor, ran a ring by
Yoxall Lodge Hills, back to Wichnor, and lost him. Found several foxes at
Yoxall Lodge, stopped the hounds from a vixen, and eventually got into
the Brakenhurst.
Thursday, Wolseley Bridge. — Found almost immediately, ran a ring, and lost
our fox. Found again at Pottal Pool, ran down to Teddesley and back. Drew
Shugborough blank.
Saturday, Smallwood. — Foimd in Bagot's Woods, ran through the woods
and on to the Warren Covert at Blithfield, back into the woods, and finally he
went to ground in the Warren. Found again in the little covert just beyond, but
he went to ground in the same place as the first fox. Went to Hart's Coppice,
soon found, ran across the Park, back to the covert, where we left our fox, .
which was a vixen.
Foxes killed, thirty-five brace ; run to gTOund, twenty-one and a half brace ;
hounds out, one hundred and eleven times ; stopped by frost, thirty-one.
Killed in regular hunting, seventeen brace.
372 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1875
CHAPTER XXXIII.
LORD WATERP ark's DIARY POTTER's — FOUR FOXES TO
GROUND IN ONE DAY SPORT SPOILED AT RADBURNE
VARYING SPORT — END OF THE SEASON.
1875-1876.
The only new-comer was Mr. E. P. Rawnsley, who took
up his quarters with Mr. Crowder at Ashbourne.*
Of the latter, who had a pack of harriers at Ashbourne,
it was said that he was miserable if any lady came out
with his hounds.
There was no change in the staff, and they began
cub-hunting early — in Bagot's Woods, as usual — on August
17th, running a cub into a tree on the fourth morning.
Him they bolted and killed in the middle of the Park.
On the eighth morning they went to Sudbury and killed
a brace. The tree in Bagot's Park served them in good
stead, for they ran no less than four cubs into it, at different
times, bolted, and killed them.
Altogether they killed twenty brace.
From Lord Waterpark's diary : —
Monday, November 1st, Sudbury Coppice. — Found, rau a short ring back
through the covert, and to ground in a pit- hole near Cubley Lodge. Found again
in the Aldermoor, ran, by Hill Somersal and Wardley, up to Eaton Wood, and
lost our fox. Eaton Wood blank. Found in the Birch Coppice, ran round by
Eaton and Doveridge, through the Wilderness, up to Sudbury, and stopped the
hounds. Poor scent all day.
Tuesday, The New Inn. — Found in Hanbury Park Covert, ran up to Castle
Hayes, and lost. A brace of foxes in the Hare Holds ; ran one hard by Hanbury
and Fauld, and to ground at Castle Hayes. Found again in the Cupandition
* Afterwards Master of the South wold hounds.
1875] POTTER'S. 373
Covert, ran through Hanbury village, and by the New Lodge into the Greaves,
out again, and back towards Needwood, and lost him. Drew the remainder of
the Needwood Coverts and the Parson's Brake blank.
Thursday, Badburne. — Found in the Rough, ran a ring down to the Black
Covert, and on to Mickleover, and killed in the village. Fomid again in the
Black Covert, ran two short rings, back to the covert, and killed. Only one fox at
Sutton, which went to ground in the old gorse. Spath blank. One fox in the covert
by Saint's at Barton, and he would not go away, and was killed in the covert.
Saint's is, of course, the covert which is usually called
Potter's. Mr. Bradshaw, the owner of Barton Blount,
used to take umbrage at it being called Potter's. " Potter's
Covert ! " he would say. " What do they mean by calling
it Potter's ? It is my covert."
Saturday, Charthy.— Found in the plantation above the Castle, but there was
no scent, and lost directly. Found in the Shaw, ran a ring over the Park, back by
Fradswell, and gave it up. Went to the Moss, got on our hunted fox again, ran
Iiim about some time, and killed him in Giller's Rough. Wet day, and no scent.
Monday, November 8th, Anslow. — Found in the plantation by Stockley Park,
ran up to Tatenhill, through Knightley Park, back almost to Henhurst, and killed
him in the gardens at Callingwood. One hour and forty minutes. Rocket's Oak
blank. Found at Dunstall, and ran to gi-ound by Mr. Gretton's house.
Tuesday, Bradley.— Three foxes in the Limekiln Gorse, hunted one slowly
by Ednaston up to Brailsford Gorse, where he had waited for us, and we killed
him. Chopped another in covert. Went away with a third, hunted him, with
a very cold scent, nearly up to Jarratt's Gorse, and lost him. Found again in
Bradley Bottoms, ran to Ednaston, and killed. Found three or four foxes in
Shirley Park, but could do nothing, owing to a heavy snowstorm.
Thursday, Kedleston. — Found at Allestree, ran a ring by Quarndon back to
AUestree, and lost. Trotted ofl" to Breward's Car, ran by the Lilies to Turnditch,
and back to the Car, through the covert and another ring in the same direction,
round by Weston, and to ground in the Car. Hounds did not get home till eight
o'clock.
Saturday, Loxley. — Found in the Alder Car, ran through the Park Covert,
almost to Gratwich Wood, and on to Wingfield Hall Coppice, and lost. Found
in Woodcock Heath, and ran to gi'ound in Spooner's pit. Trotted off to Carry
Coppice, ran ringing about for some time with a fox, and to ground in a rabbit-
hole. Very wet day, and no scent.
Monday, November' 15th, Walton village. — Went straight to Lullington. A
lot of foxes in the gorse, not an atom of scent, and could do nothing. Found in
the gorse at Drakelowe, but with the same result.
Tuesday, Cubley village.— ChopTped one fox in the gorse, went away with
another, ran a ring by the gorse, up to Snelston, where he waited for them. Ran
very prettily back to Cubley, and lost him. Heard afterwards he had crawled
on to Eaton Wood, dead beat. Bentley Car blank. Lots of foxes at Longford.
Hunted one round and round the Car for three-quarters of an hour, and killed
him. Went away with another, and lost him by Bentley Brickyard.
Thursday, Stenson Lock. — Killed a fox in Arleston Gorse. Hunted another
down to the Trent, below Barrow, which he crossed in high flood. Found a
374 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1875
good lot of foxes in Stensou Field, ran very well by Findern for twenty minutes,
nearly to Etwall, where we lost him, and he must, I think, have got to ground
in one of the numerous holes about there. Found at Egginton, ran several rings,
and killed — a veiy bad fox — in Spilsbury's Covert. Found again in the gorse,
ran by Burnaston up to Etwall, and back to Egginton, and stopped the hounds.
Almost dark.
Satu7'day, BUthfield. — Did not find till one o'clock, and then found in a little
covert between Stansley's and the Warren. Ran by Abbot's Bromley and Forge
Coppice, and to ground in a pit on Bromley Hurst. No scent. Found in
Hart's Coppice, ran veiy hard over the Park to Dog Kennel Wood, back by
Dirty Gutter Coppice into the Banks, out by Tomlinson's Comer, passed between
Field House Coppice and Jock-o'-th'-Wall, back through Hart's Coppice, and to
ground in the tree opposite Tumor's house. Thirty-five minutes as hard as hounds
could go, and the fox was only fifty yards before them when he went to ground.
Monday, November 22nd, The New Inn. — Found in the Henhurst, ran by
Tatenhill and Dunstall, and killed in the garden at Silverhill. Found at Dunstall,
ran by Bannister's Rough, through Dunstall, on to Wichnor, and lost him. Very
little scent.
Tuesday, Duveridge. — Trotted down to the Hare Park, but did not find.
Found in the Birch Coppice, ran by Somersal up to Sudbury, and killed a fox
in the Aldermoor, but impossible to say if it was our run fox or not. Found in
the Coppice, ran by the top of Boylestone Hill, as if for Bentley Car, turned
to the left by Cubley village, back almost to Vernon's Oak, and to ground in the
pit-hole by Cubley Lodge. Got on the line of a fox in the Park, ran through
Sapperton, on to Boylestone, and lost him.
Thursday, Brailsford. — Found in White's Covert, ran by Mercaston Wood
up to the Squire's Gorse on Langley Common, and killed. Went away with
another fox, hunted him within a field of Radburne Rough, and on to Sutton
church, and lost him. Drew Culland blank. Found in the Reeve's Moor, ran hard
up to Shirley Mill, and back into Longford, and killed him in the blackthorns.
Saturday, Wychnor. — Hunted a very bad fox round and round the covert,
which he would not leave, and killed him. Found another in a poplar tree in
the meadows, ran him hard for ten minutes to ground in a rabbit-hole close to
Yoxall village. Found in Rough Park, ran once round the covert, and a ring
out towards Hoar Cross, back to the covert, and to ground in the hedge bank.
Found in Nichol's Covert by Cross Hayes, ran across the Park into Brakenhurst,
rattled him round it, and to ground in the main earths. Found in Loverock's
Coppice, and ran to ground again in Brakenhurst. Four foxes run to ground
to-day. The best scent this season so far.
Monday, November 29th, Brethy. — Found in the old gorse, ran across the
Park very fast, and nearly to Hartshorn village, where they checked ; held them
on to the gorse, where he had waited for us, ran him half an hour very nicelj',
and kiUed him in the South Woods by Staunton Harold. One hour and a quarter
from the time we found him. Drew Calke, Smith's Gorse, and Carver's Rocks
blank. Found in Repton Shrubs, rattled him round once, and away up to Bretby.
There he turned back to the Shrubs, ran round, and back to the gorse (where
we found our first fox), and disappeared mysteriously. Scent good, and a good
day's sport.
Tuesday, Church Broughton. — Found in the osier-bed at the back of the
gardens at Foston, chopped one fox there, went away with another, through the
Wood, down the meadows nearly to Tutbury, where he turned back, ran almost
to Foston, turned again, crossed the road by the Pennywaste, and we hunted him
1875] FOUR FOXES TO GROUND IN ONE DAY. 375
slowly back to Foston Coverts, and gave it up, as he was a quarter of an hour
before us. Several foxes on foot, but none to be found in the coverts. Trotted
off to Sapperton, and, withiu two fields of the covert, a fox jumped out of a tree
in full view of the hounds, ran him fast through Foston, by the Pennywaste,
almost into Sutton village, and on witiiin a field of the old gorse, where he turned
to the right, by Hoon Clump, down to Hoon Ha3's, and along the meadows, by
Scropton, down to Aston. Here he bore to the right, by Lawley's farm, and
ran back to Foston, and no doubt went back to Sapperton, but we stopped the
hounds, as it was getting dark. One hour and fifty minutes. Good fox and
good scent as long as he went up-wind.
