h 3 9090 014 537 324 Webster Family Cibrary of Veterinary Medicine Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at J*- _■*' Tufts .University ' ■>' 200 Westboro' Road ' North Grafton; MA 01536 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. BY William Scarth Dixon, Author ok ''In the North Countree,"&c. LEEDS: RICHARD JACKSON. I 8g8. Contents. List of Illustrations Preface ..... I. The Bramhaxi Moor Country II. Origin and Early History of the Hunt III. Under the E.a.rls of Harewood . IV. The Rule of Mr. George Lane Fox V. Ditto from Stephen Goodall to George Kingsbury VI. Ditto with Tom Smith . VII. The Hunt from 1885 to 1896 VIII. Mr. Fox as a Horseman and Coachman IX. Bramham Moor Huntsmen . X. Some well-known Supporters of the Hunt . ... XL On the Flags and in the Show Ring XII. Puppy Walking and the Bramham Moor Hound Show .... XIII. Death of Mr. George Lane Fox . Index ...... Vl.-VlU. 13- -^5 ¥ 26- -40 41- .46 47- -89 90- 146 147- 188 189-202 203-2 12 213-220 22 1-242 243--'5 4 255-262 263-264 265-267 This Edition is limited to Tiuo Hundred Copies. List of Illustrations. face page 13 20 26 30 40 44 68 88 Portrait of Mr. George Lane Fox. —From a Photograph BY Dickinson, of Bond Street . . . Frontispiece Exterior View of the Kennei.s, with Hounds at exercise .... Interior View of the Kennels Mr. James Lane Fox .... Sir Thomas Gascoigne and Luke Freeman . The Second Earl of Harewood The Third Earl of Harewood Mr. George Lane Fox, with "Courtier" Charles Treadwell .... The Meet. — From a Painting of the Bramham Moor Hunt, by D.wid Dalby .... ,, 100 The Run. — From a Painting of the Bramham Moor Hunt, by David Dalby . . . . „ 116 The Kill. — From a Painting of the Bramham Moor Hunt, by David Dalby . . . . ,,124 Capt. J. R. Lane Fox, M.F.H. . . . . ,,132 Tom Smith . . . . . . ,,148 Mr. George Lowther . . . . . ,,156 "Redwing" ...... „ 188 Mr. George Lane Fox, Sir R. Graham, and Mr. R. a. Oswald on Coach . . . ,, 202 The Edinburgh Mail ..... „ 208 ^L\rtin Walkerley . . . . . ,,214 Captain Oliver ...... ,, 226 Mr. Lamplugh Wickham .... „ 228 Tom Smith with " Rambler," " Dramatist," and " Druid" „ 242 "Guider" AND "Helen " .... „ 244 "Gayman" ...... ,, 250 The Fourth Eari, of Harewood ... „ 260 PREFACE, *T Y III HEN Sir Walter Scott reviewed Colonel Thornton's ^r\rV Sporting Tour in the Edinburgh Review, he took occasion to handle the oallant colonel pretty severely for going into such minute detail respecting his sporting adventures. ' To stuff a quarto with his personal exploits 'of shooting and fishing,' says Sir Walter, 'all detailed with ' the most unmerciful prolixity, is a tyranny surpassing that ' of William Rufus, who, though he turned his liege subjects 'out of their houses to make a park, did not propose that 'they should pay ^i 15^". for the history of his hunting, — 'a proceeding which, in our opinion, would have justified an 'insurrection against Nimrod himself It is on the score of want of detail that I would find fault with Colonel Thornton. A Yorkshire Master of Foxhounds, whose hounds were famous and who won many large bets by. their prowess, might at any rate have left us something more than the mere record of these bets ; and had he done so, my task of writing the history of the Bramham Moor Hunt would have been much easier. For though I cannot say with certainty that Colonel Thornton hunted the Bramham Moor country, there is little doubt but what he occasionally, at any rate, hunted some of it. This reticence on the part of Colonel Thornton was by no means singular. Masters of Hounds all over the country hunted and bred hounds, and talked of the sport PREFACE. vii. that they loved, loud and long, over their port ; they showed the best of sport with the good wild foxes which were then to be found in the unenclosed parts of the country, but they never wrote about what they did, or only rarely and to private friends. Even hunting diaries seem to have been kept but seldom till the commencement of the present century, and indeed it is only by a rare chance that one comes across any reliable hunting history which dates back more than a hundred years. That this is a great loss to the present hunting community must be admitted. The ways of our forefathers were often wise ways, and it would be interesting to know how much we are indebted to those good old sportsmen who, ' with their ' broad-lapped coats, top boots, black cap, and their pigtails 'sticking out,' roused the echoes in the early days of the .Georges. This want of information with respect to the Bramham Hunt is especially unfortunate, as it is one of the oldest of the Yorkshire Hunts, nearly, if not quite, co-existent with the Sinnington, which owes its existence to the Duke of Buckinoham, who doubtless found his roueh moorland country and the sport he enjoyed thereon a more satisfactory way of spending his time than in ' Clievden's ' proud alcove,' or amidst the intrigues of corrupt politicians, and a still more corrupt Court. Anything like a continuous History of the Bramham Moor I have found to be impossible, and the difficulty of the task has been added to by the fact, that many papers relating to the Hunt were lost when the house was burnt down at Bramham Park in 1828. But then there is the fact that for at any rate one hundred years they have only been in the Lane Fox and Lascelles families, and this certainly facilitates matters as regards the later history. viii. PREFACE. For a long time the Bramham Moor has occupied an unique position amongst what are known as provincial packs, and its high reputation dates a long way into the last century, a reputation of which all Yorkshire sportsmen are justly proud. P'or at Bramham the 'System of Meynell' was early adopted ; and if that system was first adopted in the Quorn country during the long Mastership of the great Hugo Meynell, it is equally certain that it was adopted about the same time in the kennels at Wothersome. My task has been a difficult yet a pleasant one, and I have to thank many gentlemen for the information they have so kindly placed at my disposal. Foremost amongst them is Captain Fox, who has spared no pains; Mr. Lascelles, of Sion Hill, and Mr. Thomas Parrington have likewise been of great assistance; whilst I am indebted to Dr. Todd, of Selby, for the sight of some interesting manuscripts and letters. The chapter about hounds is principally written from data furnished by Tom Smith, who has been most painstaking in giving me information about his favourites. The publisher also desires to express his thanks to Captain Fox, Sir Walter Gilbey, and Messrs. Dickinson and Foster, of New Bond Street, for placing at his disposal the original pictures, from which the Illustrations in the book have been taken. WILLIAM SCARTH DIXON. York, April, 1898. >" ,- ^ 1-i^- i^^^^r^^^^ XLbc Bvambam ni^oor Ibunt. CHAPTER I. The Bramham Moor Country. " From Skipton-in-Craveii to Selby, and right up to the walls of York." Such is a rough outline of the country hunted over by the earlier Masters of the Bramham Moor, and up the year 1816. What a glorious expanse of country over which to hold rule ! Wide spreading moors and unenclosed grass land, mingled here and there with plough ; a sparsely-inhabited district ; no railways and no big fields : what a paradise for a master of hounds to find himself in ! Over the unenclosed land hounds would run from morning till night, without a fox perhaps ever coming across anything to head him all day. Not much jumping to be done in a great deal of the country in those days, though here and there a wide drain would try the mettle of the men and horses of the brave days of old. There would be plenty of 'boggy bottoms' to try them, too, for it is by no means always plain sailing in an unenclosed B H HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. country. Very different is the aspect of country now : westward, factory chimneys and collieries have rendered hunting impossible, or nearly so, and from being one of the most thinly-populated districts in the country, the Bramham Moor district has grown beyond the expectations of the most sanguine. During the last sixty years the growth has been immense, and in 1891 the population of the West Riding was 2,464,415, whilst sixty years previous it had been short of 800,000. This has naturally had its effect upon hunting in more ways than one. The area of the Hunt westward has been considerably circumscribed by increased industrial operations. Then fields have become larger and larger with each year, and sometimes they reach almost unwieldy dimensions ; whilst in some parts of the country, foot people, who were scarcely ever seen in the olden time, crowd every coign of vantage, and carriages fill the lanes ; both tending to make foxes run shorter than they were wont to do, and to give the huntsman many an anxious minute. In 1 816, a deputation from the city of York waited upon Mr. James Lane Fox, and asked him to cede a portion of the country which had hitherto been hunted by the Bramham Moor to the newly-formed York and Ainsty pack. Mr. Fox, who had really more country than he could hunt, and who, moreover, never thought it likely that the country would undergo such great changes, conceded that part of the Ainsty which lies to the east of the Tadcaster road, there being some stipulation to the effect that if the York hounds were ever given up, this country should again revert to the Bramham Moor. Shortened as it is on both sides, the Bramham Moor, country can still afford plenty of room for four days a week. Its extreme eastern boundary is the Tadcaster road above mentioned, the country running northerly as far as Wilstrop THE BRAMHAM MOOR COUNTRY. 15 Wood ; the nearest point to York being the Wild Man, whence the Bilbrough coverts are hunted. This part of the country is hunted on Fridays, the most southern part of it being Tadcaster Bar, whilst Walshford Bridge and Skip Bridge are the northern boundaries. The most western point of the Friday country is Deighton Bar. The Friday country is perhaps the best in the whole Hunt, although there are some very pretty pieces of country on the Monday side, of which more anon. The eastern side of this Friday country is decidedly the best ; to the west are the big woods and coverts of Ingmanthorpe, rare strongholds for foxes, but rather too close together for the best of sport. The Ingmanthorpe coverts are also not very good to get away from ; there are two or three drains which it is impossible to jump, and the wait for one's turn at a bridge is not conducive to amiability of temper, especially when hounds are running hard. So perhaps it is as well that the Ingmanthorpe foxes should have acquired a habit of ringing a little at first, for by so doing they enable the field to ' take their places.' But it must not be supposed that the Ingmanthorpe fo.xes always play at what is called in the North Riding ' bosfa-le about stack.''' I have on occasion seen an Ingmanthorpe fox make a good point, and when one does set his head to a distant point, you want to have the best hunter in your stable under you, and your heart does not want to beat too loudly against your waistcoat if you mean to hear Tom Smith's whoo- whoop. The Thorp Arch Woods are also large, but foxes do not hang about so much there, and they are generally stout and 'enterprising.' One of the best runs I ever saw with the Bramham Moor, or for the matter of that with any other pack, was from Thorp Arch Wood, an account of * Anglice — running round and round. 1 6 HISTORY OF THE BR AM HAM MOOR HUNT. which shall be given in Its proper place. The other principal coverts in this part of the Friday country are Hall Parks, Champagne Gorse, Walton Wood, and Hat- field's Plantation, — all of them notorious in the Bramham hunt as the starting points of famous runs. Armitage's Wood, which is generally the first draw from Deighton Bar, should not be omitted. There is one formidable place in this part of the Hunt, known as Boggart House Drain. It is wide and it is deep, the approach to it is none of the best, neither is the landing quite what may be wished when you get to it. I say 'when you get to it' advisedly, for it is easier to get into Boggart House Drain than over it, as many an aspirant to fame has discovered ; and I doubt not that there are hidden somewhere in its depths as many stirrup-irons and leathers, and spurs and hunting-crops, as would fit up a small saddler's shop. But that notwithstanding, there is always a fair number of the Bramham field prepared to have a try at it whenever it comes in their way. Eastward lie the Wighill coverts and Shire Oaks, which is generally the first draw when the meet is at Wighill village, and farther east are the Catterton coverts and Healaugh. These are in the middle of a piece of very fine country, and although there is some heavy plough to be encountered here and there, there is a nice proportion of grass. The fences are big and the drains wide in this part of the country, and a stout and clever horse is necessary to get near hounds when there is a scent. Catterton Drain may be said to be the bete noir of this part of the country, and in some places it is not jumpable. Where this is the case, a bridge is generally handy and useful, for Catterton Drain is scarcely the sort of place one cares to tackle at the end of a fast half-hour, with a horse that is more than a little blown. Still it is only fair to say that it is generally taken as it comes by the first flight when it comes in their way. THE BRAMHAM MOOR COUNTRY. ly To the north lie the Tockwith, Bilton, Marston, and Hutton coverts, all of them noted strongholds. Collier Hagg, which is close to Hutton, is not the best place in the world to get away from, for unless a man is pretty handy to the bridge when a fox goes away, he may get left. This part of the district extends to Wilstrop Wood on the north, and Bilbrough on the east, and in it is some of the strongest country to be found within the confines of the Bramham Moor Hunt, or for the matter of that, in England. A well-known sportsman, a man of wide experience, and himself one of the hardest riders of his time, always avers that the line between Hutton Thorns and Wilstrop Wood is the stiffest he ever crossed. The Bilbrough coverts are nicely situated, and generally hold good stout