TUFTS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 3 9090 014 533 66 / ^ f/l^V^^x^ If^ A VveDster Famiiy Ubn;,y oi Vilennary Medicine nnmrninns ScSiool o! Veterinary Medicine at 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 Lord Anson 105 Lord Talbot 105 Lord Grey 105 Lord Bagot 100 Lord Paget 100 Mr, Mundy, Shipley 100 Mr. Newdigate 100 Mr. B. W. P. Curzon 105 Lord Lewisham ... ... 52 10 Hon. T.Talbot 52 10 Mr. F. Lawley 52 10 Mr. B. Lawley 52 10 Mr. Dugdale 52 10 Mr. Case 52 10 Mr. Hall 52 10 Mr. Boultbee 52 10 Mr. Newdigate 52 10 Mr. S.H. Every 50 Mr. Ince 50 Mr. Arkwright 50 Mr. Levett 50 Mr. Simpson 50 £1752 10 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. 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| 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). .IriuM ''.rtus V ijiw.i -fit I ■gniitURft I. rrt' .^^ bti> isH tic. ^^^9M OSUH rsBrib93wl 90l. 1 ^gt ^i.^^BSvi^&'^^^^^^H ■ l^^^a 1 ^ ^ ^^^^^^^^^H^IDv^^^^H^^^^I 1 ^^&^M ^^^^^^BflPj^^P^^ifl^B^ 1 i ^^^hv^2Bh3 1^ W i ^^^^^^'^^^S^^B^m^^^ 1 m 1^^ 1 ^£^ i^mi 1 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 t he Qu om 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. 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 vey y 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 Lo gfL Haji fas. and Mary! , I daughter of t ho BO tond 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 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 13th, 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 24uy uorary of V>lerinary Medlclfie ip/js Scliool of Veterinary ivledicine at Iniversrty jiiiiiuijiiiitiaiiu ■ i.i.i i-iii'i.'imiii