Then they missed six days' hunting on account of
frost and snow, but on Saturday, December 11th, they met
at Loxley.
Found in Carry Coppice, ran a ring by Pliilips' Gorse, and to gi'ound in a pit
on Blurton's Farm. Gratwich Wood blank. Found in the Shaw, ran by Grat-
wich village into Handleasow Wood, back into Gratwich Wood, and lost on the
foOed ground. Found again on the Moss, ran by Newton, over the Warren at
Blithfield, and stopped the hounds as they were going into the Woods. Poor
scent.
Monday, Derembcr 13/7i, Cation. — Found three foxes in the Wood, ran one
about and killed him. Found in Edingale osier-bed, ran to Haselour, and gave
it up, as there was no scent on the plough. Found at Lullington, ran a ring back
to the gorse, and went home.
Tuesday, Bradley.- — Found in the gorse, ran about a mile and a half towards
Kniveton, and lost. Came back, found again, with exactly the same result.
Went to Shirley Park, found, but there was no scent. Bentley Car blank. Killed
a very old fox at Cubley Gorse.
Thursday, Tuthury Station. — Found in Hilton Gorse, ran, by Sutton village,
up to Barton, and on by the covert to Bentley Brickyard. Held them on up to
the Car, and met the fox as he was coming into the covert, ran down to Cubley
Church, and back to Alkmonton, where we came to a long check, and could do
no good afterwards, only hunting slowly on up to Shirley Park, and on in the
direction of Snelston. Longford blank.
Saturday, RoJleston. — Found in Dove Cliff osier-bed, ran a ring by Stretton,
and to ground under a tree in the Park. Hare Holds, Cupandition, and Black
brook blank. Found at Needwood House, ran round and round, but could do
no good. Poor scent all day. Drew Byrkley Lodge blank.
Monday, December 20th, Newhoroiigh. — Found in the Birch Wood, ran to
Hoar Cross, back through the Birch Wood, and on almost to Dirty Gutter
Coppice, where we gave it up. Got on our fox again in Hart's Coppice, ran him
round by the Daisy Bank into the Forest Banks, out over Agardsley, across
Hollybush and lost him, for the second time, near the Parson's Brake. Got on
his line in the Greaves, viewed him twice, and ran him to ground below Coton.
Tuesday, Eaton Wood. — Found and ran fast above Clownholme, over
Marston Park, by Roston, up to Birchwood Park, where he went to ground in
the pit. Got on a fox that had been disturbed, but could make nothing of him.
Snelston and Cubley Gorse blank. Found at SudburJ^ ran well across the Park,
but the scent suddenly failed, aud we could only walk after him by Sapperton up
to Barton.
376 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1875
Thursday, Eadlurne. — Found in the Eough, ran slowly up to Langley Gorse,
and back to Radburne, and from there to Langley again, and killed within a field
of the gorse. Found in the Parson's Gorse, but could do nothing with this fox.
Trotted to Sutton, found, ran towards Etwall, back by Dalbury, and up the brook
side by Trusley, and to ground in pit-hole at Crop-o'-Top. Very pretty thirty-five
minutes.
Friday, Sivansmoor. — Found in Newton Gorse, ran tremendously fast up to
the woods, a ring through them and to ground at the bottom of Hoosalem's
Coppice. Five miles in twenty minutes, and hounds beat the horsemen by four
fields into the woods, though fox, hounds, and gentlemen all started in the same
field ! Found again in Bhthe Moor, ran a couple of rings, and killed. Viewed a
fox outside Forge Coppice, hunted him slowly up to Blithbury and came home.
Monday, Beceinber 27th, Dunstall. — Found a fox in the covert in the
meadows, raced him up to Tatenhill Dingle, and killed him. Found again at
Dunstall, ran down to the Trent, which the fox crossed, in flood, and stopped the
hounds. Spent the rest of the day trying to kill a beaten fox in the llocket Oak
Gorse, after running him in the open some time.
Tuesday, Brailsford. — All the coverts there, Bradley bottoms, Ednaston,
Shirley Park, and Longford, blank ! Found at 2.20 in Alkmonton bottoms, ran
up to the coverts by Saint's, down to Mamerton, back by Alkmonton bottoms,
and on up to Shirley Park, where we had our fox dead beat in the gardens, but
could not kill him. Directly we had found one fox, and began to run, we had
three, if not four, foxes on foot. Hounds divided, and part killed a fox at
Barton.
Thursday, Stenson Lock. — Found in Stenson Fields, ran nicely up to
Burnaston, to ground in a drain. Found at Egginton Gorse, ran by Spilsbury's
Coverts and Findern, within half a mile of Stenson Fields, and lost. Trotted back
to Spilsbury's, found, and ran again to Stenson Fields, but here the fox ran up
the railway, and as trains were continually coming and it was nearly dark, we
gave it up.
Saturday, January \st, Kingston village. — Snow on the ground and bad
riding. Found in Kingston Woods, but lost immediately. Found again, ran
into Bagot's Woods, and lost. Scent now seemed to improve, and, with a fresh
fox, hounds ran hard through the woods, and to ground by the Uttoxeter road.
Got on another fox, ran a pretty ring by Ivingston village almost to Loxlej', and
back to Cuckold's Haven Gate into the woods. Twenty- five minutes, fast. On
through the woods, out over the Warren, through the woods again, and
across the Park into Kingston Woods, and had to stop the hounds owing to a
dense fog coming on. Capital day's sport.
Monday, January 3rc?, Draycott Cliff. — Found and lost at once in the
Greaves. Drew all along the Banks till we came to the Cliff by Bagot's Park,
where we found, rattled our fox about for nearly an hour in the Banks, forced him
out, ran by Smallwood, back to Gorstey Hill, where he turned again, and we
killed him within two fields of tlie Netherland Green Gate. Good Woodland day.
Tuesday, Foremark. — Several foxes in Gorstey Leys, rang two rings with one
by Swarkestone, and back through the covert, and at last he got to ground,
almost in view, in a brickfield at Ticknall, Went to Repton Shrub ; sone fox
broke in the direction of Hartshorn, with six couples of hounds, while the
remainder were running in covert. Got hounds together and went home.
Thursday, Piadburne. — A brace of foxes in the Rough, but the covert was so
urrounded by people that we had to go away to avoid chopping them. Langley,
Vicar Wood, Parson's Gorse, and Sutton blank !
1876] SPORT SPOILED AT PtADBURNE. 377
This was on January 6ih, and ought to have proved
a lesson to the field, for, after spoiling their own sport for
that day, they had to wait till Tuesday, January 18th,
for another, frost intervening,
Tuesday, Sudbury. — Lake Bank, Park, Bottoms, and Alder Car blank. One
fox in the Coppice, which went to ground immediately in the Park. Sapperton
blank. Found a very bad fox at Foston, which kept ringing about for more than
an hour, and was, at no time, more than one mile and a half from where we
found him.
Tlmrsday, Elvaston. — Found several foxes, ran one along the meadows to
Alvaston, and kept dodging about among the gardens. Got on a fresh fox by the
Lodge gates, ran a ring through the gi'ounds, and hunted him up to Chellaston,
and killed him in the covert. Found in the Stenson Fields, ran nicely up-wind
to Findern, where the fox turned back, and we hunted him slowly back to where
we found him, rattled him about in the covert, forced him out, and ran him up to
the Pastures, where we had to whip ofl'in the dark,
Saturday, Blithhury. — Frost,
Monday, January 24:th, Drahehwe. — Drew all the coverts without finding
till we came to the osier-bed by the Park side, and then hunted a fox from there
to Scale Wood, but could not show a line into it. Found at Lullington and ran
to ground at Netherseale, Found at Catton, hunted up to Drakelowe, with a bad
scent, and went home.
Tuesday, Bradley. — Too foggy to draw there. Went down to Culland, but
did not find. The same at the Reeve's Moor, and, as John Shaw's funeral
was going on at Longford, we trotted off to Shirley Park, Found there at once,
ran a mile ring by Rodsley into Longford Car, forty minutes. Went away ^vith
what proved to be a fresh fox, and ran him another fifty minutes,
Thursday, Kedleston. — Several foxes in Breward's Car, Went away with one
towards the Lilies, turned to the left, through Eavensdale Park, back almost to
Breward's Car, where he turned to the right, and we lost him at the back of the
gardens at Kedleston. Drew Allestree blank. Found in Colvile's Covert, ran
him about for a few minutes in covert, when he went away and we killed him in
Allestree village. He appeared beat when he came out of the covert, and my
belief is that it was the same fox we hunted in the morning. Found in Langley
Gorse, ran a ring by the village and up to the Vicar Wood, then on by Dr,
Peach's house almost to Parson's Gorse, where he turned to the right, ran nearly
to Brailsford, by the Culland Plantations, and on to Ednaston, where, I fancy,
he went to ground m a rabbit-hole, but the scent, at no time good, failed almost
entirely at the last. Good day's sport,
Saturday, (Jhartley. — Fog.
Monday, January 31s^, Rangemore. — Found on the hill side beyond the
keeper's house, ran through Knightley Park to the Henhurst, where the fox was
headed short back by the keepers shooting, and we could make no more of him.
Found in the Rocket Oak, chopped one fox, ran a ring with another, back into
the covert and killed him. Found again at Rangemore, ran about a bit, and
finally killed him in the Rocket Oak Covert. Dunstall, Yoxall Lodge, and
Byrkley Lodge blank.
Tuesday, February 1st, Elvaston. — Ran a fox about the place for some time
and killed in the gardens. Found a fox at Aston, ran very pretty up to Elvaston,
378 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1876
and killed him too. Found at 3.30 at Stenson Fields, ran by the Pastures and
Mickleover, nearly down to Newton's osier-bed, and gave over. Not much scent,
Thursday, Badhurne. — Found at Burnaston and ran down to Stenson Fields ;
got him away again after a time, and hunted slowly back to Findern and lost
him, owing to a storm coming on. Got on the hue of a fox from Spilsbury's
Covert, and hunted it up to Egginton Gorse. Hounds were in the covert some
time before a fox broke. Ran slowly by Burnaston Village, past the Asylum
down to Newton's osier-bed, and on to the Rough at Radburne. Here I think
we must have gone away with a fresh fox, as we ran down to Mackworth, and
on by Vicar Wood as if for AUestree, and it being late, and our fox a quarter of
an hour before us and no chance of getting up to him, we went home. Hard
day, but hounds never could run except a bit up-wind. Very large field out.