foxes. There is a good deal of plough and some good grass, and foxes not infrequently run over the road into the York and Ainsty country, when a good gallop is generally the result, as there is rather more grass on the York and Ainsty side of the road. The principal fixtures on the Friday side of the country are The Wild Man, Tockwith, Bickerton Bar, Deighton Bar, Wighill Park, Wighill village. Thorp Arch, Marston, and Walton village. Large as are the fields in the Friday country, when they are usually swollen by a strong contingent from York, they do not reach in numbers the fields which turn out on Mondays, when hounds meet within easier distance of Leeds. At some of the Monday fixtures there will be found at least three hundred horsemen, whilst the roads will be lined with carriages, and every hill covered with foot people, many of whom never miss going out when hounds meet within reasonable distance. The extreme eastern boundary of this district may be put down as a line drawn through Kirk Deighton, reaching 1 8 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. from the Nidd on the north to the Wharfe on the south, and these two rivers may fairly be said to be the northern and southern boundaries of the district. The western boundary is Farnley Park. This part of the country is more hilly than the Friday country, and there is not so much plough in it. In the western part of it there are big moors, and rough withal, and Lindley Moor, Almscliff, and the High Moors recall to some extent the appearance of most of the country in 'the brave days of old.' It is a better scenting country than the Friday country, indeed it is, I think, the best scenting country the Bramham Moor have. The fencing is a little lighter than it is on the Ainsty side, and though there are some big drains in places, they are nothing like so numerous, nor as a rule so formidable, as are those in the more eastern part of the country. But there are two or three that take some doing, notably the Crimple Beck, which indeed in some places is unjumpable. In the western part of this district there are some stone walls, but principally the obstacles are strong hedges, and a ditch at one side or the other. A horse, to have any chance to live with hounds here, must be a well- bred one, for the benty grass of the intakes carries a rare scent, and the hills take some climbing. The principal fi.xtures are VVeeton, from which Rougemont Carr, a fine covert on the banks of the Wharfe, is generally drawn ; Stockeld Park, Wood Hall Bridge, Harewood Bridge, Kirkby Overblow, Huby, and Clap Gate. The chief coverts besides that already mentioned are Devonshire Whin, a fine gorse close to Stockeld Park ; Swindon Wood, Walton Head Whin, Riffa Wood, a rare stronghold for foxes, and in the middle of a good country; Almscliff Whin, one of the snuggest of gorse coverts, under the lee of Almscliff Crag, the very look of which speaks eloquently to a foxhunter of good gallops and of stout foxes. Cocked Hat Whin THE BR AM HAM MOOR COUNTRY. 19 and The Punch Bowl are also favourite coverts which come in handy for an afternoon draw from many places. The remainder of the country is hunted as occasion requires, and there is no hard and fast line drawn between the Wednesday and the Saturday country. Taking first the south-east corner, which extends to the river Ouse on the east and the river Aire on the south, embracing the Selby district. There is much fine sporting country in this district, though it is not so well stocked with foxes as it was in the early years of the Hunt, when many a notable run was enjoyed over it. In some places, of course, foxes are still well preserved, and good sport is frequent, but in some fine coverts there is a scarcity. One of the strongest range of coverts in the whole of the Bramham Moor Hunt is Byram Park, which lies at the extreme west of this section of the country. Interminable woods, with rectangular rides cut in them, follow each other in rapid succession, and one covert looks as like another as peas in a pod, so that a man may ride miles, and unless he has a good eye to country, and has been there a few times, he will scarcely know where he is when he finishes. It is quite possible for hounds to be running about Byram Woods for a fortnight without getting away very far. Still, I have seen some fun in Byram Woods once or twice, although it is a place I should not go to of my own choice if there were hunting to get elsewhere. As is generally the case where there are such big woods, woods ranging for miles, the foxes of Byram have the credit of not being very good ones, and they certainly show a remarkable love of ' home, sweet home.' But sometimes, when a fox of this character rises to a sense of what an expectant country requires of him, he makes a good point and beats hounds at the finish. There have been a few good runs from Byram when scent has served. The country about Birkin is of a very different character, 20 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. and Birkin Willows is as pretty a fox covert as a man > need wish to put an eye on. A fine riding country is on all sides of it, and many a good gallop has had its starting point there. Farther to the east is a similar country round Burn. Bishop Woods are a great strong- hold, and foxes are generally plentiful there, and it is questionable whether there is a better place for cub hunting in the whole of the Hunt, and certainly there is not on that side of it. Gateforth Common Wood, though a big covert, is one from which foxes generally go away smartly, at least such has been my experience the few times I have been there ; and there is a bit of very fair country towards Gateforth village, Hambleton, and Thorpe Willoughby. The Boot and Shoe Woods are also good coverts which always hold a fox, and in the early days of the Hunt hounds used to stay at the Boot and Shoe to hunt that part of the country. There are some good coverts and nice country about Monk Fryston, which lie in between the Boot and Shoe and Gateforth ; the coverts and the country being very similar to what they are in the latter locality. There is one big drain that takes a litde getting across. The Towton and Saxton coverts lie to the north of this division, close to Stutton and Grimston Park. There is a good deal of heavy plough in this part of the country, and when hounds run fast over it, as they do sometimes, the long rises and heavy clay soon make horses give up pulling. Renshaw Wood is perhaps the best covert that is hunted from Towton. It is a long wood on a hill side which slopes down to the river Cock, and at the southern end of it is a field which is known as the field of the White and Red Roses. For it was close to Renshaw Wood that the heaviest part of the fighting took place at the battle of Towton, on that dreadful Palm Sunday, when no quarter was THE BRAMHAM MOOR COUNTRY. 2 1 given or asked, and 38,000 of England's best and bravest were slain. Renshaw Wood, which that day provided a hiding-place for many a soldier of the defeated Lancastrian army, is now famous for the many good runs which the Bramham have had from it. Towton Spring is also a good covert in this neighbourhood, as is Saxton Carr ; and Grimston Willow Beds is another good covert within easy distance of Towton. Tadcaster and Stutton Willow Beds are the most northerly coverts in the south-eastern district, the former being close to the river Wharfe, and the south-western extremity of the district is found at Peckfiekl Lodge, where New Field Whin is a good covert, and whence the Ledsham Woods are easily reachable. Hook Moor is some two-and-a-half miles to the north of Peck field Bar, and is a favourite meet at that side of the country. Though there are some very big woods in the neighbourhood, and a man requires to keep his eyes open if he wishes to get a good start with hounds, it is a nice sporting country, and foxes do not dwell so much as one would think. Huddlestone Woods, Parlington, Micklefield, and Ringhay, are the principal coverts, and there is a wood called Daniel Hartley from which many a good run has been seen. The only other fixture in the south-eastern district of the Hunt is Becca Mill, from which some capital sport is generally seen. Its woods lie to the north of Parlington, and as an instance of how the face of the country has altered in compaiatively recent years, I may mention that the late Mr. George Lane Fox remembered the now enclosed and cultivated country round Becca as open moor and pasture. By far the worst country that the Bramham Moor hounds hunt over is the south-western portion. Much of this is on a light soil ; there is a large proportion of land under plough, and it is plough of the worst scenting kind c 2 2 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. that there is to be found, rivalHng the cold fallows of the Craven country. Of course it is not all alike, and there is here and there a bit of good country. Bramham Park and Hare wood Park are great strongholds for foxes, and there is some fair country round about those places ; but to the west of Harewood the stone walls, as well as the heather to be found in almost every field, tell what the country was like not so very long ago. They go on as far as Poole, to the south of Otley, and Otley Chevin is one of their farthest fixtures west. There is a lot of good rough country about here, though most of the hunting is confined to woodland and moor. There is not a great deal of moor, however, in the south-western district, but there is some about Guiseley. Taken on the whole the south-western portion of the country is easy to get over; there are very few drains, and these not formidable when measured along- side such places as Boggart House and Catterton, neither are the fences very big. It is a part of the country, too, in which a man who is fond of seeing hound-work will find plenty of pleasure, for hounds almost always have to work for their fox, and unless they have plenty of nose they are of no use there. The north-west portion of the country, that which lies to the west of the Monday country proper, is a good wild sporting country, and one in which great runs are sometimes seen. It consists chiefly of moors, but they are moors over which hounds can be ridden to. As in most moorland countries the foxes are wild and stout, and take some killing. At Blubberhouses the country is practically all moor, and hounds do not very often go there. Indeed there is a good deal of the Bramham country, or what is known as the Bramham country, on this side, which is not easy of access, and which is practically unhuntable, and very few foxes are found west of Haverah Park and Swarcliffe, THE BRAiMHAM MOOR COUNTRY. 23 where, by the way, is some nice grass country by the side of the Nidd. Beckwithshaw Bar is one of the principal fixtures in the north-west portion of the country, and stout foxes are those which hail from Beckwithshaw Woods. On the hills and the moors of the extreme west hounds seldom get, and it may safely be said that they never meet there. But occasionally a 'stout hill fox' will pay a visit to the country where his legitimate enemies hold sway, and then, if there should chance to be a scent, there is a run worth talking about. Such a run was that which took place on the fourteenth of March, i88r, an account of which may perhaps as well be given here, as marking the possibilities of the rougher portions of the country. The account I give is from Tom Smith's Diary, which he has kindly placed at my disposal. 'March 14th. Met at Buttersike Bar with seventeen couple 'of hounds. Trotted off to AlmsclifF Whin. Found and 'went away pointing for the moors, but turned to the left ' within a field of Riffa Wood, leaving it to his left, went 'up to Stainburn. Here he got headed and left the gill 'to his right; through the willow garth, and down to ' Leathley, where he crossed the Washburn into the lake 'plantation. Through there and away over Farnley Park 'into the Otley plantation; through it and away, leaving 'the Workhouse on his left, and on past Weston, leaving ' it on his left ; through Denton Park, and on over a fine ' country over the Bow Wood Gill, when thev pulled him ' down in the middle of a grass field on the Middleton 'estate. Time, i hour and 25 minutes; distance, gj miles, 'straight, 14 miles as hounds ran, — a fine run over a fine ' country. The dog hounds hunted their fox remarkably • well, and killed him handsomely ; Viceroy making one ' good hit up the side of a ploughed field by Otlev 'Workhouse when the whole of the pack had overrun the ' line, and Musket and Viceroy again hitting it off cleverly 'under a wall shortly before they ran into him.' 24 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. One can almost hear Smith cheer Viceroy after reading this graphic account of a famous run. It may be added that in the reference which Brooksby makes to this good run, he says, ' By good luck their fox took them along the narrow valley of the river Wharfe, and kept them on smooth meadows for miles, when a quarter of a mile on either side would have put them on rough, almost imprac- ticable ground.' Brooksby tells of another run over a similar line which took place during the same season, of which I may as well give an account here, again drawing on Smith's Diary for particulars. They met at Stockeld Park on February 9th, and after killing their first fox, they went to Cocked Hat Whin for their afternoon fox, and a good one he proved. 'Went to Cocked Hat Whin, found a brace of foxes there, ' and three or four couples went away with one towards ' Addlethorpe, the body going away with the other towards ' SpofiForth, but bore to the left over the Haggs up to ' Spaceyhouse Whin, which he left to the left^ and went 'over the railway and Crimple, pointing for Harrogate. 'Turned to the left through Haverah Park and Boar ' Hole, and away up to SwarclifFe, where he beat us. I ' think it quite possible we changed at Haverah Park. It ' was fast up to Haverah, and the frost not being out of ' the ground, the scent got worse as we got on to the high ' ground ; but it was a good fox and a good run : — a nine 'mile point, and fourteen as hounds ran. Most of the ' hounds got to us at Haverah, but Struggler and Gulliver ' never got up to us, and were left out.' Brooksby omits to state the effect the weather had on the scent, and adds that it was surmised that the fox had got into the crags. Probably his account of the run is from hearsay. He gives it as a \o\ mile point, but nine is nearer the mark. It only now remains for me to allude to the most THE BRAMHAM MOOR COUNTRY. 