Friday. — Bye day. Found a fox directly in Kingston Woods, and ran to
ground about two fields off". Came back, found another, and ran along the woods
to Marchington Cliff, where we lost him. Found in Hart's Coppice, ran hard
for over two hours into a tree in the park, bolted and killed him. Good scent
and capital woodland day.
This was followed by a frost which stopped hunting at
Blithbury on Saturday.
Monday, February 1th, Yoxall village. — Drew Wichnor and Dunstall blank.
Found a fox in a tree in Yoxall Lodge, ran him for twenty-five minutes, and
killed him. Found in the Brakenhurst, ran by Newborough (after killing a fox
which jumped up in the middle of the hounds in covert), almost to Hollybush,
turned to the right, ran through Yoxall Lodge back into the Brakenhurst, and
repeated the same ring twice more, and stopped the hounds, as all the horses
were beat, hounds having been running hard over two hours. Capital scent all
day.
Tuesday, Faton Wood. — No fox there or at Doveridge, though one was seen
to go awaj'^ after we had left. Found in the Aldermoor at Sudbury, ran along
the Bottoms, turned to the right by Somersal Mill, and to gi'ound in a rabbit-hole
in Eaton Wood. Trotted off" to Sudbury again, heard of a fox on a ploughed
field on Lawley's farm, found him there, and ran to ground in Sebastopol. Soon
found another in the Coppice, ran a ring by Cubley Lodge, over the Park, and
down again to Sebastopol.
On Thursday, Saturday, and Monday they were
stopped by frost, but on Tuesday, February 15th, they
came to Bradley.
Did not find till we got to Shirley Park. Ran a ring towards Ednaston, back
through the covert to ground<»in the Bank near the gardens. Found in the
Holly Wood, Snelston, ran to Shirley Park, and lost. Went back to Snelston,
found in the covert by Cockshead Lane, ran to Raddle Wood, when he turned
to the left, and went down to Longford.
Thursday, Kedleston. — Found in the New Gorse, ran a ring into Ravensdale
Park, back to the gorse, and lost him. Went to Broward's Gar, and ran two
rings by the Lilies, up and down the hills, and lost him. Wilde Park, Brailsford,
Cullard, and Longford blank,
Saturday, BUthhury. — Found in Pipe Wood, ran almost to the Black Flats,
1876] VARYING SPORT. 379
turned to the right by St, Stephen's Hill, over the brook, by Forge Coppice,
across Bromley Hm-st, and to gi-ound in the La\vn Meadow drain, after rattling
him once through the woods. Good hunting run of an hour and fifty minutes.
Did not find again till we got to Roost Hill, ran by the Chantry and Hoar Cross
almost down to Rough Park, and gave it up.
Monday, February 2\st, Lullington. — Several foxes in the gorse. Ran one
with a very bad scent into the Atherstone country, but could not get on with him.
Came back, but did not find again in the gorse. Homestall Wood, Catton,
Walton Wood, and Drakelowe blank.
Tuesday, MivaJI. — Found in Egginton Gorse. Ran by Etwall to the Ashe
and lost him. Found a capital fox in Sutton Gorse, ran by the church almost
down to the Spath, where he turned along the meadows and ran up to Burrows,
leaving Culland on the left — thirty-seven minutes up to this. Hunted him
slowly on to Brailsford, where we viewed by the Fishpond Covert, but, a heavy
storm of rain coming on, he beat us at Wilde Park. Good gallop, but not a very
good scent at any time. Went to Longford, found in the Car, ran a ring,
pointing for Shirley Park, but were again stopped by a storm.
Thursday, Bretby. — Found in Repton Shrubs, ran round the covert and up to
the gorse, where we changed. Went away towards Burton, ran almost down to
Repton and up to Milton village, where we came to a long check. Got on the
line again, and marked him to ground in Gorstey Leys. Good run — an hour and
ten minutes up to Milton. Hunted a fox about Gorstey Leys and Ticknall for
some time, till he too got to ground. Got on another fox, which had been
running about, ran him down to Foremark, and killed him.
Saturday, Chartley. — Found in the Shaw, and ran to ground within a mile
in a pit-hole. Found again on the Moss, ran by Gratwich Wood, over the Park,
up to Fradswell, where a heavy storm came on, and scent failed altogether. Bad
scent all day.
Monday, Boar Cross village — Hoar Cross and Rough Park blank. Found
in the Brakenhurst, ran very hard over the Park, and to gi'ound vdthin a few
fields. Killed a lame fox that j?ad sneaked out of the Brakenhurst and been
bitten by one of the hounds. Yoxall Lodge and Byrkley blank. Found at
Needwood, by the keeper's house, ran by East Lodge, down to Stockley Park,
turned to the left, over the road, and ran within a field of the Hare Holds,
where he again turned and went through the Cupanditiou Covert back to Need-
wood, and we killed him in the gardens at East Lodge. Thirty-four minutes,
and a first-rate scent all day.
Tuesday, Shirley Park.— Went away with a fox by Ednaston, up to Brails-
ford Gorse, which he left on his left, almost to Mugginton, where he turned and
went, by Hulland Ward and Biggin, nearly up to Blackwall, and turned again,
pointing for Bradley, but scent completely failed, owing to the heavy rain, and
we had to give it up. Good hunting run of an hour and three-quarters. Not
much scent. No fox at Longford. Found a vixen, heavy in cub, at Potter's
Covert, hunted her about, and stopped the hounds.
Thursday, Spread Eagle.— Hnnted a brace of foxes in Egginton Gorse for an
hour, but, finding they were vixens, left them, Hilton Gorse blank. Found in
the Pennywaste, ran well for a few fields, when the fox was unfortunately headed
in the road, and we did no good with him after. Did not find again at Foston or
at Sapperton. Found, in Sudbury Coppice, ran by Cubley Lodge, and the top of
Boylestone hill into the Park, and back to the Coppice, through which, however,
the fox went, and we hunted him slowly on towards Marston and gave it up.
Hounds ran very hard, up-wind, across the Park.
380 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1876
Saturday, BUthfield. — Found ia one of the small plantations, ran through
Newton up to Kingston Woods, where we left one hunted fox — a vixen — and
went away with a fresh one. Hunted him right through the woods, and out by
Friar's Coppice, across the turnpike road by the Tollgate, on to the Park Covert
at Loxley. Here he turned short back, and we hunted him slowly, by the
Aldermoor, to Baker's pit, and on to the covert bej^ond, and lost him. Killed a
lame fox in Friar's Coppice.* Found again in the woods, ran hard for an hour,
including two fast rings over the Park, and killed in the oak tree opposite
Tumor's house. A capital gallop.
Monday, March 6th, Ha^ibury.— Found in the Hare Holds. The fox went
away towards Castle Hayes, but was headed back by some men working, and the
hounds met him and killed him. Did not find again till we got to Bull's Park,
ran through the Greaves down to Coton (twenty minutes), and left one fox
somewhere in the buildings. It was a vixen. Found just beyond Marchington
Cliff, and ran about for some time in the Woods, but hounds divided into three
lots, so stopped them and gave it up.
Tuesday, Eaton Wood. — A brace of foxes. One went to ground in the Lady
Coppice ; the other ran a ring by the Dingle, and back into the wood, where
we left her. Snelston and Cubley blank. Found at Sudbury Coppice — a vixen
— and ran to ground in tlie Park. Found again in one of the spinneys in the
Park, ran, by the kennels, into the Coppice, when scent completely failed.
Weather stormy.
Thursday, Mercaston Stoop. — The New Gorse and Kavensdale Park blank.
Found in Breward's Car, ran about some time and killed. A vixen at Allestree,
whicli we left. Went to Langley Gorse, found immediatelj'^, and ran very nicely
by Muggington up to the New Gorse, when a heavy storm came on. Twenty-
four minutes.
Saturday, Loxley.— Man k. Found in the Gorse at Chartley, ran hard across
tlie Park and almost up to Sandon, turned to the right by Fradswell, and ran
hard back to the Gorse, in which there was no scent, and we had to leave our
fox. About fifty minutes up to Fradswell. Found in the Moss, ran througij
Giller's Rough, by Gratwich Wood, and back to Handleasow.
Monday, March I3th, Buttermilk Hill. — Found in a pit near Jock-o'-th'-
Wall, ran through Lord's Coppice and Dunstall Pit, over the Warren at Blithfielil
towards Chartley, but, as no one was with them, it is impossible to say how far
they went. The field met the hounds coming back across Newton Hurst, and
they ran hard back to the Warren Covert and killed. Fifty minutes. First-rate
scent, and no one could live with the hounds through the Woods. Found again
in Lord's Coppice, ran through the Woods, across the Park, and back to Lord's
Coppice, and lost him.
Tuesday, Sudbury. — Found a vixen in the Coppice, and ran her to ground in
the Park. No other fox at Sudbury. Foston blank. Crossed over the river,
and drew from Hanbury to Buttermilk Hill without finding.
Tliursday, Foremark. — Found in Gorstey Leys, hunted slowly up to
Melbourne, but there was no scent, so trotted off to Calke to find a fresh fox.
Found in the Pistern Hills, ran through the South Woods, across Calke Park,
almost into Melbourne, and to ground in Spring Wood at Staunton. About an
hour, and a nice hunting run. Drew Repton Shrubs. Found immediately, ran
to Carver's Rocks, and back to the Shrubs, and stopped the hounds, as it was
late.
* Floyer's Coppice.
1876] END OF THE SEASON. 381
Saturday, Chartley. — Found in the Moss, ran by Giller's Rough over the
railway, through Handleasow Wood, nearly up to Birchwood Park, where the fox
turned back to the left, and went to ground in an earth in the Park. No fox in
the Gorse, though one had been disturbed and gone away. Gratwich Wood
blank. Found in Woodcock Heath, ran a couple of rings, and into Kingston
Woods and gave it up. No scent at any time during the day.
Monday, March 2Qth, Newhoroxigh. — Found in Hollybush Covert, could not
run a yard, Foimd again in the Birchwood with the same result. Drew all the
coverts by Hoar Cross blank. Found in the Brakenhurst, hunted into Yoxall
Lodge and lost him. Found again in Jackson's Bank, but could do nothing.
Tuesday, Blithhury. — Drew all tha coverts blank. Found in Blithe Moor at
Blithfield, ran through the Warren, over by Dunstall, through the end of Lord's
Coppice, over Bromley Park, back by Radmore and Dunstall, through the woods,
over the Park, up to the Birch Wood, and on to the Chantry, where he turned
back, and came over Bromley Park again, through Lord's Coppice and Dunstall
Pit, over the road to Blithfield, and lost in a heavy storm between the Warren
and Stansley's Wood. About two hours and forty minutes.
Thursday, Anslow. — Found in Sinai Park Coppice, ran to Rocket Oak, and
on to Dunstall, and along the meadows to Barton, where the fox turned back,
and we lost him. Found again in the covert in the meadows by Gorse Hall,
ran down to Branston, back by Tatenhill, through Knightley Park, Rangemore,
and Dimstall, into the meadows and lost.
Saturday, Kingston village. — Found in Woodcock Heath, ran through
Kingston Wood into the big woods, and along by the Uttoxeter roadside almost
to Thatched Lodge, where our fox turned across and ran a ring almost to Loxley,
and back to where we found him. Very fast up to this ; slow hunting after-
wards, down-wind, through the end of Kingston Wood, nearly to Blithfield, and
lost. Found again in the middle of Bagot's Woods, and ran about for the rest of
the day.
Monday, March 21th, Brethy. — Found in the Gorse near the' house, ran over
the Park into Repton Shrubs, by Carver's Rocks and Smith's Gorse, nearly to
Calke, back through the Pistern Hills, and Several Woods, where we changed
foxes, and ran back to the Pistern Hills. Got on the line of our run fox again in
Hartshorn Gorse, hunted him up to Wooden Box, and lost. Found in Repton
Shrubs, ran in a ring, and lost at Winshill.
TMirsday, Woheley Bridge. — Found in the Park. Ran to Hagley and lost.
Found again near Hednesford, ran very fast to Shugboro' back through Haywood
Park to ground, almost in view. Fifty minutes, very fast. Went to Pottal
Pool, where there were two or three foxes on foot at once, but there was no
•scent.
Friday, Dunstall. — Drew all the coverts at Dunstall, Rangemore, and Yoxall
Lodge blank. Found in Brakenhurst, ran to Dunstall, and killed at the back
of the church.
Saturday, Buttermilk Hill. — Found in Lord's Coppice, hunted through the
woods, and out to the Warren at Blithfield, where the scent completely failed.
Went back to the woods, got on our hunted fox again in Lord's Coppice, ran
him hard for some time, and killed him at Dunstall. Drew Friar's Coppice blank,
foimd again in the woods close by, ran very hard for an hour, and stopped the
hounds. Very hot day, and all the horses done up.
Foxes killed, forty-three and a half brace ; run to ground, twenty-six ; hounds
out, one hundred and seventeen times ; stopped by frost, seventeen times.
Killed in regular hunting, twenty-three and a half brace.
382 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1876
HOME.
" Home, sweet home."
The touching old refrain
Falls soothingly on exiles' ears,
Who hear its simple strain.
But differently, indeed, it sounds,
And chill strikes on the heart,
When from the master's lips it falls,
And warns us we must part.
Yes ! yes ! The word is spoken now, on hill, and wold, and vale.
The spring is here ; the winter's past ; and told's the season's tale f
That last, last day we lingered on and fought against despair ;
Surely some covert there must be to form a fox's lair ?
Yes ! One chance more ! A farmer says, yon hedgerow on the hill
Has held a fox these three weeks past. Perchance it holds him still.
We learn the road. Oh, what a change
Has come across the field !
The cantering, laughing, joyous throng
Is full of expectation strong,
And chatters as it rides along
Of what the run may yield.
Alas ! alas ! for human hopes ! Oh, how our spirits sank !
There's never a note from opening hound. The double hedgerow's
blank.
"Cop, come away!" The horn is blown. Where next? The word
has come.
There's nothing left for hounds to draw. The only " draw " is —
Home.
Ah, perhaps to youthful listeners' ears the word may whisper hope ;
But what to those who cannot long with Time expect to cope?
To us, indeed, the word is sad. We loathe its doleful sound.
We never more, for aught we know, may hark to opening hound.
We all shall meet, we fondly hope, in Town— in Row or Ride,
But many a face perchance we'll miss from next year's covert side.
That hound we loved ; that horse we rode, who carried us so well ;
The friends we met ; the girl we left — this very season's belle —
We hope to meet, we long to greet. But shall we ? Who can tell ?
1876] ( 383 )
CHAPTER XXXIV.
LORD WATERPARK's DIARY — GREAT RUN FROM BARTON
BLOUNT RUN FROM SUDBURY TO BARTON LODGE — GOOD
DAY FROM FOREMARK — WETTEST DAY OF THE SEASON
— GOOD GALLOP FROM MARSTON-ON-DOVE TO RADBURNE
FAST GALLOP FROM REPTON SHRUBS — UTTOXETER
STEEPLECHASES.
1876-1877.
The subscription for this year was £3523 6s. 9d. ; com-
pensations came to £228 7s. 6d. The principal new-
comer was Mr. J. Piatt, who succeeded Lord Churston at
Brook House, Marchington. He still occupies this house,
though he is only there for a very few weeks in the
summer, spending most of his time in Scotland. He
gave up hunting some years ago. This was probably the
most open season on record, hounds being stopped only
five times by frost.
At the end of this season R. Summers left, to go to
Mr. Tailby. He was a very hard-riding man here, and
rather severe on his horses. He staked one once, and
Lord Waterpark made him lead the animal home there
and then. But when he carried the horn in Leicestershire
they complained that he did not go well enough for
them.
A good many foxes were turned down in divers
countries this year, and some in the Derbyshire part of
the South Notts Country on the other side of the Derwent
opposite Allestree.
384 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1876
Lord Waterpark's Diary continued : —
Sixteen and a half brace of foxes were killed during the cub-hunting ; thirty-
five times out.
Monday, October 30th, Sudbury Coppice. — Ran very prettily up to Bentley
Car, where he turned to the left as if he was going to Stydd, but turned again
along the Bentley Brook, and came back by Bentley Hall, and we hunted him
slowly back to the Coppice. Viewed him away, dead beat, by the Bottoms, but
he turned back and got to ground in a rabbit-hole. Found in the Alder Car,
ran across the park to Sapperton, where he turned to the right, and we killed
him in a pit-hole.
Tuesday, The New Inn. — Ran a fox round and round for more than an hour
at Needwood, and killed him. Chopped another. Byrkley Lodge blank.
Found in the Brakenhurst, ran him round the wood, out by Hoar Cross village,
through the Chantry, leaving the Birchwood on his left, over Bromley Park, and
finally lost him at the back of Abbot's Bromley. No scent on the plough.
Thursday, Hadburne. — Many cubs, which refused to go away. Got one away
at last, but soon lost him. Went back to the Rough, found again, but there was
no scent in covert and had to leave. Found at Sutton, ran by Dalbury up to
Sutton village, through the Spath, by Barton down to Hewett's Farm, over the
Brook, up to Crop-o'-Top, where scent completely failed. Hunted him slowly
back to the gorse. Nice hunting run over a capital countr}-.
Saturday, Blithbury. — Found in Pear Tree Gorse, ran a ring, and lost. Found
again in Pipe Wood, ran by the Black Flats up to Bank Top, and lost. Went
to Laurence's Wood, found, ran very fast by Blithbmy, over St. Stephen's Hill
to Blithfield ; after this hunted slowly by Blithe Moor and the Warren into the
woods. Fox was only one hundred yards before the hounds at the Warren, but
directly we got into the woods we had three foxes before us.
Monday, November 6, Anslow. — Found in the Henhurst, but not an atom of
scent in covert. Found again at Sinai Park, ran down the meadows below
Dunstall, through Smith's Hills, by Silver Hill, back by Dunstall church, and to
ground in a large rabbit-hole below Sinai Park. Found in Knightley Park, and
ran by Tatenhill to ground in the Lawns.
Tuesday, Eaton Wood. — Blank. Found in the Lady Coppice, ran a ring
through Eaton Wood, back by the Birch Coppice, through the Woodhouse Farm
up to Sudbury, and lost. Found in the Alder Car, ran up to Vernon's Oak, and
lost. Trotted off to Cubley Gorse, found at once, ran by Marston and Vernon's
Oak to the Coppice, where the hounds divided.
Thursday, Elvaston Castle. — Several foxes. Ran one up to Chellaston and
back, but there was no scent. Went to Aston, and, after an hour and a half
hunting round the plantations, managed to kill a fox.
Saturday, Bramshall village. — Found in Philips' Gorse, ran through CaiTy
Coppice, and to ground in a pit-hole at Field Hall. Three foxes in Carry Coppice,
ran one about for some time, till he, too, went to groimd in another pit-hole on
the same farm. Several foxes in the Park Covert, ran a ring with one, and finally
gave it up near the Red Cow. No scent at all, ground dry and hard, and no
chance of sport till there has been a downfall.
Monday, November \3th, Drahelowe Cross Roads. — Went to Lullington,
found in the Gorse, ran a ring over the river and back to the Gorse, where there
was no scent, and we came away. Homestall Wood blank. Got on the line
of a fox that had come on from Lullington, hunted him down to the river below
Croxall, which he crossed, and eventually killed him by the Trent Valley Station
1876] GREAT RUN FROM BARTON BLOUNT. 385
near Lichfield. There was no one with the hounds after crossing the river, as we
all went down to a ford, which we could not cross, and had to go back to the
bridge.
Tuesday, Tuibury Station. — Found at Egginton, ran over the new railroad
down to the turnpike road near Hilton Cottage, where we lost him. Went to
Sutton, found, but could not get over the first field, as there was no scent at all.
Trotted oft' to Hilton Gorse, where there were several foxes. Ran one rather
nicely towards the Pennj^vaste at Foston, where we had to stop the hounds at
Mrs. Broadhurst's request.* Went to Barton, found in the Fishpond Covert near
the house, ran up to Potter's, which the fox went to the right of, on through
Alkmonton Bottoms to Longford Car, which the fox went straight through, on
by the Reeve's Moor up to Culland, leaving the plantations on the left, ran to
Brailsford, where the fog was so thick that one could see neither hounds nor the
next fence, crossed the turnpike road, ran down to Wilde Park, leaving the covert
on the left ; here he turned to the right and pointed towards Prestwood, and we
came to the first check — fifty minutes — in a dingle near Langley ; hit it ofi" again
and hunted slowly up to Langley, where we must have changed foxes, as a fox,
quite fresh, was viewed in front of the hounds by the village.
Thursday, Kedlcston village. — Found in Breward's Car, kept ringing about
between there and Ravensdale Park, and finally lost our fox. Found again at
AUestree, ran through Colvile's Covert, over Kedleston Park, by the house
at Langley, where he turned to the right by Prestwood, and we hunted him up
to Breward's Car. Two or three foxes before us the latter part of the time, and
no scent.