25 southern part of the country, and about this there is not much to say. It is a network of railways, and coal-pits follow one another throughout the length and breadth of it. Of course such a country is ill-adapted to fox hunting, at any rate in its best aspects ; yet somehow there is a good deal of fun in this part of the country at times. Indeed, given a scent, a good fox, and a good pack of hounds, and there will always be plenty of fun for the sportsman, no matter what the country may be like or what difficulties there may be to contend with. Amongst the coal-mines there are any number of hunters on foot, but the miners are rare good sportsmen, and as a rule are well behaved and do what they are asked to do. They like to get hold of a rabbit if one gets up within their reach ; but after all that is only human nature, and I fancy most of us would ''eave 'arf a brick' at Lcpiis cuniciilus, if he came temptingly near us, and the ' 'arf brick' were handy, and could be used with precision. Taken on the whole the Bramham Moor country must be regarded as a good one, and though it has its drawbacks, amongst which may be reckoned the multiplicity of the coverts and their nearness to each other, factors which tend at times to make foxes run short ; and though there is in some portions of it a larger proportion of plough than is fashionable or liked by many of the modern school, there is no lack of sport with the Bramham Moor, and the Bramham Moor hounds make as good an average as any pack of hounds in the country. Indeed, difficulties only seem to exist in order that they may be overcome, and given anything like a scent, the Bramham Moor foxes are not given to hanging about and running short. At any rate, those that try the experiment on once seldom live to repeat it. 't/^/- CHAPTER II. The Origin and Early History of the Hunt. ' A pack of such hounds, and a set of such men, ' 'Tis a shrewd chance if ever you meet with again; ' Had Nimrod, the mighti'st of hunters, been there, ' Foregad ! he had shook like an aspen for fear.' — Killrnddei-y Fox Chase. The origin of fox-hunting is one of those things over which men may speculate, but about which httle will ever be known. No doubt in the olden time a fox was looked upon as vermin, and men went out to hunt him with nets and other things which are enough to turn the hair of a modern sportsman grey with horror. Sporting as were the people of the country, hare-hunting and stag-hunting were their favourite sports, and it was not till within the last two hundred, or at most two hundred and fifty years, that fox- hunting was carried on as a country gentleman's sport. The Sinnington claims to be the oldest-established Hunt in the kingdom, and boasts of a continuous history since the time when the Duke of Buckingham retired from the Court to spend his time in hunting on his Kirbymoorside and Helmsley estates. But it is fair to presume that what the Duke of Buckingham was doing in Ryedale, other gentlemen were doing in other parts of the country, and that about THE ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY. 27 the same time fox-hunting began to be looked upon with favour by English country gentlemen, and foxes regarded as likely to show more sport than hares. The earliest record of fox-hunting on anything like the same lines as it is at present conducted took place in Yorkshire, and within the Royal Forest of Pickering, so early as the year 1495. In December of that year, one Roger Hastings, a squire who lived within the Manor of Pickering, and who seems to have been a somewhat self-assertive gentleman, got into trouble through slaying the king's deer. Squire Hastings, who lived at Kingthorpe, had unmistakably slain his lord's venison, but he seems to have got off pretty easily, and we frequently hear of him afterwards. It seems that he went out ostensibly to hunt foxes, and there is something quaint and almost pathetic in the account of his misdemeanour in the old records. ' Item idem Rogerus Hastynges, Armiger xv]"" die Decembris anno clomini Regis nunc x™. In Standall infra Forestam juxta Pykeryng venavit ad vulpes, et sub colore illo venavit ad ferinas domini Regis.' A fine subject for a painter would this turbulent sportsman and his retainers make, and it is quite likely that he may have been one of the first men to hunt the fox in what we would now call the legitimate manner. The covert in which he went to hunt foxes still exists in Capt. Johnstone's hunt, and it forms an interesting link between the past and present order of things in the fox-hunting world. What seems of most importance in connection with the raid of Roger Hastings was that his going out to hunt the king's deer, under the colour of going fox-hunting, marks the fact that in his day fox-hunting was becoming recognised as a country gentleman's recreation, though many years were to elapse before it came to the front as the one winter sport preferred above all others. Had Roger Hastinos grone with nets as fox-hunters in the earlier days were wont to, he would not 28 HISTORY OF THE BR AM HAM MOOR HUNT. have caught the king's deer; his success in this matter being due, doubtless, to the staunchness of his hounds. When the Duke of Buckingham hunted the wild moors of Bilsdale, Farndale, and the neighbourhood, and by so doing practically founded the Sinnington Hunt, we may well imagine that it was rather a rough-and-ready establishment. Tradition in the dales tells us that he hunted fox and stag as they might chance to turn up, but in all probability there was not much choice in the matter, for deer had become very scarce in the Royal Forest of Pickering many years before that, and it was disafforested in the early days of Charles I. because of the scarcity of the deer. Hunting would doubtless suffer during the wars of King and Parliament, and the sport, as well as the material advancement of the nation, would feel the effects ot the internecine struggle. But the spirit of sport always has, and it is to be hoped it always will, overcome all difficulties, and when the country once more was settled, hounds bci^an to be kept all over the country. That there was something of the modern style about the Duke of Buckingham's hunting is pretty evident from the fact that his death was the result of a chill incurred whilst digging out a fox. Whilst the Duke of Buckingham was hunting the wild foxes of north-east Yorkshire, there were other noblemen and gentlemen who recognised the value of ' the little red rover' in a sporting sense. The Charlton Hunt, at Good- wood, of which the unfortunate Duke of Monmouth was a member, was the fashionable Hunt of the day. The master was Mr. Roper, who cast in his lot with the duke, but made his escape to Holland, whence he returned with William HI., once more to resume the mastership of the pack with which his name is so closely associated.* * It is, I believe, a fact that Mr. Roper lived to the extreme old age of eighty-two, and he died in the hunting-field, though, I believe, it was not from THE ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY. 29 The pages of Fielding tell us how fox-hunting became a part of the life of our country gentlemen during the half- century which succeeded the accession of William III., and there can be no doubt but that in the days of Queen Anne the sport of fox-hunting in its modern development had its origin. But I must protest against Squire Western being taken as a type of the fox-hunter, even of those days. There were doubtless plenty of sportsmen of his type throughout the country, as there were many rough-and-ready sportsmen at a later period, when refinement had become more general. But in the days of Queen Anne, noblemen and gentlemen and statesmen followed hounds as noblemen and gentlemen and statesmen do now ; and I believe it is on record that the great Lord Bolingbroke amused himself by hunting the fox when, on his return from exile, he was no longer permitted to enter the political arena. About this time, country gentlemen of position mostly kept hounds, and though their hunting would scarcely be considered as orthodox by their successors of the present day, it cannot be denied that to them we owe a great deal. The best of our hunting literature comes from the earlier Hanoverian period, and with all our modern improvements we have had none who have written more learnedly or with greater charm about our field sports than William Somervile, who was born before Queen Anne ascended the throne. Beckford's Book, which came somewhat later, must still be looked upon as the hunting classic* the result of a fall. Some few years ago the Duke of Richmond revived the Hunt, and the Goodwood hounds were carried on in first-class style, and showed e.xcellent sport. But the country is ill-adapted for fox-hunting in its modern development, and after a time the hounds were given up. It seems a pity that a country with so historic a record should not be hunted ; but when the Duke of Richmond, who had hunted the country at his own expense, gave up, there was no one forthcoming to take them on under similar conditions, and a subscription could not be raised sufficient to cover the expense. * Peter Beckford's Thoughts upon Hunting was published in 1781, thirty- nine years after the death of Somervile. D ^O HISTORY OF THE BR AM HAM MOOR HUNT. And it is to the time of Queen Anne that we must look back for the origin of the Bramham Moor Hunt, and as it seems fitting- to us of a later generation, it was a Lane Fox who was the first to hunt over that wide and sporting- district which has achieved such a high position in the annals of the chase, and which is known as the Bramham Moor. That Lord Bingley owned hounds and hunted the fox, dragging him to his kennel in the early morning", as was then imperative, and that he showed good sport to his friends and neighbours, we have every reason to believe ; but history, as might be expected, has little to say about his doings, or the doings of any of his contemporaries in the way of sport, and the silence of history is much to be regretted. But though the Bramham Moor Hunt undoubtedly had its origin when Anne was queen, and when Lord Bingley, who was a friend and contemporary of Bolingbroke's, ruled at Bramham Park, the real history of the Hunt may be said to have begun when he was succeeded by his nephew, Mr. James Lane Fox, one of the foremost sportsmen of his time, though history records it of him that he was not a 'thruster.' But Mr. James Lane Fox, — 'Jemmy Fox of Bramham ' as he was called by his contemporaries and friends, — did not succeed as M. F. H. when he succeeded to the estates of his uncle, and it was some few years before he took up his abode on his Yorkshire estate. During tho.se few years, .Sir Thomas Gascoigne, of Parlington, hunted the country, or rather part of it, and Sir Walter Vavasour, of Hazlewood, succeeded him ; but about the limits of the country they hunted, or what kind o{ establishment they kept up, or what sport they showed, history is provokingly silent. .Sir Thomas Gascoigne, however, was a capital sportsman, and was the first master of the country which is now- hunted over by Lord Middleton, his rule over that country THE ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY. x\ beginning in 1764, whilst for many years the Vavasours have hekl a high reputation as sportsmen in sporting Yorl<:shire, so that there is every reason to believe that things would be managed in the then a[)proved fashion, and that sport would be good. But it is equally certain that they would be, regarded from a modern standpoint, a funny lot of hounds that Mr. James Lane Fox took hold of when he commenced to hunt the country. For in those days, especially in the provinces, there was not much care taken in breeding hounds, and even at a comparatively recent date many men neither knew nor cared whether a hound was 'straight' or not. In the middle of the last century, however, hunting was to undergo a great change. To begin with, the features of the country were gradually but surely changing ; wide commons were enclosed and cultivated, and many big woods were, for one reason or another, cut down. Consequently, the gorse covert came more and more into request, though it was long before it prevailed to any great e.xtent. That a change was imminent in the hunting world was certain, but it perhaps became an accomplished fact sooner than would have been the case, owing to the ability with which Mr. Hugo Meynell, polished gentleman and keen fo.x-hunter, ruled over the destinies of the Ouorn. Mr. Husj:o Meynell was certainly the father of modern fox-hunting. He was the keenest of the keen about hound-breeding, and a great authority on the subject, and to him was due not only the improvement in breeding and kennel management, which has been celebrated as ' The System of Meynell,' but he was the man who introduced that straightforward ridintr which adds such a charm to the sport when not indulged in to an undue extent. Fortunately for Mr. James Lane Fox he was a great personal friend of Mr. Meynell's, and he qujckly saw that the system which his Leicestershire friend 32 HISTORY OF THE BRA M HAM MOOR HUNT. had adopted, was the only one by which a kennel of foxhounds could be managed with satisfaction to everyone. So he at once followed the lead given him. It was also his good fortune to be very intimate with Mr. Peter Beckford, than whom no one, either before or since, had a greater knowledge of all appertaining to the hunting and manage- ment of a pack of hounds, whether foxhounds or harriers. Mr. Fox, as I have already intimated, was not a hard rider, but as a breeder of hounds he was one of the foremost men of his day, and it is a matter for regret that his hound lists have not been preserved. Fortunately I am able to give a couple of good runs which took place during his mastership, and I would that there were a few more records of similar runs. Here is the first one, which took place in 1806. ' Mr. Lane Fox's hounds,' says the record, ' have had likewise ' good sport throughout the season, but on Saturday they 'had one of the most splendid days ever remembered. 