Saturday, BUthfieM. — Drew every hole and corner blank. Found at half-
past one in Bagot's Woods, ran about in the woods, over the park into Hart's
Coppice, round and round for some time, and lost. Found again in the Dog
Kennel Wood. No scent all day.
Monday, November 20th, Dunstall. — Chopped a very bad fox in Smith's Hills,
and did not find again at Dunstall. The Rocket Oak blank. Found at Knightley
Park, ran by the Holly Covert over the road by the New Inn, bore to the right
towards the Henhurst, recrossed the road and ran down to Tatenhill, and on
along the meadows below Dunstall — very poor scent. Drew Rangemore blank.
Found at Needwood, ran out by East Lodge, turned to the right, through the
Holly Covert, out nearly to Byi-kley Lodge, and ran a ring back through Hanbury
Park Covert and on to Castle Hayes, and had to stop the hounds in the dark.
Capital scent with this last fox, and hounds ran hard.
Tuesday, Brailsford. — White's Covert produced a fox, which ran down to
the spinny by the pool head, where we killed him, the hounds chopping another
fox at the same time. Found in the gorse, ran up towards Bradley — very little
scent— and could not get on with him. Trotted off to draw Culland, but were
halloaed on to a fox that was follo^ving us, ran by Brailsford nearly up to Langley,
and lost. Killed a bad fox in Langley Gorse. Found in the Parson's Gorse, ran
a few fields and lost — no scent.
Thursday, Stenson Lock. — Several foxes in Arleston Gorse, ran one a few
fields, and lost him. Found in Stenson Fields, ran out and back again, and at
last got away with a fox and hunted him nicely by the lunatic asylum up to
Mickleover and on, over the railway, almost to Radburne, where the scent,
which never at any time had been good, failed altogether. Found in the Rough,
* Mr. Broadhurst was buried that day ; the cofiBn with his remains having just
arrived from abroad.
VOL. I. 2 c
386 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1876
ran fast up to the nursery and through the covert ou Langley Common, as if he
was going for Mackworth, but he was headed on the hill and turned short back,
and we could only hunt him afterwards slowly back towards the Rough, and lost
him near old Park House. Bad ringing fox.
Saturday, Kingston village. — Found in Kingston Wood, ran towards Newton
Gorse, and lost. Found in Newton Gorse, hunted by the village towards
Blithfield, and lost. Very bad scent all the morning. Drew at Blithfield without
finding. Found in the woods at three o'clock and had a capital afternoon,
running hard for an hour and a half.
Monday, November 27th, Brethy. — Found in Repton Shrubs, and Charles got
away with the hounds without any one hearing him, ran by Carver's Rocks and
Smith's Gorse, through the Pistern Hills down to the South Woods ; ran hiiu
round the woods twice, and away by Staunton Harold for Breedon Clouds, but he
got to ground in a culvert about half a mile from the covert and just as Ferrers'
hounds were running a fox witliia two fields of us. Drew Calke blank. Found
in Gorstey Leys, ran hard through the wood, out by Ingleby Hall, down to Anchor
church, and on to Foremark, and killed him in front of the house — about twenty-
five minutes, and as hard as ever hounds could run. Found again at Bretby, but
did nothing.
Tuesday, Fasten village.— Found in the Cumraery Wood, ran by Church
Broughton as if he meant going to Hilton, but turned to the left, leaving Sutton
village on his left, ran down to and through Sutton Gorse, turned back almost to
the ^^llage and ran up to Trusley. Up to this it was only slow hunting, but from
Trusley they ran well up to the Rough at Radburne, through the covert and on
to the church, where we lost him in a heavy fall of rain. One hour and ten
minutes. Found in the Rough, ran hard nearly up to the Parson's Gorse, turned
to the left over the Long Lane by Nun's Fields up to Thurvaston, recrossed the
road and ran do^vn to Trusley and on to Dalbury — thirty-five minutes up to this
over a capital line, and hounds ran well ; after this hinited on between Mickleover
and Radburne and back to the Rough, and finished at Dalbury Lees. Kept
continually changing foxes. Capital day.
Thursday, Bradley Hall. — Could not draw for fog till half-past twelve, and
then did not find till we got to Shirley Park. The fox slipped away at the
bottom and ran fast down to Longford, but turned back by the village, ran
through the Reeve's Moor, and we hunted him slowly on to Ednaston and nearly
up to Brailsford Gorse, where he beat us. Drew the coverts at Ednaston and
Bradley Bottoms blank, and came home.
Saturday, Chartley. — Found in the Shaw Gorse, ran by Fradswell up to
Sandon, and on up to Hardewick Heath ; from here he ran a ring down to Orange
Hayes and back to Hardewick Heath, where we viewed him dead beat, but he
managed to get to ground. A capital hunting run of an hour and thirty minutes,
hounds at times running hard.
Monday, December Ath, Neiuborough. — Drew the Birchwood and all the Hoar
Cross coverts blank, till we got to Nichol's Covert at Cross Hayes, where we found
and ran into Brakenhurst. Hunted him up and down the wood and along
Jackson's Bank, and finally he got to gi'ound in the earth by Brakenlnn-st Hill.
Found at Yoxall Lodge, ran as if he was going to Rangemore, turned to the left
and ran parallel with the road almost up to the New Inn, where he turned again
into Byrkley Lodge, and we lost him in a perfect deluge of rain. Very pretty
eighteen minutes.
Tuesday, Tutbury Station. — Found in the Pemiywaste, ran down to the
coverts below the house at Foston, where we got on to a fresh fox (our fox went
1876] RUN FROM SUDBURY TO BARTON LODGE. 387
ou to Sudbury), and turned back and hunted with a very bad scent nearly up to
Sutton village, and lost him. Found again at Foston, but our fox disappeared
most unaccountably after about ten minutes. Got on a fox we viewed crossing
the park at Sudbury, ran down below the kennels, but hounds divided, as there
were three foxes before us, so we stopped them. We had previously drawn the
lake banks blank. One of the wettest days I ever was out.
Wednesday, Elvaston Castle. — Hunted a fox for two and a quarter hours
round the grounds, and killed him. Drew Aston and Chellaston blank.
Thursday, Radhurne. — Found in the Rough, but he was a bad fox, and kept
going away and coming back again, and there was no scent. Sutton blank.
Spath ditto. Found in Longford Car — main earths open, and the fox got to
ground. Went to Potter's, found and ran nicely up to Longford, where the fox
went to ground. Wretched day's sport.
Saturday, Loxley. — Found in the Alder Car, hunted towards Uttoxeter, back
by Alder Car to Park Covert and away towards Kingston, back to the Park Covert
and had him beat, round by Alder Car, back to the wood — two or three foxes on
foot, away by the Alder Car again, and to ground near the Hall. Found in Carry
Coppice, bad scent, hunted to Leigh, and accounted for him by losing him.
Found again in Philips' Gorse, ran fairly by the end of Carry Coppice to the pit
on the Field Hall farm, which he tried, round into the Coppice again, out again
nearly to Loxley, back to Philips' Gorse, up to Carry Coppice, and hounds came
out after a fresh fox just at dusk, and ran towards Chartley, so left off. Bad
scent and bad luck.
Monday, December llth, Wychnor — Blank. Rough Park the same. Found
in Brakenhurst, ran through HoUybush into the Greaves, and lost. Found again
in the Banks, ran through Tomhuson's corner, across Agardsley, through Holly-
bush, by Needwood, back through the end of the Banks, out at the low side below
Hanbury to Castle Hayes ; then a ring back through Castle Hayes, and eventually
whipped off in the dark at Anslow. Not a good scent at any time.
Tuesday, Cubley Gate. — Pourmg wet till two o'clock. Found a brace of
foxes on Cubley Gorse, hunted one with a bad scent by Birchwood Park to
Snelston, by lime-kilns and Snelston plantations towards Shirley Park and Rodsley,
and lost. Found again in Longford Car, ran very fairly over every ploughed
field to Yeaveley and on nearly to Snelston, back again by Snelston Common
nearly to Cubley Gorse, and lost. Very poor scent. Found in Sudbury Coppice,
ran round the covert, away towards the kennels and bottoms, turned back and
ran very hard across the Park ; left Sapperton to the right, ran hard towards
Bentley, turned to the right by Potter's, nearly up to Longford, through
Alkmonton Bottoms to Bentley Brickyard, as hard as they could pelt, right into
Potter's, running hard for their fox ; out at the far end of the covert, ran by
Barton towards Hilton, turned to the left nearly to Sutton, through Spath (a
brace of foxes close before us), round by Sutton Mill and back to Barton Lodge,
into a dense low fog, and we had to stop the hounds. One hour and thirty minutes
from Sudbury, and a capital thing. Ground very deep, and horses all beat.
Thursday, Kedleston Toll i^ctr.— Darley osier-bed under water. Allestree
blank. Found by Ireton Rough, ran hard up to Breward's Car, and ou by the
Lilies, where we turned to the left and ran down tiie lane by Mercaston Stoop,
and lost our fox. Wilde Park blank. Found in Langley Gorse, a bad ringing
fox, which we eventually hunted up to Brailsford, and lost.
Saturday, mithhury.— Found in Pipe Wood, and hunted him, with a poor
scent, by Bellamore nearly up to the Coley coverts ; got ou him again there and
hunted up to Great Haywood, where he beat us. Drew all Blithfield blank.
388 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1876
Monday, Beremher 18/l/i, Brakelowe C7-oss Roads. — Caldwell and Lullington
blank. Found a bad fox at Catton, which got to ground. Did not 6nd again.
Tuesday, Bradley — Blank. Found at Shirley Park in a thick fog, and lost
sight of the hounds at once, and never saw them again till we found them at
Okeover bridge. But, as far as we can find out, they must have run by Rodsley
and Snelston down to Clifton, where they crossed the railway, and ran by Mr.
Bond's house up to Hanging Bridge and on to Mappleton. Tremendous scent,
and hounds were over the hill from Shirley Park and out of hearing in no time.
Thursday, Etwall. — Found at Egginton, ran by Burnaston over the road
almost down to Stenson Fields ; here the fox was headed in the lane and turned
back, and we hunted him up to Mickleover, and killed him in the village. "Went
to Radbume, but the only fox in the Rough had been gone ten minutes, and we
could not hunt him. Drew the Parson's Gorse blank. Found in the Reeve's
Moor at Longford. Ran by HoUington nearly up to Shirley village, turned to
the right up to Ednaston, crossed the Derby road and left the Oak Covert,
Ednaston, on the right, down to the newly planted osier-bed in the bottom ; here
we turned to the right as if we were going to Brailsford Gorse, but bore to the
left and came to a check in the lane by Mercaston Stoop. Thirty-two minutes
as hard as hounds could run, and the distance seven miles. Here a boy gave us
wrong information and saved the life of this good fox, for by the time we had
got on his line again he had gone into Breward's Car and the scent failed.
First-rate day's sport. Earths open.
Saturday, (Jhartley. — Frost.
Monday. — Christmas Day.
Tuesday, Katon Wood. — Frost.
Thursday, Brailsford. — White's Covert, the gorse, and Culland blank.
Found in Longford Car, ran towards Shirley Mill, turned to the right by
Ednaston village down to the Culland Plantations, on by Culland Hall and
Burrows to Radborne, where our fox got to ground in a broken-in drain within
two fields of the Rough, Just an hour. Got on a fox that had slipped away
from Sutton, ran a ring by the village up to Trusley Gorse, and back to the
gorse, and gave it up. Very little scent.
Saturday, Loxley. — Found in the Park Covert, ran a short ring out towards
Kingston, and back, on by Bramshall almost to Uttoxeter, where he turned back,
and we hunted him slowly on, and marked him to ground in Woodford Rough.
Earths open there. Found again by Buttermilk Hill (Bagot's Woods' side),
liunted about in the Banks and lost. Found in the Dog Kennel Wood, hunted
round and round for one hour and killed.
1877.
Monday, January \st, East Lodge. — The Henhurst and the Oaks blank.
Found in the covert by the village at Rolleston, ran nearly down to Stretton, and
lost. Dove Cliff" osier-bed under water. Found at Needwood, ran through
Kingstanding, over Hollybush and Agardsley, into the Banks by Woodroft'e's
Cliff. Capital gallop and fast. After this, hunted slowly along the Banks and
through Dog Kennel Wood, and finally lost in a very heavy storm of rain, not
far from Hollybush, our fox evidently making his way back again.
Tuesday, Sudbury Coppice. — Found and hunted, with a bad scent, through
the Bottoms, and over the Park towards Sapperton. Held the hounds on to the
covert and got away with a fresh fox, and ran up to Longford Car, on from here
to Shirley Park, where we must have changed foxes. Hunted on to the Ednaston
1877] GOOD DAY FROM FOREMARK. 389
coverts, back by the village and down to Shirley Mill, and up to Edlaston
village, where we changed again, as our run fox was seen going towards Shirley
Park. Went on with the fresh fox in the direction of Bradley, but scent got
worse, and we came back to Shirley Park, and got on our hunted fox, and ran
him to ground in view in a rabbit-hole, but could not get him out. Never much
scent, but we kept going on, first with one fox and then another, for nearly four
hours.
Thursday, Stenson Lock. — Found in the Black Covert, hunted slowly up by
the lunatic asylum to Burnaston village and on to Etwall, where our fox turned
short to the left, and we ran him down by Egginton Station, and lost in the
Water Meadows by the crossing. Found in Egginton Gorse, and ran to ground
within a few fields. Found again at Hilton, ran fast down to the Pennj'waste, on
through the Foston coverts, over the road by the Lemon Hole, back along
the meadows to the Pennywaste, and here hounds divided, and we went on
vnih a fresh one and ran almost up to Sudbury Park, and stopped the hounds in
the dark.
Saturday, Chartley. — Found in Handleasow Wood, went past the Shaw
Farm, crossed the road by Dods' Leigh nearly to Brindley's Wood, turned to the
left, ran through Birchwood Park down to Milwich, on to the Ox Close Wood,
where we got on a brace of foxes ; got hounds together near Sandon Wood,
crossed the Hilderstone road and went nearly down to Burston, then skirted the
corner of Orange Hayes and hunted up to the Stone road, where we lost. Drew
the Shaw Gorse, but did not find again.
Monday, January Sth, Foremark. — Found in Gorstey Leys, ran a couple of
rings out by Ticknall and killed him at Ingleby Hall. Found again in Repton
Shmbs, ran down to Carver's Rocks, back to the Shrubs, and killed. Trotted up
to the gorse, found, ran across the Park, by Carver's Rocks and Smith's Gorse
across Calke Park to Staimton Harold, where our fox turned short to the left, ran
through Spring Wood, back to Gorstey Leys, where we stopped the hounds, as
it was nearly dark. Capital run of an hour and a quarter.
Tuesday, Eaton Wood. — Found, ran down to Doveridge, and lost. Found in
Sudbmy Coppice, ran a ring, and lost; came back to the Coppice, got on our
hunted fox, ran him about for some time, and to ground in a rabbit-hole and
killed him. N.B. — Two other foxes in the same hole.
Thursday, Etwall. — Found in Sutton Gorse, ran up to the Rough at
Radburne and killed. Went away with another fox, ran a ring and back to the
Rough, and away by the Parson's Gorse up to Brailsford and lost. Drew
Culland and Longford blank.
Saturday, Kingston village. — Drew the wood blank — cutting all over it.
Found in Bagot's Woods, and lost the hounds for an hour and a half. Found in
Woodcock Heath, ran out towards Newton, back through Kingston Wood, and
lost. No scent.
Monday, January 15th, Hoar Cross village. — Found in the Brakenhurst, ran
by Yoxall Lodge, through Byrkley, to Kingstanding, turned to the left into
Jackson's Bank, ran along it as far as Hoar Cross village, where we bore to the
right, along the top of Roost Hill, round the Birchwood, back by the Newborough
Hill into Byrkley again, out by the New Inn, through the Holly Wood and
Knightley Park to the left of Tatenhill, and ran to ground above Gretton's house
at Sinai Park — nearly three hours. Found again in the coverts beloAV the road
at Dunstall, ran up to Smith's Hills, on to the right of Silver Hill as if for
Wychnor, turned back to the left, by the Vicarage at Barton, ran down to the
covert, where we found, and along the meadows to Tatenhill and on nearly to
390 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1877
the Henlmrst, where we turned to the left and went by Tatenhill Dingle and
Knightley Park back to Dnnstall, and stopped the hounds. Very hard day, as
hounds were running for more than five hours.
Tuesdai/, Cubleij Gate. — Snelston, Cubley Gorse, Bentley Car, Potter's
■Covert, and Fishpond Covert at Barton blank. Found at Sapperton, ran to
Mackley and along the Park side at Sudbury to Hare Hill, over the road and up
to Bentley Hall, on to Hungry Bentley, where we bore to the left to Stydd Hall,
and killed our fox in the open just beyond at Stydd Barn. Capital thirty-five
minutes. Found again in the plantation by the brook side at Cubley and ran to
ground immediately. Went to Sudbury Coppice, found, ran along the Bottoms,
and a ring back to the Coppice, out by Vernon's Oak to Cubley, and up to the
lime kilns at Birchwood Park, where we stopped the hounds.
Thursday, Kedleston village. — Choj^ped a fox at Allestree, went away with
another, ran by back of Quarndon across Kedleston Park to Ireton Wood and on
to Breward's Car, then to the left of the Lilies to Shottle. Came back to
Breward's Car, got on our run fox, and ran him to ground in the gorse. Eavens-
dale Park blank.
Saturday, Jilithbury.— Found in Pipe Wood, capital scent in covert, rattled
him about for ten minutes, when he went away by Ridware to Cawarden Spring,
hunted him back to Pipe Wood, and killed him. One hour and twenty minutes.
Laurence's Wood, Forge Coppice, and Blithfield blank. Found in Newton
Gorse, ran by the village, through Housalem's Coppice to ground in the woods.
Monday, January 22nd, Brethy. — Found in the gorse, ran across the Park to
Carver's Kocks, turned to the left and went by Ingleby down to Anchor church,
and all along tlie meadows towards Repton, came to a long check (our fox lying
down within two fields of us and in sight of some men, who never halloaed), and
eventually hunted him back to Gorstey Leys, and lost him. Found four foxes
together in Gorstey Leys, ran down to the river, which he crossed within two
hundred yards of Svvarkestone Bridge, and ran up to Chellaston.
Tuesday, Foston village. — Found in the Decoy, ran about with a poor scent
for some time, and killed after two hours' hunting in the same covert where we
found. Drew the Lake Bank at Sudbury blank. Found in the gorse, ran to
ground under an oak tree in the Park. Found again in the Grove, ran down to
Sapperton, and back to the Park, and by the village to Sebastopol, and here,
finding the earth stopped, he turned to the left, and ran, by Aston, down to
Sapperton again, and on, almost to Potter's Covert, and eventually got to ground
in a drain near Bentley Brickyard. One hour and thirty minutes.
Thursday, Stenson Lock. — Arleston Gorse blank. Stenson Fields (men
cutting in it) and Spilsbury's Coverts the same. Found in Egginton Gorse ; no
scent, and soon lost. Found again in the Blakeley osier-bed, ran by the gorse
and the Spread Eagle, almost down to the lunatic asylum, and lost. Bumaston
blank. Trotted off to Hilton, found, and ran slowly up to the old gorse at Sutton,
which one fox passed on the left, and ran by Trusley up to Crop-o'-Top, and on,
over the Long Lane (leaving the church to the right), by Burrows to the Derby
road, about half-way between Brailsford and Kirk-Langley. Fifty-five minutes
up to this, where we checked. Hit it off again and went to Wilde Park,
and, by White's Covert at the back of Brailsford village, recrossed the road, and
ran down by Brailsford church, over the brook to the right of Culland Planta-
tions, and hunted slowly up to Hollington. Here our fox began to run very
short, but scent got worse, and we hunted him down to Mamerton, and had to
stop the hounds in the dark. 5.10 p.m. About two hours and a qiiarter
altogether. First part of the run very good.
1877] WETTEST DAY OF THE SEASON. 391
Saturday, BrarnsliaU cillage. — Found in Philips' Gorse, ran over the
railway up to Leigh, and on to Park Hall, where our fox turned to the right and
ran by Heybridge, over the road, up to the Heath House Durable, where we
checked. Thirty minutes. Hunted him slowly on to Beamhurst, and gave it
up. Found in Carry Coppice, ran about a bit, and to ground in a pit-hole on
Blurton's Farm. Got on another fox that was coming back to Carry Coppice,
ran a ring over the Carry Lane, down to Philips' Gorse, over the railway
towards Leigh, back through the gorse (where he lay down), on by Bramshall
station into Carry Coppice, and to ground in another pit-hole on Blurton's Farm.
First-rate forty minutes, tremendous scent, and a great disappointment for
hounds.