'Meeting at Red Hall, near Gledhow, they tried all the ' neighbouring coverts without a challenge, when crossing 'over Blackmoor to Hell Wood they immediately found. 'The fox instantly broke covert, going away in a most ' gallant style over the country. Crossing West Woods ' to the right, over Rigton Hills and the brook in the ' bottom, skirted CoUingham town, and from thence down ' to Keswick Ox Close, where, crossing the river, he passed ' through Mr. Scott's park and pleasure grounds at Wood ' Hall, where he was viewed. Thence ran on direct to ' Stockeld, where, without hanging a moment, he broke ' away over the finest country in the world — Leicestershire ' not excepted — in a direct line for Harrogate. Then ' turning to the left, passed near Spofforth village, and ' running from thence to Kirkby Overblow, went to ground ' in a crag, the whole pack being within a few yards of ' his brush. This run, whether considered for the extent ' of ground reynard went over, the straight line he took, THE ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY. 33 ' or the fineness of the country he chose, will not often ' be equalled in the annals of sporting. The field was ' unusually small, perhaps from the unpromising appearance ' of the morning, it being a hard frost ; but small as the ' field was, it was considerably lessened by the country ' riding deep, and the severity of the fences. It may ' truly be said ' A chosen few alone the sport enjoy.' A capital run, this, and over a fine line, but unfortunately no record has been kept of the time it occupied. The account I give of it was copied from the 'Sporting Magazine' of 1807, and at the foot of the run are MS. notes to the effect that Sir Walter Vavasour died November 2nd, 1802, and Sir Thomas died in 1826. Good a run as this was, the following was a better. It took place on December 19th, 1807, and is certainly to be looked upon as a typical Bramham Moor day. The account I give is copied from an old letter, and I am unable to say whether it has ever appeared in print : — ' Mr. Fox's hounds had a remarkable run on Saturday last,' so runs the record, ' though the frost was hardly out of the ' ground. They met at Dog Kennel Whin, which they ' drew without success. Then proceeded to try Hetchel 'Spring and School House Whin without a single challenge, ' but on putting into Hell Wood a fox. immediately stole ' away, and facing the strong enclosures towards Thorner, ' turned to the left, passing over Rigton Hills nearly to ' Keswick Ox Close, and thence to the right by Collingham ' town, over the open fields to Cliffbrd jMoor. Crossed the ' north road and Mr. Thompson's Park at Wetherby Grange, ' whence, finding the pack close at his brush, he boldly ' dashed into the River Wharfe, and running through Horn ' Bank over Walton open fields, by the Whin up to Walton ' Wood. Thence by Mr. Stapleton's plantations to Bilton, ' by Healaugh town, leaving Shireoaks to the right, over ' those enclosures and deep severe country up to Bilbrough. 34 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. ' Over the moor, crossed the road at Streethouses, down 'to Bolton Percy, turned to the left to Stub Wood, into ' which covert reynard was viewed not above a field before 'the pack. Here they unluckily changed, and going away ' with a fresh fox were with difficulty stopped running in ' a direct line for the river below Sir William Milner's 'Park at Nun Appleton. In a direct line from point to ' point it exceeded twenty miles ; the ground they went 'over above five- and -twenty, in two hours and eighteen ' minutes, and what is remarkable, this game fox hardly 'owned a covert and never tried an earth. The scent laid ' very well, and they always kept going, though :certainly ' not their best pace. Mr. Hawke, on King Cole, Mr. Jadisj ' on Speculation, and Mr. Clough, on Conqueror, deserve 'honourable mention, nor should Capt.Sotheran, on Rocket, ' be omitted, who showed what wonders a heavy weight can ' perform when possessed of a good eye to country.' . This was a wonderftil run indeed, the finish beins^' over quite the cream of the Ainsty. It will be noticed that it is stated that hounds crossed Bilbrout;-h Moor, and anyone who takes the trouble to follow the run on the map, and who knows the country, will recognise how the face of it is changed since this good run took place. What was then common and moor is now under cultivation, and where there was heavy plough there is now a larger j^roportion of grass, a proportion which seems to be gradually increasing. I have not been able to learn any further partictilars respecting Capt. Sotheran, but I may remark that the Bramham Hunt has always been remarkable for its hard -riding welters. Several of the huntsmen have been heavy men, and in recent days there have been heavy men fotmd who cotild always get through a run. What his contemporaries thought of Mr. James Lane Fo.x's establishment niay' be gathered from the following extract frpm the ' Statesman,' a daily paper ol some sixteen THE ORIGTN AND EARLY HISTORY. 35 short columns, which was published in the early part of the century. It is curious to note that three parts of a column on the front page of the issue of Monday, April 6th, 1807, is devoted to fox-hunting; — Lord Darlington's, Sir Mark Masterman Sykes', the Bramham, Lord Fitz- william's. Lord Vernon's, and the Belvoir, all coming in for brief notice. This is what is said about the Bramham Moor:— ' Mr. Fox Lane, fake him for all in all, may bid defiance to ' all his neighbours. Hounds as high mettled as the riders 'who follow them, fly over the Wolds with a speed not to ' be exceeded, while in their cold Jiuiifing may be found ' the most perfect system which the sagacity of the animal ' can furnish. Every keen sportsman will find, in point of ' riding, such playmates in this Hunt as will not leave 'them idle.' High praise, this, and well merited, as the runs above given amply prove ; and the remarks that applied to the Bramham Moor in 1807 apply to them equally at the end of ninety years. Mr. James Lane Fox hunted the country for many years, and when his health began to fail he retired, giving the hounds up to the second Earl of Harewood, than whom no keener sportsman ever followed the Bramham Moor, or for the matter of that, any other pack. A friend of mine professes his admiration of ' a good lang clay,' and the Earl of Harewood would have been a master after his own heart, for, like Lord Darlington, he would hunt till dark, and was no believer in going home to luncheon. It was a stipulation with Mr. James Lane Fox that the hounds should not leave Bramham during his lifetime. His son, a very heavy man. hunted as a matter of course, but he did not care much for hounds, preferring Newmarket and racing to hound- breeding. Hence on his father's death the hounds went to 36 HISTOHY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HVST. Harewood, and with them went ten servants' horses, saddles, bridles, and rugs, all complete ; the stipulation being that they were to return to Rramham as they went, if required. As Colonel Thornton, of Thornville Royal (now known as Allerton Park), was a contemporary of the Squire of Bramham, and as he kept hounds, this may perhaps be the best place to give a short notice of his hunting exploits. That his hounds hunted over some portion of what is now the Bramham Moor country is certain, though whether special permission was given, or whether he ever had a regularly-defined country, is more than I am able to state.* There is little record left of his hunting, though we hear plenty of his fishing and shooting. Falconry, however, seems to have been his favourite sport ; and when the country about Thornville Royal became more cultivated, he sold it to Lord Stourton, and went to live in Wiltshire. This was in 1808, and serves to mark the date of the alteration which was taking place in the Bramham Moor country. Notoriety was what Colonel Thornton loved, and though he raced, and hunted, and shot, and was no doubt an accomplished falconer, he seems to have done everything more for the love of being talked about than for the love of sport itself. Always ready to back himself or any of his belongings, and a shrewd hand at making a match, it is throuofh the bets he made about his hounds or his foxes that his hunting is now remembered. And even the record of what his hounds did when he won bets over them is all too scanty, and we should like to have some history of the undoubtedly excellent sport which he showed. The first item of interest is in connection with a bet made with Sir Harry Featherstone. " Col. Thornton seems to have gone pretty much where he hked during the few years he kept hounds, and he probably kept hounds more for the sake of display than for any real love of the sport. THE ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY. Z7 Colonel Thornton, we read, received a piece of plate from Sir Harry Featherstone and Sir John Ramsden, Barts., as a compromise to a bet made in honour of a Hambleton fox. Colonel Thornton, by his original bet, enoaged for three hundred guineas p.p. to find a fox at Hunt's Whin, or in the Easingwold country, that, after Christmas, 1779, should run twenty miles ; the day to be fixed and the niorning to be approved by Colonel Thornton, and to be determined h\ Sir [ohn Ramsden and .Sir Harrv Featherstone, or the company. Certificate. ' We, the undersigned, do declare that on the day appointed 'for the decision of a bet, made by Colonel Thornton with ' Sir John Ramsden and .Sir Harry Featherstone, that a 'fox broke off in view of hounds and the compan}-, which 'fox was killed after a continuous burst (there not being" 'one check), by the different watches, for two hours and ' thirty-eight minutes ; and we, being the only gentlemen ' present, do believe the said fox to have run at least ' twentv-eight miles. Colonel Thornton being a party 'concerned, gave no vote. ' Lascelles Lascelles. Val. Kitchingman. ' Henry Kitchingman. Wm. Dawson. ' Randolph Marriott. ' There were only eight horsemen out of seventy up.' Of far more interest to us than the mere record of Colonel Thornton's bet, would have been an account of the run it.self Where that stout fox was found, the country he crossed, and the incidents of the run, are, however, all buried in oblivion. There can be no doubt about this having been a good run, and the bona fides of the arbitrators is not to be disputed ; but I fancy they must have rather over- estimated the distance, or their time must have been E -58 EISTOKY OF THE BKAMHAM MOOR HUNT. incorrectly stated in the printed record. It is allowed that hounds run much faster now than they did a hundred years ago, and an average rate of a mile in something like five minutes and a half would take some doing now. It is a little over ten miles an hour, and a ten miles run within the hour, though it has been exceeded, is something to talk about, even in these days of highly-conditioned hounds. Colonel Thornton, at the time this bet was made, was only a young- man, .some twenty-three or twenty-four years of age. The next that we hear of Colonel Thornton and his hounds is in connection with another bet. It was, during the last century and until far into the present one, a custom for hounds to join. That is, two neighbouring packs would bring so many couples each out, and the lot would hunt together, or rather in lots, for it seems needless to say that hounds that are strangers to each other never pack properly. But that was a matter of small importance, and sportsmen of a bygone day were very keen about such meetings, and would talk about 'our Trouncer' being first up with great glee. The record in question bears date March 15th, 1783, and is dated from Thornville. It runs to this effect: — ' The Earl of Effingham and Colonel Thornton agreed to each ' produce twelve couples of hounds to run a match for ' five hundred guineas. The Earl of Effingham to produce ' twelve couples of Confederate hounds ; Colonel Thornton ' to produce twelve couples of his hounds ; to run down a 'fox near Wetherby on the 19th of March, 1783. Whichever ' hounds appeared b}' the arbitrators to have the superiority ' shall receive a forfeit. { The Hon. Fredk. Lumley. 'Arbitrators - Mr. Thomas Lloyd. \ Mr. Bagley. ' The run being very short, and not less than three hundred ' people present, it could not be determined.' THE BRAMHAM MOOR COUNTRY. 39 But the match was not to end in a draw ; the Earl and the Colonel went to Wetherby that same afternoon, and drew up articles for a fresh match, which ran as follows: — 'Wetherby, March 19th, 1783. 'The Earl of Effingham engaged to produce twelve and a ' half couples of Confederate hounds to run against the ' same number of Colonel Thornton's, for a cup to be 'purchased at their joint expense. To meet at Borough- ' bridge, and try the Hunt's Whin or Hambleton country. Arb. Id. Certificate. 