Monday, January 29th, Draycott C///f'.— Found in Bull's Park, ran very hard
along the banks and through the woods to Housalem's Coppice. Here our fox
turned short back, and hounds divided, part going on and killing their fox, and
part hunting another fox on towards Blithfield into the Rhododendron Covert
and back into the woods, where they got together again. The wettest day I
have been out this season, and I sent the hounds home at two o'clock. First-rate
scent in covert.
Tuesday, Bradley. — Found a brace of foxes in the old lime-pits, and lost
almost immediately in the most blinding snowstorm I ever experienced out
hunting. Drew Yeldersley Eough lilank. Found in Shirley Park, ran round
the covert, and a ring by Ednaston and back, out over the Park by Osmaston
village and Edlaston, almost to Yeaveley and lost. Longford Car blank. It blew
a perfect hurricane all day, and there was very little scent at the best of times.
Thursday, Etwall. — Found at Egginton, ran over the railway and back to
Burnaston, up to Etwall, turned to the left and back to the gorse, where our fox
waited for us. Went away again over the railway and the canal nearly to
Spilsbury's Coverts, and round by Burnaston within two fields of the gorse, and
lost on the foiled ground. No scent on the plough, of which there was plenty.
Trotted off to Hilton, found, ran towards Sutton Mill, turned over the brook, and
ran nearly up to the Ashe, where we came to a long check. Got on our fox
again in the gorse, ran a ring by Mr. Buckstone's house, through Sutton village,
down to the Spath, on by Barton Fields, and almost down to Alkmonton
Bottoms. Here he turned short back, ran through Potter's Covert, and down to
]\Iamerton, where we gave it up, as scent got worse every minute.
Saturday, Chartley. — Drew the Moss, Drointon Wood, Birch Coppice, and
Giller's Rough blank. Found in Handleasow Wood, ran to the Shaw, out
towards Fradswell and back. Then on through Birchwood Park and Sherratt's
Wood, almost to Draycott, and lost in a heavy storm. Found four foxes in
Gratwich Wood, ran by Handleasow Wood to the Shaw, and lost. No scent.
February 5th. — Wychnor blank. Found in Rough Park. Ran round and
round, and to ground near Argill's house. Found again in Brakenhurst, ran
about for half an hour, and killed.
Tuesday, Sudbury. — Lake Bank, the Park, and the Bottoms blank. Found
in the Aldermoor, ran to Eaton Wood and back to Vernon's Oak, and lost.
Found in the Coppice, ran to Cubley Lodge and to the top of Boylestone Hill,
almost to Sapperton, and back ; very fast over the Park, and tlirough the
Bottoms to the Windy Bank, and into a tree in the Park. Bolted him with a
terrier, and killed him. Found a second time in the Coppice, ran a ring and
came back, but scent failed entirely.
Thumday, liadburne. — Chopped a fox in the Eough. Went away with
another almost to Trusley, where he turned back, and ran past the Rough up to
392 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1877
the Nursery Plantations, where we lost him. Found in Langley Gorse, ran up
to Radburne, and round and round for more than an hour, and at last got to
ground, I believe, in a drain. Went to Sutton and ran well up to the Rough,
where our fox was headed short back into the covert, and we could make nothing
more of it.
Saturday, Kingston. — Did not find till we got to Kingston Wood, then ran
about for a couple of hours, and our fox got to ground in an earth that should
have been stopped. Found again by Dunstall Pit, ran to the Warren Covert at
Blithfield, and gave it up, as there was no scent.
Monday, Fehruary 12th, Drakelowe. — Found a brace of foxes, hounds divided
in a perfect deluge of rain, and lost almost immediately. Killed a brace of very
bad foxes at Catton. Walton Wood and Lullington blank.
Taesday, Norhiiry. — Killed a fox from Hope Wood. Drew Raddle Wood,
Cubley Gorse and Eaton Wood blank. Found a brace of foxes in Wardley
Coppice, got away close to one, ran over the brook, and to ground in a drain.
All Sudbury blank. Found at Sapperton, ran very fast over the Park, down to
the old Maresfield Gorse, turned to the left, and hunted on to the Lake Bank,
but, there being two, if not three, foxes on foot, we could do no more.
Thursday, Kedleston. Gate. — Drew Markeaton and the Vicar Wood blank.
Found in the Langley Gorse, ran a ring and back across Kedleston Park to the
Vicar Wood, and on to Brailsford, where our fox got to gi'ound in a drain.
Culland, Longford, and Bentley Car blank. Found in a spinny at the back of
the Daisy House Farm, ran a ring by Mamerton into Longford Car and out,
up the brookside, towards Bentley. Here a fresh fox jumped up, and we came
back with him through the car, and ran past ^lamerton and by Barton down
to Saint's Farm, and on almost to Sapperton Covert and by Fostou Mill within
a field of the Foston Coverts, where we again changed foxes, and ran up to
Boylestone, and stopped the hounds.
Saturday, Loxlty. — Killed a bad fox in the Alder Car. Found in the Park
Covert, and ran almost to Friar's Coppice, which we left on the right, and went
on nearly to the High Wood, and from there, by High Fields, do'wn to Bramshall
Crossing. Here we turned back and ran by Woodcock Heath, through Kingston
village up to the farm at Loxley, just above the Alder Car, where we killed him.
Time, one hour and thirty -five minutes, hounds running fast at times.
Monday, Fehruary 19th, Dunstall. — Found in Smith's Hills, ran down the
meadows to the Trent, which the fox crossed. Came back and drew the rest of
Dunstall blank. Found in the Oak Covert at Rangemore. Three foxes on foot
in less than five minutes. Hunted a vixen, heavy in cub, down to Tatenhill and
left her. Found at Needwood, ran fast into the Greaves, and out along the
meadows to Marchington Clift', where hounds divided, and we stopped them.
Tuesday, Foston. — Found in the Lemon Hole, ran fast, with one slight check,
through Church Broughton to Potter's Covert — twenty minutes — and on from
there, by Mamerton, into Longford Car, and had our fox dead beat, but were
unfortunately halloaed away on a fresh fox, and ran through AlkmOnton Bottoms,
by the Dairy House, over the Longford brook nearly to Sutton village, and on
slowly towards Hilton village, and lost. Found in Hilton Gorse, ran a ring
towards Pennywaste, and back within two fields of the gorse, over the brook, by
Sutton Gorse and Trusley, up to the Rough at Radburne. High wind all day,
and no scent when hounds were running down-wind. Very unlucky not to kill
our fox at Longford.
Thursday, Stenson Lock. — Found in Arleston Gorse, ran within a field of
Stenson Covert, over the railway almost to Osmaston, and came to a long check
1877] FROM MARSTON-ON-DOVE TO RADBURNE. 393
by the canal. Hit oft" our fox again and hunted him slowly into Elvaston, where
we changed on to a fresh fox, ran a ring and back to Elvaston, where he got to
ground. Chellaston and Stenson fields blank.
Saturday, Newton village. — Found in Newton Gorse, ran to Drointon Wood,
and stopped the hounds just in time to save a vixen's Ufe. A fresh fox jumped
up at the same moment, ran him through the Birch Copse and Giller's Rough
down to Blythe Bridge, and, leaving Kingston Woods on the left, up to Blithfield,
where he went to gi'ound in the pit-hole by the Rectory. Capital half-hour, and
the fox only just before the hounds all the way. Killed a fox in Blithe Moor.
Drew Forge Coppice blank. Went into the woods, but did not find, as they had
been buck-hunting the previous day.
They were then stopped till Friday by frost, when
they "drew Eavensdale Park blank."
Found in Breward's Car, ran about for some time and to ground in
tlie earths. Found again in Frost's Bottoms, ran into the Park, and back to
Breward's Car. Found again at Farnah, ran a few fields, and lost. Very bad
scent all day. Langley Gorse blank.
Saturdaij, Chartley.— F omul in Handleasow Wood, ran very fast through
Gratwich Wood, over the brook and into Carry Coppice, and on nearly to Field
Hall, and lost. Philips' Gorse blank. Found in the Shaw Gorse, ran towards
the Castle, and lost. No scent whatever. Killed a fox on the Moss, hunted
another from Drointon Wood, through Newton Gorse almost to Swan's Moor,
turned to the right, back by the plaster pits to the Moss, and stopped the
hounds.
Monday, March 5th, East Lodge.— Found at Needwood, ran very prettily
by Hanbury into the Greaves, and along the banks to Mai-chington Cliff, where
the fox was headed, and we could do no more with him. Drew Hollybush,
Parson's Brake, Needwood, Knightley Park, Dunstall, and Rangemore blank.
Tuesday, Shirley ParA;— Blank, also Longford. Found in a spinny of Mr.
Bradshaw's, ran a ring by Mamerton, on nearly to Boylestone, back to the covert,
where we found (where I think we changed foxes), and on nearly to Hilton
Gorse, and here there were certainly three foxes on foot : ran over the turnpike-
road down to Marston church, where a fresh fox jumped up in view of the
hounds, and they ran hard along the meadows to Hilton, turned to the left and
ran by Sutton Gorse up to Radburne, where we gave it up. Very good gallop
of half an hour from Marston to Radburne. Altogether we were running, with-
out stopping, nearly three hours, and changed foxes, to my knowledge, four
times.
Thursday, Etwall. — Found in Egginton Gorse, ran a ring, and to ground by
Burnaston village. Came back to the gorse, found a vixen, if not two, and left
them. Found at Sutton, ran nearly to Etwall, crossed the road and ran down to
Hilton, and lost. Hilton Gorse blank. No scent all day.
Saturday, Bramshall. — Philips' Gorse and Loxley blank. Found in Grat-
wich Wood, ran through Handleasow Wood over the Park, through the Moss,
back by Handleasow Wood, over the Park again, and nearly up to Fradswell, and
lost. Our fox was a long way before us all the way, and no scent to press him.
Drew the Shaw blank.
Monday, March 12th, Newhorough.—V onnd in the Birchwood, ran well up
to Hart's Coppice, over the Park into Lord's Coppice, and up and down the woods,
and to ground in a drain by the turnpike road. Found again in the woods, ran
394 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1877
about for a long time, and had our fox dead beat, but he got into a tree by
Henry Tumor's house.
Tuesday, Foston.—FomiA below the house, ran towards Sudbury, turned
back by Aston, and killed him in the Lemon Hole. Found again at Foston, ran
about the coverts, and left our fox — a vixen. Found at Sapperton, and lost
immediately. No scent at all. Cubley blank. Found in Eaton Wood, ran
through the Birch Coppice, down over the brook, by Wardley and Marston Park,
nearly to Cubley Gorse and on to Snelston, and lost in a storm — very good forty
minutes.