'We, the undermentioned, do declare that having met in order ' to see a match run between the Earl of Effingham's and ' Colonel Thornton's hounds, on the Confederate hounds 'not appearing, the tryers declared the cup forfeited. ' We also further declare that the hounds found at twenty- ' seven minutes past nine, and except for the space of 'half-an-hour, taken in bolting the fox from a rabbit-hole, 'had a continuous run till five o'clock, when we had an ' entope; and after repeated views, we killed him at fourteen ' minutes past five by the different watches. A. Walker. G. Davison. W. Vavasour. John Fawcett. W. Mills. J. Wrightsox. — . Farside. John Brook. — . Milton. A. Wilkinson. Lascelles Lascelles. J. Bagley. William Tate. Robert Rovds.' The cjuestion naturally arises when one reads these runs, and considers the country over which they took place, whether Colonel Thornton is entitled to a place amongst the masters who have ruled over the Bramham. He certainly 40 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. seems to have hunted a good deal of what has always been recognised as part of the Bramham country, but whether there was special leave given for his day at Wetherby there is now no means to determine. Hunt's Whin would seem to have been in what is known as the York and Ainsty Monday country, a good deal of which was afterwards hunted by the Duke of Cleveland. It must therefore be left an open question whether Colonel Thornton is entitled to the distinction of being a master of the Bramham Moor ; for one or two runs, and the fact that he kept hounds in the country, are scarcely sufficient data to go upon, and it must be remembered that the clear definition of the boundaries of hunts came at a later date, and when hunting began to be conducted nn more regular lines. — ^^jA'Tfc'Wj: CHAPTER III. Under the Earls of Harewood. Ir is much to be regretted that the materials for a history of the Bramham Moor Hunt during the period the hounds were under the mastership of the Earls of Harewood are of so meagre a description. Searching through the old Sporting magazines and newspapers has not resulted in the bringing of very many facts to light, and some of these are of the vaguest. Here and there I have been able to pick up a little information, but some of it has no date, and in other instances the lack of particulars is most tantalising. Then, for some occult reason, one who could have thrown a little light on the subject has refused to do so, so that I am unable to devote as much space as I should wish to that very interesting part of the history of the pack when it was kennelled at Harewood. It is a curious circumstance that Nimrod twice set out to see Lord Harewood's hounds ; once when Payne was huntsman, and once when Treadwell carried the horn ; but he never got to see them either time. Of the first time he writes : ' I was disappointed in not seeing Lord Harewood's 'hounds. It is an old-established pack, and of course there 42 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. ' is no want of the means to do the thing well ; and money ' is almost a sine qua non in fox-hunting. A strange thing ' happened last season with these hounds. The huntsman ' imprudently capped them into a very rapid mill stream, ' and three or four couples were drowned. A young gentle- ' man named Markham gallantly plunged in to their assistance, ' and very narrowly escaped their fate. He succeeded in 'saving one of them.' The Mr. Markham would be the man who afterwards distinguished himself so much in India, and who died just as he reached the Crimea. This occurrence seems to have taken place during the earlier years of the mastership of the second Lord Harewood, and I have found some record of a run which belongs to the same period. It is a very interesting one, as it shows that long good runs into the York and Ainsty country were not peculiar to a later date. On Monday, November 25th, 1822, they met at Tadcaster Bar, and after drawing a covert or two blank, they went to Shire Oaks, where they found a ' traveller.' They drove him out at the Healaugh side, and past the Hall, and then the)- ran along the riverside nearly to Tadcaster, and back to Shire Oaks. They did not, however, enter the covert, but leaving it on the left pointed for Catterton, and turned left-handed to Duce Wood. Thence they ran to Nova Scotia, which they left on the left ; and next they made Bilton village, passing between it and the wood, with the former on the right hand. They crossed and re-crossed the York road, the time up to this point being a trifle over forty minutes, and 'with never a check from the find.' The crowd of h(jrses on the road brought hounds to their noses, but they hunted through them, and leaving Bickerton village on the right, pointing for Wetherby, and keeping to the left f the Wetherby road for some distance. Then crossing the road they ran down to Sugden Wood, and crossing the o UNDER THE EARLS OF HARE WOOD. 43 North Road, pointed for the river Nidd. Bearin^^" left- handed, however, they crossed the Crimple Beck, and running over RilDston Moor crossed the Nidd at Ribston Bridge, running straight for Goldsborough Wood. Through Goldsborough Wood they ran, and over Goldsborough Moor, nearly to Flaxby village, but turning to the right, they ran through Flaxby plantation. After passing through the plantation, the fox was viewed bearing" back for Goldsborough Moor, over which hounds ran him, and through Goldsborough Wood again, pointing for Plompton. He was beginning to ring now, and swung round by Goldsborough Hall, and through the pleasure-grounds, pointing for Knaresborough ; and finally they rolled him over in Hay Park, after a capital run of three hours. The record of such a run as this makes one wish that there were more like it to follow. Will Bamford, who succeeded Payne, showed some excellent sport, and in another place it will be told of the confidence he had in his hounds, and how well they repaid him for that confidence. He had two excellent whippers-in to assist him, in Stephen Shepherd and Will Scott, both of them good horsemen, active and clever, but neither of them, I believe, having the slightest ambition to become a huntsman. Of Stephen Shepherd, who was father of the Stephen Shepherd who hunted the Bedale during the mastership of the present Earl of Feversham, a good story is told. Bamford unfortunately broke his thigh, and Stephen had to hunt hounds. He showed excellent sport, indeed such sport as had never been known in the country for years, and he said nothing about it. But at last it began to be a subject of enquiry, and then the mystery was solved. Some of the hounds were seen to be very lusty after a few weeks, and it was then admitted by Stephen that he had only taken out 44 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. the very best hounds, and that ten couples had never been hunted at all. Well mip;ht the best hounds work rather light. Wednesday, November 24th, 1842, was a sad day in the annals of the Hunt. On that day hounds met at the Cross Roads, Clifford Moor, and had a long, hard da\ , running to ground at Grimston Hill. They dug their fox out, and set off for home late in the afternoon. After some talk with Bamford, Lord Hare wood trotted on in front of hounds, and when they got to Bramham village they found him leaning against a gate, dead. Lord Harewood was a keen sportsnian, like most memliers ot his family, and he came forward at a very opportune moment to carry on the hounds. He was not a scientific hound-breeder, indeed for that part of the business he cared little, but he was very painstaking in hunting the country thoroughly, and no day was too long for him, whilst he would always dig for a fo.x if he thought hounds deserved him, and under these circumstances he stayed to the end. Lord Harewood was succeeded by his son as master, and in the beginning of the next season Treadwell carried the horn. One run which took place about his time I am able to give, though I cannot name the exact date of it. 1 hey met at Beilby Grange, and found in Dog Kennel Whin ; and after running by Peckfield and Scarthingwell, they lost in the dark at Nun Appleton. It was a severe run over a big country, and a lot of horses gave out; but Mr. George E. Lascelles, of Sion Hill, got to the end on the kennel-pony, and declining all the offers of hospitality at Chestnut Grove, he rode on home, where, with huntsman and hounds, he arrived late at night ; as may well be imagined, when it is taken into consideration that it was quite dark when they stopped hounds at Nun Appleton. In 1842 Nimrod wrote, 'I much regret I am unable to UNDER THE EARLS OF HAREWOOD. 45 ' say much of Lord Harewood as a master, inasmuch as I ' shall adhere to the determination with which I set out, and ' only speak of those with whose hounds I have hunted. ' One half-hour would have qiven me the opportunity here, ' when on my Yorkshire tour. I got within a few miles of ' Lord Harewood's fixture for the day, but was, with almost ' the entire field, driven back by a snowstorm. From all ' I have heard, I must endeavour to see his lordship's ' establishment.' But Nimrod's visit was never paid, and singularly enough, there seems to have been no one else to write a word about Lord Harewood's hounds. I came across a brief account of a day's sport, in BclTs Life, for January 27th, 1822, in which it states that Lord Harewood's hounds had a good day on the preceding Wednesday, running their first fox for an hour and twenty minutes, and killing him ; and marking their second fox to ground, after a severe run of two hours and twenty-five minutes, but where they met, or found, or killed, are impenetrable mysteries. This makes up the sum of what I have been able to gather about the history of the country during a very interesting period, and I have only given the past extract to show how little satisfied people in the shape of hunting intelligence not so very many years ago. The mention of a pleasant function must close this chapter. The Bramham Hunt Ball, which took place at Wetherby in January following Mr. George Lane Fox's acceptance of the mastership of the hounds, was the place selected to present Lord Harewood with an equestrian portrait of himself, in recognition of the service his father and he had rendered to the country during the twenty-six years of their mastership. The presentation was made, on behalf of the subscribers, by Mr. George Lane Fox, and it 46 HISTORY OF 171 E PKAAr/Unr MOOR HUNT. is needless to say that hunting men turned up in strong force to cheer the recipient.* In the portrait Lord Harewood is mounted on George, who was supposed to be the best hunter in the country in his day. The terrier was a present from Sir Walter Scott, and was a pure - bred Dandie Dinmont, rejoicing in the historic name of Pepper. He was a famous dog, and went all distances with hounds ; and when he could not travel home, he would quarter himself on some farmer for the night, and return in the morning. Pepper is buried in the east garden at Harewood. * Writino- to a friend a few years ago, Mr. Fox says: 'This morning a ' very old friend, the Rev. Jacob Marsham, formerly curate to his father at ' Kirkby Overblow, and a quick man after hounds once a week, sent me a pin ' made of a fox's tooth given to him by the old Lord Harewood in 1837. They ' found at Birk Crag, and killed on Blubberhouse Moor — one hour and ten ' minutes.' % ^1 , ^^ I CHAPTER IV. Thk Rule of Mr. Gi':orge Lank Fox. 'Of dur l''ox and our Hunt let us sing, — Our Fox of all foxes is king.' — Hmifing Sung. ' Fox shall in Britain's future annals shine.' — Byron. In the spring' i)t 1848, Charles Treadwell removed with the hounds to Bramham Park, where Mr. George Lane Fox, senr., had I)uilt kennels for his son — kennels which the Bramham Moor have occupied ever since, and which it is to be hoped they will occupy tor many years to come. With the hounds came the ten servants' horses, with saddles, bridles, &c., as they had been sent to Harewood twenty-six years before. The new master was keen, and from the first he was fond of hounds, and in Treadwell he had an admirable mentor. The hounds had gone back a good deal dtiring the few years which preceded Treadwell's arrival at Hare- wood, for scientific hound-breeding was not much in his predecessor's line, and the Earl of Harewood, though a very keen sportsman, was not an enthusiast for houndd^reeding. So that when Treadwell took hold of the pack, he found them, to use his own expressive words, 'all uncles, and 48 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. aunts, and cousins.' A keen judge of a hound, and one of the most scientific breeders of his time, he soon set to work to improve matters. Shortly after his arrival at Bramham, a capital opportunity occurred of gettino- some fresh blood. Mr. Wyndham, who had bought the famous John Warde's hounds, was giving up keeping hounds, and his pack was sold at Tattersall's. Treadwell, who, when he hunted the South Wilts, country, had got to appreciate the value of this blood, was eager to have some ot it, and so was his master, and the result was that four couples ot the best of them came to Bramham. These were the seven-year- old hounds: — Beggarman, by Mr. Wyndham's Selim — his Boundless ; Fearnought, by Mr. Smith's Saffron — Mr. Wyndham's Fairy; and Trinket, by Mr. Smith's Traveller — Mr. Wyndham's Harmony. The two-year olds: — Brusher, by Mr. Wyndham's Corsican — his Buxom ; Cautious, by Mr. Wyndham's Corsican — his Harmony; Corsican, by Mr. Wyndham's Corsican — his Rhapsody; and the unentered Dashwood, by Mr. Wyndham's Sa.xon — his Dimity; and Singwell, by Mr. Wyndham's Saxon — his Beeswing. This was a purchase which made a great mark in the kennel, and many of the best of the Bramham hounds trace their descent from the blood of old John Warde. If Mr. George Lane Fox had an excellent mentor in Treadwell, it is equally certain that the latter had an apt pupil, and he came to be one of the finest judges of a hound, and one of the most successful breeders of his own or any time. Backs, and shoulders, and ribs, were indispensable at Bramham, but there was not any prejudice about colour, and a well-shaped and well-bred hound would not be drafted because he was not of ' the bright Belvoir tan,' which is a sine qua non in some kennels. In one particular only were the Bramham Moor of those days, after master and huntsman had got them into .shape, deficient, and that was that they THE RULE OF Mr. GEORGE LANE FOX. 49 were somewhat lacking in cry. In their hatred of a noisy houncl, b(Uh Treadwell and his master carried their principles rather too far, and Treadwell has been heard to say that he hated a hound that spoke twice where once would do. A pack that does not ' say ' much, and a huntsman who is not constantly hallooing and blowing his horn, soon teach a field to be quick, and to dash for a start ; and perhaps it was the seventeen years of Treadwell's method that so surely confirmed that quickness for which the Bramham field became proverbial. But to return to the season of 1848-49. It was on the morning of the fourth of September that Mr. Fox and Treadwell commenced their first campaign together against the Bramham foxes, and began a connection which was only terminated by the death of Treadwell — a connection which it is scarcely necessary to say had a remarkable effect, not only on hunting in Yorkshire, but on the hunting world at large, for there is not an important kennel in England where some of the old Bramham blood is not to be found. The first day of the cub-hunting season seems to have been a satisfactory one, though the account of it in Mr. Fox's diary is brief: — ' Sept. 4th. Parlington. Ran in covert for three hours. Cub 'got to ground in the quarry in the park, bolted and 'killed him. Rode Gift.' The opening clay of the regular season was on October 30th, when the fixture was at Bramham kennels. It was a rather inauspicious opening, for Jupiter Pluvius was in the ascendant, and a pouring rain fell all the day. Mr. Fox's account of the day is of the briefest, and the probability is that under the circumstances there was not much to record. We read that they 'found foxes in Blackfen,' that there was ' no scent,' and that thev found at Pot-terton. 50 HISTORY OF THE B RAM HAM MOOR HUNT. The heavy rain of Monday had improved the scent, for on the following- day they had a cai)ital run : — 'Oct. 31st. Boot and Shoe. Found in one of the I.edsham ' plantations ; a quick run in the woods, ran to ground on ' the railroad near Micklefield, dug, killed. Found in Billy ' Bell Whin ; away over the road, across Ledsham Park ' up to Newfield, to the left across the Ferrybridge road, ' and ran into a drain on the Monk Frvston road. Very 'quick thirty minutes; bolted, ran a mile, and killed. ' Rode black horse.' There is, unfortunately, very little account left of Mr. Fox's first season as master, and his diary ends with November 1 3th. There are accoimts of two days which are so typical of what has often taken place on a moderate or bad- scenting day in the Bramham country, that I give them in full, knowing that they will prove interesting to those who love hounds and their work under difficulties : — 'Nov. 3rd. Towton. Found at Scarthingwell ; ran to Renshaw, ' and lost near Hazlewood. Second fox at Hazlewood ; ran ' by Aberford, Ringhay, Huddlestone, nearly to Sherburn, ' to the right into Micklefield Wood, to Hook Moor, and ' after a long hunt with no scent, came up to him in a ' turnip field near the Parlington Park wall. Had him ' dead beat in the field, but not light enough to kill. ' Rode Wynyard.' 'Nov. loth. Tadcaster Bar. An excellent show of foxes, but ' no scent ; after persevering all day, ivalkcd a fox to dcafli. ' Rode grey horse.' The italics are mine, and I need not remind those who follow the Bramham Moor what an artistic piece of work 'walking a fox to death' has always been in that country when scent has been bad, antl how the maxim that there is always a chance of killing x'our fo.x if you persevere, has been faithfully adopted as the rule in life of successive THE RULE OF Mr. GEORGE LAi\E FOX. 5, Bramham huntsmen. The last entry in Mr. Fox's diarv for this season is a characteristic one : — ' Beilby Grange. Bad scent. Good show of bad foxes.' The season of 1849-50 was a long- one, and was distin- guished by some excellent sport. A late start was made, at any rate the first entry in the diary is dated October 22nd, when it is stated that they met at Harewood, found a good show of foxes, and killed one. The opening day would seem to have been Monday, October 29th, when they met at Rudding Park, though it is not exactly specified in the diary that it was the opening day. Hounds, however, at that time would seem to have commenced their season on the last Monday in October. If this were the case it is likely that the cub-hunting commenced fully a month sooner than there is account of They had a fair day's sport at Rudding Park, and a good show of foxes. At Rudding Park, however, the foxes would not leave, but a smart burst of eighteen minutes from the New Whin at Spofiforth Hagg t(j Swindon Wood, and other thirty minutes' hard running in covert, ending with blood, made up a good day for the time of the year. The third week in November seems to have been a remarkable one in the annals of Yorkshire hunting in more ways than one, and Mr. Fox's experience of two clays in it must be told in his own words : — 'November 19th. Stockeld Park. Found a bad fox, could not 'kill him. Second fox from Cocked Hat Whin; away 'leaving Kirkby Overblow to the right, across the Punch ' Bowl, through Swindon Wood, over the river below ' Harewood Bridge. Left Rawdon Hill on the right, 'Harewood Woods on the left, pointed for Bramhope. ' Turned to the right down to Otley Wood, came back 'along the valley, leaving Arthington Whin to his right; ' turned over the hill straight to Eccup, ran by the reservoir, 'skirted Wigton Knowl, kept outside the woods nearly to 52 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. ' the Leeds road, turned in at the door in the wall ; came 'up to him in Grey Stone Whin, forced him out, and raced ' him round the Park nearly to the lodges, and killed him. ' Two hours and thirty minutes ; the first hour and forty ' minutes made an example of all the horses. No fault ' could be found with the working or lasting and condition 'of the hounds.' This was indeed a wonderful run, over a bio" country that takes some yetting over, and small wonder is it that 'the first hour and forty minutes made an e.xample of all the horses.' The other run is worthy of mention here, though it took place with the York and Ainsty, which pack Mr. Fox frequently visited when they were within reach, and his own hounds were not out. On Thursday, the 22nd, they met at Copgrove, and this is what Mr. Fox had to say about what took place : — 'Curious day of bad luck. Hounds all away running well. ' Field wrong side of the covert at Copgrove ; having found 'in Farnham Mires, checked; five couple slipped away ' unobserved by the huntsman, and were not caught for ' some time. Did not kill.' This run will probably call to the recollection of some of my readers a similar occurrence which took place not far from Crayke a season or two ago, when hounds slipped short back after a smart burst from North Skeugh Whin, and each of the two divisions which were riding parallel to each other thought that the other had the hounds, and we had a stern chase till we came up with them near Hawk Hills. December seems to have been a capital month for sport, and on the i 2th and 26th excellent runs took place : — 'Dec. 1 2th. Church Fenton. Found in Meek Wood ; ran very ' fast in the direction of Aberford Woods, turned by Little 'Fenton, back of Church Fenton, nearly to the river; ' turned to the left through Ulleskelf. Long check, cold THE RULE OF Mr. GEORGE LANE FOX. r. JO ' hunting through Grimston Park, viewed him at the back 'of the road near the turnpike, and killed him at the back 'of Towton village. One hour and twenty minutes, first 'forty minutes fast. Second fox found at Tadcaster Willow 'Garth; ran him by Renshaw, Heyton Wood, Becca, ' Potterton ; left Saw Woods on the right, Morwick on the ' left, lost at Killingbeck. A fine hunting run, two hours ' and ten minutes.' 'Dec. 26th. Milford. Fox away from the wood before hounds ' came. Found in Brex AVood ; away to Gateforth and ' Birkin, down to the river. Turned to tlie right to Byram, ' got on a fresh fox ; hung about the park for a time, then 'went away for Buttress Hill, Milford, to Sherburn station, 'and lost. Good day's hunting.' This run took place just before a storm, when there is often a holding scent such as there seems to have been on this occasion. It will be noted that this run took place over part of the Selby country, which was, in the earlier days of the Bramham Moor Hunt, so famous for a fine show of stout foxes, but which of late years has been rather short of what an old friend used to call the 'raw material.' There does not seem to be anything of much importance to record in connection with the Bramham during the month of January, 1850, but Mr. Fox relates a curious Incident which took place when he met the York and Ainsty at Acaster. They had a fair day's .sport, running their second fox from Pallethorpe Whin to Healaugh, over the river to Blackfen. During the run, the whipper-in, Stephen, was suddenly seized with a curious illness, and lost his senses, and when he came to himself, he found himself at Riccall village, far enough from the line of the run. Whether he ever had any return of the attack, or what was the cause of it, I have not been able to discover. February seems to have been a good month. On the 4th, they had a good day from Garforth Bridge. They had 54 HISTORY OF TUP. BRAMIIAM MOOR HUNT. a lot of knocking about with an ' unenterprising ' fox to begin with, and finally lost him in the park at Temple Newsam. Then came a sharp scurry trom Preston Pits to Kippax, ending with a kill, and then followed the run of the day, which I give in Mr. Fox's words : — ' Another fox away, got a long start of us ; hunted through 'Preston Pits, up the valley, leaving Garforth Bridge 'on the right, by Barrowby, Parlington, Hollins, nearly up 'to IMicklefield, through Ledsham Park, back to Kippax; ' through the park, and to ground in Preston Pits. Two ' hours, twenty-five minutes.' (3n the 9th, they had a very good forty-three minutes from Bland's covert, which is, or was, close to the Micklefield coal-pits, losing their fox between Huddlestone and Renshaw, probably owing to the high wind which prevailed. On the following Friday, they had a great run again from the Milford country: — ' Milford. Found two foxes in the wood ; went away with one, ' a small fox, to Monk Fryston, Micklefield Wood, Ringhaj^ 'Led Mill, Castle Hill, and Saxton Carr. Left Church ' Fenton to the left, skirted Rither Woods, lost him between 'Bishop Woods and Cawood. Three hours and ten minutes, 'fine hunting run.' March was a wild, stormy month, with severe frosts, and consequently sport only moderate. Mr. Fox's comment on the weather was — 'The ground very hard from constant dry weather, the frost every night most severe, the thermometer being as low as twenty-two in the night ; a bright sun all day.' Hounds do not seem to have been much stopped, but scent was bad, and at times they had to go home, or could only make a late start. On the 27th, we learn that there was 'very hard frost, snow, and thunder; went home,' and on the following day they could not hunt till noon, and THE RULE OF Mr. GEORGE LANE FOX. 55 then did no good. The season was brought to a close on Saturday, April 13th, at Dobb Park, when they had a fairly satisfactory clay : — 'A fox viewed away from Bolton Crag, did nothing with him. ' Second fox found on the Rigton Moor ; ran very sharp 'towards Birk Crag, turned to the right by Little Almscliff ' into Lindley Wood, ran him to ground, bolted and killed.' 1850-51. A very early start was made this season, for on Saturday, Aug. loth, at Parlington, 'by particular desire,' they killed a cub. They were not out again till Sept. 2nd, when they again met at Parlington, and ' found a good lot of cubs, and killed one.' Nov. 1st found them at Deighton P)ar, where a moderate day was redeemed by a good gallop with an afternoon fox. The account given, however, is of the briefest : — 'Found at the back of the house at Ingmanthorpe, lost. Found * another at Cowthorpe, lost. Found at Wilstrop Wood, ' went away to within two fields of Red House Wood, 'turned to the left, and killed him. Forty-five minutes.' On November 23rd, Sir Richard Sutton, then master of the Ouorn, came out to have a look of the Bramham ; but as is usual when anyone pays a visit to a pack of hounds at a distance, there was nothing done worthy of record, and the ominous words, 'no scent,' close the account of the day's proceedings. It is wcorth recording that the meet was at Monk Fryston, and that there were plenty of foxes in Milford Woods, Bishop W'oods, and at Byram. There was a lot of frost in December, but on the 28th they had a typical Bramham Moor run : — 'December 28th. Scarthingwell Park. Found in Patefield, ' ringing about, no scent. Second fox in Renshaw ; ran ' twice up and down the wood, hunted the fox down the ' lane, through the back of IMr. Kendall'.s, Towton Spring, 56 HISTORY OF THE BRAAIHAM MOOR HUNT. ' Patefield, Saxton Carr. Nearly caught him on the island ' in Scarthingwell Park, went away a great pace to Ulleskelf, ' crossed the river, hunted with a cold scent nearly to ' Copmanthorpe.' January was a capital month, one orood run followino- another. From Grey Stone Whin, on the 4th, they had a sportino' run of three hours, losing a stout and game fox on the banks of the river at Arthington ; and on the 6th, a clipping hour and forty minutes from the Punch Bowl, over Spoftorth Hagg, by Bramham and Birkham, and across the river opposite Goldsborough, and over the river again, and by Plompton Rocks, ending with a kill on the Knaresborough road. Gave the hard riders something to talk about, as up to Birkham Wood, for the first forty minutes, the pace had been a cracker. On the nth, they had a good day, the cream of which was a gallop from a hedgerow, near the Tadcaster and Leeds road, through Tadcaster town, where they crossed the river above Brooksbank's Bridge, and by Shire Oaks, killing in Angram bottoms, just below Healaugh. The month wound up well, as it had begun well, and perhaps the best day was the following one : — 'January 29th. Cross Roads, Bramham. Found in lleyton ' Wood ; ran some time in covert, and killed. .Second fox. ' at Becca ; ran a very sharp burst by Kiddal Lane, ' Whittle Car, Bramham Park, skirted Blackfen and the ' open Raikes, away over the north road tunnel ; turned ' to the right into Hazlewood, and lost in Heyton Wood. ' Twenty-three minutes. Found third fox at Renshaw ; ' went away to Towton village, turned to the right, nearly ' back to Renshaw, back to the left to Scarthingwell ' Park, out towards .Sherburn ; round by Saxton, Renshaw, ' Grimston Hills, and killed near Towton Spring. An hour 'and twenty minutes' hard and good work.' On the I 2th of the following month, thc\' had a wonderful THE RULE OF Mr. GEORGE LANE FOX. 57 huiitino run, of which Mr. Fox speaks with the (,freatest enthusiasm, as well he mio-ht : — 'February 12th. Bishop Woods. Found in the middle of the ' wood ; went away near Jackson's, through Lawn and ' Paradise Woods to within a field or two of the river ; ' turned to the left across Ulleskelf Common, leaving the ' railroad and windmill on the right, by Church Fenton ' village, back to Bishop Woods ; through the wood, out ' at Scalmer, over the dam opposite Hamilton's, through ' Brayton Barff, across the canal. Through Byrne Whin ' to Staines Wood, gave him a turn in the wood, forced ' him out, and killed in a field between the wood and the ' river. Two hours and ten minutes, a first-rate performance.' The season ended at the Cross Roads, Bramham Moor, on March 29th ; but there was no sport worth recording, scent being very bad. There was, however, a capital show of foxes, as they found at Becca, Parlington, Hook Moor, and Patefield ; a capital show for the last day, which is worth referring to as showing how they preserved foxes in the early fifties. Though Mr. Fox was busily engaged at home with his own hounds, he found time to visit the packs of his neighbours ; and during the season in question he had a day or two with the Badsworth, as well as with the York and Ainsty. He also paid a visit to Sir Tatton Sykes, who then hunted the country over which Lord Middleton now presides. It was on March 5th that Mr. Fox paid his visit to Sir Tatton's hounds, and at this time old Tom Carter, who, it is said, could n(jt or would not blow a horn, was his huntsman. Carter was getting into years, and Sir Tatton Sykes was then fast approaching his eightieth year. Where hounds met, Mr. Fox does not say ; but I have heard the tale told that Sir Tatton rode up to the fixture, gave his h(jrsc for some one to hold, and went into the farmhouse. 