Thursday, Foremarh. — Hunted a fox twice round Gorstey Leys, when he
went away and ran down to the river by Swarkestone, which he crossed, and
was killed within three fields. Foxmd in the covert by the Pistern Hills, ran to
Several Woods and back, and nearly down to Calke, and gave up.
Saturday, Kingston. — Found in the wood, ran a ring by Woodcock Heath
and back into Bagot's Woods, where we remained for the rest of the day. Earths
open, and foxes got to ground as they liked.
Monday, March l^th, Eanhury. — Found in the Hare Holds, ran through
the Cupandition Covert to Needwood, and on through Byrkley Lodge to Range-
more, where we lost. Knightley Park blank. Found in the Henhurst, ran all
along the meadows by the canal side to Dunstall. Got on a fresh fox in the
covert in the meadows, hunted him through Smith's Hills, and to ground in a pit
beyond.
Tuesday, Sudbury. — Drew the whole of the place blank. Found at Sap-
perton, ran up to Sudburj^, and lost. Got on a fox that was on the move on our
way to Eaton Wood, hunted her (it proved to be a vixen) about, and left her.
Found in Eaton Wood, but could not run a yard. No scent all day.
Thursday, Kedleston village. — Found in the young plantation in the hollow,
and ran fast into Breward's Car, rattled him about in covert, and ran him back
to Ireton Wood, where we lost in a heavy snowstorm. Found a vixen in
Langley Gorse, and took the hounds away. Went to Eadburne. Found in the
Rough, but there was no scent. Left a heavy vixen at Sutton.
Saturday, Bagot's Parle. — Found in Hart's Coppice, ran through the woods
to the Warren, very fast, back into the woods, over to Newton, into the woods
again, and finally marked to ground in the Warren Covert. Time, two hours.
There is an account in the Field of two days, the
Saturday just mentioned and the following Monday,
which seems worth inserting here. It was after the brook
in the Monday run that hounds ran clean away from
every one. Mr. Godfrey Meynell was the first man over
it, dropping his horse neatly over a rail into the water
and out again. Mr. Walter Boden followed him, but
hounds were out of sight then.
1877] FAST GALLOP FROM REPTON SHRUBS. 395
Field, March 31st, 1877 :—
THE LAST WEEK OF THE SEASON 1876-7 WITH THE MEYNELL
HOUNDS.
These well-known'hounds so seldom get into print, that I venture to give you
a short and imperfect account of their doings at the end of this wonderfully-
open season. Few packs of hounds have had a more brilliant season, and up
to the end of February it was exceptionally so, and the last week has shown us
excellent sport for the close of the season. On Saturday, March 24th, they met
at Mr. Tumor's, Bagot's Park, and, after enjoying his well-known hospitality, we
drew a small covert near his house, and almost immediately a fine old dog fox
was away across the park, and the bitches fairly raced without a check to the top of
Blithfield Park. Here there was a short check ; but Charles Leedham hit him off
again, and for more than two hours he patiently hunted him, finally marking him
to ground in the Ehododendron Covert near Blithfield, with the ladies close at
his brush. On Monday, March 26th, the meet was at Brook House, the hunting
bos of a new-comer (Mr. Piatt) into the country, and the hounds had a good
forest day, marking their fox to ground after a five-mile, from point to point,
gallop. On Tuesday the meet was at Bretby Hall, and to a minute Charles
Leedham trotted up with his lady pack. The noble master (Lord Waterpark),
true, as usual, to his time, gave the word to draw after about ten minutes' law (for
the benefit of the late ones), and he first drew the covert on the right of the
th-ive, but this proved blank. We then drew Repton Shnibs, and at one p.m.
to the moment a fine old dog fox was halloaed away. He first pointed to the
right as if for Piepton ; but, bearing to the left, raced through the park to the
lodge near the collieries ; here he again turned his head for the big wood, and
the bitches carried the line fast through the park, over the racecourse ; here he
appeared as if his pomt was Hartthorne Gorse, but he again made for the woods,
.straight through them nearly to Repton Park, over the brook at the bottom, on
by Broken Flats to Newton village, and to ground on Mr. Higgott's farm. This
run was rather over an hour, best pace all the time, and for the last five or ten
minutes it is a question if any one was with the hounds. Mr. Meynell (of Langley) ,
Messrs. Walter and H. Boden, Lord Ferrers, Mr. Bird, Mr. R. Sale, Mr. Smith
(of Clifton), and the huntsman (who is always with his hounds), perhaps had the
best of it ; but there were many others there or thereabouts, and it was difficult
at times to see the pack at all owing to the hills. It must be understood that
these runs are only those selected from my note-book at the end of this season,
and not at all representing the best of this long and extraordinary season. It is
to be hoped that Lord Waterpark and Mr. Clowes will long continue the joint
mastership, as by this time they know the hounds and country ; and, as they are
excellent judges of hounds, both in and out of kennel, it would be most un-
fortunate for them now to leave us and our good sport.
The Man on the Bay.
At the end of the run on the Saturday, which is
mentioned below, the brush was given to Miss Alexander,
from Wichnor, who, with her sister, always went very
well.
396 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1877
From Lord Waterpark's diary : —
Thursday, Smallwood Manor. — Found in the middle of the woods ; ran
through Lord's Coppice, over by the Hare's Back, through Hart's Coppice, by-
Holt Hall, into the Birchwood, went through the corner of it, back over Bromley
Park, through the woods into Kingston Woods, or nearly to Ne-vvton, back by
Woodcock Heath, into the Park Covert at Loxley, on to Spencer's Pit.
and lost.
Saturday, Fauld. — Found in the Hare Holds — a vixen. Stopped the hounds.
Found again in the Greaves ; ran over Agardsley into the Banks at the Swilcar
Lawn, out again by Marchington CliiF, along the Banks to the Dog Kennel Wood,
over Bagot's Park nearly to Hart's Coppice, over Bromley Park, and killed at
Black Gutter Coppice.,
This was a capital wind-up to the season, and remark-
able for the way the fox avoided the woods, keeping to the
open as much as possible.
Stopped by frost only five days ; hounds out, one
hundred and nineteen times ; foxes killed, thirty -four
brace ; ran to ground, twenty-one brace. Killed in regular
liunting, seventeen brace and a half.
XJttoxeter New Era, April 4th, 1877 : —
For a bit of really good cross-country sport, commend us to a market town in
the centre of a good hunting country, where all the farmers are sportsmen, and
those who cannot run a horse look on with only the pleasure a sportsman can
feel, and with all their hearts cheer the best horse as he wms. . . . Half an hour
before time, the well-appointed team of Joe Piatt, Esq., who is well known on the
road between Cheltenham and Malvern, was well piloted through the town ; the
cheering notes of the horn waking up long-forgotten echoes. Many other good
and true supporters of the sport followed, amongst whom were C. Alexander, Esq.,
S. C. Allsopp, Esq., M.P., C. T. Cavendish, Esq., Col. and Lady Jane Levett,
Capt. Levett, A. 0. Worthington, Esq., Lord Ingestre, the Hon. W. Bagot,
F. Cotton, Esq., Dr. Mould, Major Worthington, Sir J. Hardy, Sir C. Wolseley,
Dr. Fletcher, etc. Nothing could be done well %vithout good men at the
head of affairs, and in Mr. C. Bunting,'the Hon. Sec, Mr. Keates, and Mr. Flint,
as clerks of the course, the right men were in their right places. Punctually to
time, five out of the ten sported silk for the first race, The Draycott Open Hunter's
Steeplechase, which was well contested. Strathmore appeared to have the race
well in hand, but Rocket, well ridden, finished an easy winner. Next came the
Uttoxeter Hunt Steeplechase. Five again started. Lady Rachel was made
a hot favourite, and well she carried out the hopes of her backers. Schoolboy,
who ran a waiting race to the distance, challenged and momentarily got in front,
but youth and want of condition told, and Lady Rachel won easily. To show
the interest farmers take in the sport, there were fourteen entries for the Farmer's
Steeplechase, nine of which came to the post. Sambo was made favourite, but
appeared to have a great objection to start, which he well sustained throughout,
as he was never prominent, the race being cleverly won by Lockwood, the Duke
1877] UTTOXETER STEEPLECHASES. 397
second, Nobleman third. In the Redcoat Steeplechase there were five entries,
all of which went to the post. Inez, from his previous performance, was favourite,
and in the hands of that accomplished cross-country rider, the late Master of the
Dove Valley Harriers,* won a good race ; Claudine, ridden in a most determined
manner by Mr. George Thorneycroft, making a good fight for second place.
Prince Charlie fell, and Grey Friars, showing more temper than was good
for either himself or his rider, was stopped early in the race. The Tradesmen's
Steeplechase had the rattling good entry of sixteen. Thirteen started, and some
fun was anticipated, but all took the water-jump in gallant style. The second
fence was disastrous, as two saddles were emptied, and at the next fence Brown
Stout was cannoned against, and came to grief; his rider, Mr. F. Cotton, who
falls as well as he rides, got a good shake, but appeared none the worse for it.
The first heat resulting in a clever win for Rocket, who just beat Strathmore on
the post ; Mistletoe, third. In the next heat the knowing ones made Strathmore
favourite, but he, after getting over the water, bolted out of the course into the
crowd, upsetting a young lady in a very summary fashion. He never again got on
terms with the leader, and the result was, that Rocket, well ridden by his jockey,
Mr. Power, came in an easy winner, but was subsequently disqualified, having
won the previous race, the Draycott Steeplechase, value fifty pounds. The Pony
race came last, but was not the least in public estimation, as the little ones were
evidently the pets of the ladies. They were a very good lot, in fact, so level,
with the exception of Jessie, who was known to be a wonder in fencing, and the
Crab, who was said to be as clever as a cat, no one knew " which was which."
The result of the race was a clever win for the Baker, well-ridden by Mr. Morris ;
Harkaway, who is more accustomed to the road than the turf, ran an exciting
second ; Diana, third. Jessie and Crab, clever as they were, each came a
cropper, and extinguished their chance early in the race, but the pluck of the
riders brought them to the end. So finished one of the best, if not the very best
4ay's sport ever held in this old Meynell sporting country. In fact, so pleased
were all concerned in the management, that next year we may expect a better
meeting, if that is possible.
* Mr. F. Cotton.
END OF VOL. I.
PBIKTED Br WILLIAM CLOWES AND SOKS, LIMITED, LO.NDOS AND BECCLES.
: -ji>uy uorary of V>lerinary Medlclfie
ip/js Scliool of Veterinary ivledicine at
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