58 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. where he had a glass of ale and some apple pie, to both of which he was very partial. After he had refreshed himself, he came out, and Carter proceeded to draw. They drew till about one o'clock, and then Sir Tatton, turning to Mr. Fox, said, 'There are very few of your namesakes 'about, Mr. Fo.x,' and gave the order for home. Some one, I am not sure whether it was not Mr. Reynard, of Sunder- landwick, remarked to Sir Tatton that the day was still young, and that as Mr. Fox had ridden a long distance to see the hounds, it was a pity for him to have to go home after a blank day. Sir Tatton, who was courtesy itself at once took the hint, and told Carter to draw on ; and they soon found, and ' had a pretty thirty-five minutes to ground ' in .Sutton Wood :' that being all that Mr. Fox has to say about it in his diary. There is no account ol the cub-hunting season of 1S51- 52, the first day of which an account is given being November ist: — 'North Deighton. Found, went away to Stockeld, came back 'to the covert (Deighton Spring). Several cubs, no scent ' to force them out. At last an old fox went away, crossed ' the river, through the garden at Ribston, touched upon ' Goldsborough Wood, turned into the open on the Ribston ' side, and they pulled him down. Thirty minutes. Found ' again in the Cocked Hat Whin, hunted witli a cold scent ' nearly to Spacey Houses.' On the twelfth of the month they had a moderate day in the Gateforth country, the only incident of note being that they lost a good young hound on the road home, in Anguish, b\' Albion, a son of Mr. Foljambe's Albion. December was a better month than November, and there was not so much frost as there had been in the previous month, which was a very broken one. They had a hard day on the 8th, when they met at Deighton Bar, and after running their first fox THE RULE OE Mr. GEORGE LANE EOX. 39 from Deighton Spring to \\'alton village, where the run practically ended, they found again in Cocked Hat Whin, and ran on to Plompton Rocks, where they changed, and hunted till dark without getting hold of a fox. On the iith they had another hunt till dark, of which the following is the account : — 'December iith. Stockeld Lodges. Stockeld and Woodhall ' blank. Found at Swindon Wood, went away up the hill ' to Kirkby, down into the Punch Bowl, up again across ' Spofforth Hagg, through Stockeld Park to Linton village. ' Fifty-five minutes ; very pretty. Fox doubled under the 'river bank, causing a long check. Hit him off to Wood- ' hall, Devonshire Whin ; left off in the dark.' On the 13th they met at Arthington, and after a couple of bursts, in both of which they killed their fox, they found in the Pleasure Grounds, and were again beaten by the dark. Two days later they met at Stutton Mill, where they ' killed a fox in the garden at Grimston, to please Lord ' Londesborough.' The run of the season, certainly the best run that the early part of it could boast, took place on Christmas Eve : — ■ ' December J4th. Gateforth. Found on the Common, ran a 'pretty thing near to Selby town. Our second fox was a ' glorious fellow. Went away from Rrex Wood to Milford ' Woods, skirting the covert, ran nearly to the back of the ' village, crossed the railroad, went very near Rither Woods, ' turned to the left up to Church Fenton, to Ulleskelf, along ' the meadows to Grimston Park, through the shrubbery ' at the back of the stables, down into the meadows, and ' crossed the river ; went through Oxton, and killed him ' near the side bar from the turnpike road. One hour and 'forty-five minutes; a splendid run.' What a line and what a run that was ! And it does not require a very vivid imagination, after reading the Squire's 6o HTSTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. account of it, to picture the delight of master and man as they returned home, or to guess at what their conversation and mutual congratulations would be like. Five days later they again ran till dark, this being the fourth time within three weeks hounds had been stopped when darkness came on. On January 7th they had what was then happily of Isut rare occurrence in any part of the country — a blank day. It took place at Byrne, and is one of the very few blank days of which I find mention in Mr. Fox's diaries. On the iSth, when they met at the Boot and Shoe, they had 'one ' of those remarkable long days, proving the condition of 'hounds, and tiring all the horses. Found at Newfield, and ' ran for five hours,' changing foxes several times, and ending without a kill. They had a good day at Stutton Mill on the 28th, the afternoon run being one of those for which the Bramham have ever been famous. A fox had stolen away, and got a good start irom somewhere in the neighbourhood of Heyton Wood, but Mr. Fox is not \ery explicit as to where he went away from. They hunted up to him in Renshaw Wood, and getting on good terms with him there, they rattled him along over a good country, and finally rolled him over in the garden at Hazlewood. On the following day, when Mr. Fox hunted with the York and Ainsty at Nidd Rock House, after a fair morning's sport they found a third fox at .Scriven, and 'a boy knocked him on the head ' with a stick, — inglorious end ! ' The following run, which, it will be noticed, took place on St. Valentine's Day, was a great run, though perhaps it scarcely takes rank with the run with that ' glorious fellow ' from Brex Wood on Christmas E\'e. The reader may judge for himself: — 'February 14th. Beilby Grange. Found in Hetchell, ran 'towards Saw Woods, no scent. Second fox at Westwoods, THE RULE OF Mr. GEORGE LANE FOX. 6 1 ' Went away very fast, through Lady Wood, Lunn Wood, 'Dog- Kennel Whin, Norwood Bottoms, and Whittle Carr 'to Becca. The}' had a slight check, hit him off to Heyton 'Wood, just skirting it and Bullen Wood, through Renshaw, 'skirting Towton Spring and Patefield, and crossed the ' railroad, leaving Church Fenton just at the right-hand. ' Left Rither Woods on the right, ran to the river near ' Cawood, turned up the bank, crossed to Nun Appleton, ' and lost him in the dark at the back of the house. Two 'hours and fifteen minutes; fine run.' March was cold and dry, and productive of little sport, and the season came to a close on April loth, when hounds met at Pool ; the only note of the last day which the diary contains. Shortly after Mr. George Lane Fox took hold of the Bramham Moor hounds, it became advisable to turn them into a subscription pack. Subscriptions Htjwed in liberally, and the subscription list is a wonderful one, when it is taken into consideration that the country was then not .so thickly populated ; and with fewer people huntintr, it certainly com- pares favourably with the subscription lists of many Hunts in the present day. I give a list of the subscriptions for the season 1852-3, that my readers may form their own opinions on the matter. Bramham RIoo R Hunt, 1 85 2-3. Lord Harewood _ £ 500 s. A. Montague - £ 50 G. L. Fox - - 500 R. S. Oliver - 50 E. Lascelles - - 50 R. E. Payne - 50 W. Beckett - - 50 L. W. Wickham - 50 T. D. Bland - - 50 E. York - 50 T. G. Clayton- - 50 T. Fairfax 50 D. Cooper - 50 James Brown 50 J. Cooper - 50 Sir John Ramsden 100 T. C. T. Gascoig ne- 50 W. Ramsden - 50 H HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. Lord Londesborough £. 50 s. H. E. Harrison L 10 s. E. Ackroj'd - - 30 J. J. Harrison 10 ID J. R.Atkinson - 30 0. Milne 10 J. D. Holdsworth - 25 J. Shaw 10 R. Hatfield - - 25 J. Simon ID H. Hood - 25 J. Gr. Uppleby 10 J. Kendall - - 25 B. Wainman - 10 W. T. Markham - 25 C. W. Wheeler ID Sir J. RadclifFe - 25 H. Richardson ID J. Starkey - 25 W. S. Atkinson 1 10 J. A. Ikin - 25 J. Brook 10 C. W. Wilkinson - 25 Col. Lane - 5 P. Wormald - - 25 Jo. Wilkinson - 5 5 Ch. Middelton - 25 T. T. Wharton - 5 Jo. Benyon - - 25 10 ID H. Chorley - - 5 Lord W. Thynne J. M. Dawson ;62,395 15 There was ;^I25 unpaid, but which was good, and some of which was made up of increased subscriptions, promised by those who had already paid their original subscriptions ; so that altogether the subscription amounted to the substantia] sum of .1^2,520: a very large one, when the difference in the expense of hunting a country then and now is taken into consideration. The season of 1852-3 commenced on November ist, at Kiddal Lane, there being nothing exceptional in the way of sport ; and it is again noticeable that the cub-hunting season is not mentioned. On the 8th they had a good old-fashioned run from Scarthingwell. They had met at Stutton Mill, and done nothing ; but in the afternoon they had some fun, hunting by Grimston, Church Fenton, and nearly to Rither and back again, and killing on the island at .Scarthingwell, after a run of three hours and forty minutes. On the 12th they had a clipper. THE RULE OF Mr. GEORGE LANE FOX. , 63 ' 1 2th. Wighill Park. Found at Walton Wood, ran hard in ' the wood for fifteen minutes, went away to the river, ' crossed at Newton Kyme, went by Tolston Wood, the 'bottom of the Raikes, by the lodges in Blackfen, through ' Potterton, and killed him in the open between Barwick ' and Scarcroft. One hour and fifteen minutes. Very fine 'run; most of the field were thrown out by the river.' Fair sport seems to have been enjoyed during November and December, day after day there being good average runs. A couple of these may be given as examples : — 'November 17th. Cross Roads, Bramham Moor. Found at ' Becca ]\Ioor, away through Hazlewood, Headley Bar, 'killed him by the Tadcaster and Bramham road, pointing 'for Oglethorpe. Thirty minutes; fast, .Second fox in ' Hallowell Lees, ran to ground. Found again in Blackfen. ' Gave him a turn round the wood, came away to Lindrick ' Hills, skirted Westwoods, pointing for Rigton, turned to ' the left by Ruler to Scarcroft, to ground in Mr. Worde- ' sallow's plantation. Forty-three minutes. Very good.' 'December 17th. Church Fenton. Found in Rither Woods, ' went away towards Bishop Woods, turned to the left, 'skirted Patefield, checked on the rail near Towton Spring. 'Thirty-five minutes. Hunted a ring round Patefield, 'Towton, Grimston, crossed the river at the railroad bridge, 'hit him into Bolton Percy village, lost. Two hours, thirty ' minutes.' 'December i8th. Woodhall. Found, ran a ring to Linton, 'Devonshire Whin, crossed the river at Cardvvick, ran to ' Harewood, out towards Eccup, turned to Alwoodley, and 'killed at the Grey Stone Whin. The river very high. ' Ned Johnson and B. Atkinson the only people that forded ' it and got with hounds. Treadwell and others rode by ' Harewood Bridge. Came back, found again at Woodhall, ' ran a smart forty minutes' ringing, and killed. Good scent.' On December 21st they had a singular experience. They met at Burn, and tried all day without hndin;^ : an 64 HISTORY OF THE BRA iM HAM MOOR HUNT. occurrence much commoner in these days than is desirable ; and as they were going home at four o'clock, a fox was viewed at the corner of Stainer Wood. Late as was the hour, and notwithstanding that it was shortest day, hounds were laid on, and away they went at a clipping pace, over Barlow Moor, and by Gambleforth to Drax. By this time it was dark, and everyone lost hounds, which were stopped by some farmers ; Treadwell getting them home all right. Two days later, Treadwell had the misfortune to sprain his leg, and had to go home, and his misfortune kept him out of the saddle for some days. Nor was this the only misfortune which befell the establishment, for on January i ith, as he was riding one of the kennel hacks to meet the York and Ainsty, at Ribston, Captain Fox's horse fell, and hurt his knee so badly that he had to return home in Lord Lascelles' carriage. January seems to have provided a fair average of sport, and February was ushered in with some excellent runs : — 'February 5th. Woodhall. Found directly; killed. Found ' again at Stockeld Park ; ran to Woodhall, Woolley Head, ' across the Punch Bowl to Swindon Wood, left Weeton 'on the left, and killed by the river, close to the railroad * opposite Pool .Station. One hour ; very good. Frost put a stop to hunting after the tenth of the month, and it was not till March ist that they were able to take the field again ; then the country was in an unfit state for riding, and as often happens immediately after the break up of a frost, there was only poor sport. Next clay, howe\er, they did better : — ' March 2nd. Cross Roads, Bramham Moor. .Still bad riding. ' Found ; ran some time with a bad .scent, snowing at ' times. Found second fox at Hook Moor ; ran him 'through the woods away at the Micklefield end to ' .Stourton Grange, through Garforth village, pointed back THE RULE OF Mr. GEORGE LANE FOX. 65 ' to the Boot and Shoe, and killed him by the side of the ' road between Peckfield Bar and the plantations. He had ' laid down quite beat. One hour, thirty minutes. On the 1 2th, we read that they had a beautiful find in a tree near \\^eeton, and lost their fox after a fair gallop ; and on the 1 8th, when a very severe frost prevented them starting' till noon, they found a very white fox in Fairy Cars, and lost him. They found the same white fox again at Hutton Thorns on the 30th of the month, and again he beat them, and then he disappears from history. He does not appear to have given any very great run, and on the two occasions on which he is mentioned, it is noted that there was no scent. They finished the season on April iith, when they had a fair day; but on the two preceding days they were out, sport was so good for the time of the year that I give them in full : — 'April 8th. Ahvoodley Crag. Fox seen crossing the road; ' laid the hounds on, hunted to Wigton Knoll, through ' Harewood Woods, out by the big whin ; bad scent. 'Came up to him again in Alwoodley Crag; hunted him ' about .Scotland Wood, away nearly to Chapeltown, and ' killed. Tried Moseley, Cookridge, and Black Hill, but 'did not find.' 'April gth. Beckwithshaw. Found at Birk Crag; a quick scurry, 'ran to ground. Found again on Rigton Moor; ran very ' well at the back of Pannal to Harrog^ate Clump, left the ' Common on the left, crossed the Leeds and Thirsk line, ' through Spacey House Whin, pointed for .Spofforth Hagg, ' turned to the right over the Harrogate line, which caused ' a very long check. Hit the fox off, he having been seen ' to go over Rudding Park wall, came up to him at the ' back of the house ; after dodging about, he went out to ' the Bleaching Ground Whin, came out again, and they ' caught him as he tried to jump the wall back into the ' park. The first fifty-five minutes good ; altogether a good ' day's sport. 66 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. Well might Mr. Fox write at the end of his diary, — 'A very satisfactory winter;' and these were two famous days' sport for the last week of the season. There is now a hiatus in Mr. Fox's diary, and there seems to be no record of the season of 1853-54. ^ have searched the columns of old newspapers and old sporting- magazines, for some records of the hunting during the period which elapsed between the end of the season 1852-53 and the middle of the season 1854-55, '^^t to no purpose. It is curious to find how little was written of the Bramham Moor Hunt in the earlier years of Mr. F"ox's mastership, and had it not been for his carefully-kept diary, anything like a history ot the doings of the pack would have been impossible. 1854-55. The diary recommences on [anuarv ist, 1855, and capital sport was enjoyed till frost put a stop to hunting on the 29th, keeping hounds in the kennel for more than a month. The best run in the month was just before the frost, when, as I need not tell the initiated, there is grenerallv a good holding scent : — 'January 26th. Bickerton Bar. Found in Cowthorpe Wood; 'ran a ringing fox tovvard.'s Ingmanthorpe, back over the ' river towards Cattal, back along the bank, and killed. ' Found second fox at Marston Whin ; went away through ' Wilstrop Wood straight to the river Nidd ; crossed, pointed 'for Thorpe Green, turned to the right through Nun ' Monkton, crossed the river again close to the ferry, left ' Red House on the right, the fox running the river bank. 'Came to a check at farm buildings about a mile from ' Red House, the first time hounds were spoken to for an ' hour. Hit him off, but the scent became worse and ' worse. We hunted by Hessay, left Marston on the right, ' and Hutton ; this gallant fox walking away from us after 'a capital run. The hounds, in consequence of the river, ' having the best of it.' THE RULE OF Mr. GEORGE LANE FOX. 67 Tread well took hounds out on March ist, and killed a fox in Micklefield Woods, and on the following day they met at Bickerton Bar, and found in Marston Whin, losing- their fox at Thorpe Green, in all probability the same that had shown them such a good run on January 26th. March was wild and stormy, and the ground soon got dry, but fair sport was occasionally had, quite up to the average for the month. The season concluded on the 14th of April, when they met at Arthington, and had a fair day, of which 1 give the account :— ' Found in Bramhope ; ran a ring to ground in a drain ; bolted 'him, and hunted him very prettily by Arthington, through ' Harewood to Scarcroft. A very good fox ran away from 'us, scent not good enough to keep near him.' 1855-56. Good cub-hunting was experienced in this season, though the ground was hard and dry ; and scent was fairly good throughout. A commencement was made on September 8th, and the hearts of master and huntsman were gladdened by a great show of foxes all over the country. Mr. Fox was laid up with a bad knee for four weeks, and the first entry in his diary relates to November 9th, and fair sport seems to have been shown till the 30th, when a run took place such as is not seen more than once or twice in a man's lifetime, a run which I take leave to think may rank with the famous Warwickshire run from Pool Fields Osiers, the Waterloo run with the Pytchley, and the Melbourne run with the York and Ainsty. No good ever arises from comparing one good run with another, and it is difficult to do so without some injustice. The kind of country crossed, the day, and many things, have to be taken into consideration, and so I do not intend to make any comparison, leaving my reader to do that for himself But I think he will allow that I am rioht in claiminof for this run a place amongst the great historic runs of the century. 68 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. 'Wighill Park. Found in Marston Whin; ran a smart burst ' to ground. Found again at Hutton Thorns, went away 'for Askham, turned for Grange Wood, pointed for York, ' bearing again to the left, crossed the Ouse opposite ' Fairfield, and the Foss at Huntington, and killed at Mr. 'Lloyd's house at Stockton.* One hour and forty -five ' minutes ; eleven and a half miles straight, seventeen the ' way hounds went. The fastest and best run that could ' be seen in this country. Horses : The Courtier, Workman ; ' the former carrying me through the run. C. Fox f rode ' Fusilier, and he died.' They ran through the York and Ainsty and Lord Middleton's countries ; and I am inclined to wonder if this was the gallant fox that walked away from them on the 26th of January in the same year. F"or a man of Mr. Fox's weight to get through such a run on one horse (and anyone who knows the country does not require telling that there was never a chance of a change, nor even of a nick) is wonderful indeed, and shows him to have been a consummate horseman, as indeed he was. And what a good horse the Courtier must have been, for we find him out in his turn again on the following F'riday ! There was good sport through January and February, and in March they found a good fox, which again led them into the York and Ainsty country. 'March loth. Harrogate. Found at Birk Crag, hunted up the ' Haver ah Park coverts to Boar Holes, turned to the right, ' ran very fast to Rennie Crag, on to Svvarcliffe, crossed the ' river, hunted into the corner of the wood at Ripley Castle, ' turned out to the left, leaving Thornton on the right, and ' ran to ground with the fox almost in their mouths at ' Sawley. Two hours and fifteen minutes; a splendid run.' * Mr. Lloyd, who was master of the York and Ainsty, came running- out of the house, exclaiming ' Whose hounds are these ? Whose hounds are these ? ' They are not mine ; where have they come from ? ' t C. Fo.x was a cousin, a light weight, and a good horseman. THE RULE OF Mr. GEORGE LANE FOX. 69 This was indeed a splendid run, much of it over a fine grass country, and as wild as man need wish to ride over. The season ended on April 5th, at Bramham Park, where they had a fair day's sport, killinL;' one fox and running another to ground. The year 1856 was remarkable for a very interesting presentation which took place, the history of which is unique. Farming" in the early fifties was very prosperous ; and Mr. Fox's tenants approached him on the subject of their rents, which they .said were too low, and which they were willing should be raised. Mr. Fox, of course, could not consent to such a course ; and they then commissioned Sir Francis Grant to paint his portrait, which they presented to Mrs. Fox. The horse is Courtier, — the horse he rode through the famous run already related. He was a remarkably high-couraged horse, such as many would not care to ride, and was a purchase from the late Newcombe Mason. The hound is General, by Streamer — Belvoir Guilty. The inscription at the foot of the portrait runs as follows : — 'This portrait of George Lane Fox, Esq., was presented ' to Mrs. Lane Fox by the tenantry on the Bramham Park 'estate, as a memorial of their landlord's liberality.' 1856-57. The earliest record of the season is an entry relating to October 27th : but they would probably start cub-hunting earlier than that. The season was like its predecessor, a very good one, and excellent runs seemed to be the rule, and not the exception. Yet the season is a black one in the annals of the Hunt, for it was during it that that good sportsman, the third Earl of Harewood, met with the accident which resulted in his death. The entry which follows is an interesting one : — 'December 12th. Bickerton Bar. Unluckily for me, I was ' obliged to go to Oxford. Hounds found at Ingmanthorpe, 'ran a ring, then away to Walshford Bridge, Ribston, I yo niSTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. ' Goldsbro', Leylands, left Grafton village on the left, and ' lost their fox in some buildings in Boroughbridge. The 'first part of the run hunting, from Leylands the pace 'good. Everybody much pleased at the manner in which ' the dog pack did their work.' Then on January 7th they had a real old-fashioned Bramham Moor day with a stout Bramham Moor fox. ' Garforth Bridge. Hard frost ; doubtful hunting. Tried Kippax ' and Temple Ne\vsam,^blank. Found in Parlington Hollins, ' went away to Hook Moor, pointed for Lotherton, back to 'Parlington, away to Hawk's Nest, pointed for Micklefield, 'turned to the left back to Parlington. Away at Barwick ' end of the Hollins, along the brook side to Becca, ' Hazlewood, away by Headley, and lost in the little 'covert near Bramham Willow Garth, having hunted and 'run at times hard for two hours and twenty-five minutes. ' We found late, and were beat in the dark. Rather too 'hard for horses and hounds.' They had another very hard day from Riffa on the loth. After a sharp burst with their first fox, they had a capital hour and five minutes with their second, which they found in Rudding Park, and killed opposite Spofforth Castle. 'January 24th. Stockeld Park. Found in the patch of whin 'by the railroad, ran into Sicklinghall Wood, went away ' to the right, over Spofforth Haggs, nearly to Kirkby ' Overblow, partly down the hill, up again to Woolah Head, ' crossed the river, and he beat us, scent failing on Rigton ' Hill. Found our second fox at Woodhall, went away ' across the river at once, over Rigton Hill, Spring Wood, ' Norwood Bottoms, just touched upon Whittle Car, left ' Potterton on the left, through the old wood at Parlington, 'and the hounds snatched at him as he got through the ' wire fence at the back of the house. We had some delay ' on account of his artful dodging in the garden ; but the THE RULE OF Mr. GEORGE LANE FOX. ?• ' hounds hunted him out, forced him into the park, and ran 'into him. The pace was firstrate, — one hour and ten 'minutes up to the garden at Parlington. Poor Lord ' Harewood was severely hurt by falling over a sheep-net 'at Stockeld.' Lord Harewood died from the effects of this fall on the 22nd of the followin;4 month ; and it is needless for me to say what a gloom his sad death cast over the country in which he was so deservedly popular. Of course the hounds did not hunt until after the funeral. When they resumed operations, March had set in, and was a capital month too, and there was also some excellent sport in April. Hounds hunted till late, the last day being on the 20th, and Mr. Fox briefly sums up the season as a good one. 1857-58. Cub-hunting began on September ist, and went on merrily till October 28th, when the regular season began at Becca Hall, where they had a great show of foxes, and a lot of knocking about before getting hold of one. Up to Christmas, sport was of the best, one good day following another. Perhaps the best day up to the end of the year was St. Stephen's day, when they met at Wetherby Grange. It was at any rate a long one, and a hard one. 'Found in the old wood. An immense mob of foot people. ' Fox headed at every point, and at last killed in the park. 'Trotted off to Keswick Ox Close and HoUin Hall Whin — 'blank. A fox was viewed going into Wike Whin. We ' ran him through Scarcroft, over Birkby Hill, crossed the ' Leeds road, and ran to ground in a drain near Roundhay. ' Forty -five minutes. Found in Saw Woods, went out ' towards Bramham, back through the wood, away pointing 'for Scholes, left it on the right, pointed for Parlington, ' turned to the left, left Barwick on the left, Saw Woods on 'the left, and when running close to the fox, were brought 'to a check by a sheep-dog. Hit him off after a time. 'Through Whittle Carr, Blackfen, the Raikes, Hallowell 72 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. ' Lees, away to Headley Bar, crossed the road, and stopped ' in the dark, going into Hazlewood. An hour and fifty ' minutes ; fifty-five minutes to the long check.' Another s^ood day in a fine country should not be omitted. On [anuary i6th they met at Harewo(xl Bridge: — 'Found in Rougement Car Whin, went away pointing tor ' Swindon, turned to the left over the hill, down into the ' valley, running very fast to the railway tunnel on the 'road to Riffa ; hunted on, when the wind being very 'strong he turned back for Weeton, was viewed, ran him ' to ground in a drain on Barrett's farm, he bolted, killed. ' Found in Woolah Head, no scent. Found at Stockeld, ' ran to the railroad between Deighton and Stockeld, 'pointed for Wetherby, turned to the right for Woodhall, ' away again towards Sicklinghall, back to the left, down ' to the river, crossed above Woodhall Bridge, and killed in ' the lime-quarry. Fifty minutes ; very fast. Horses beat.' The season finished on April 20th at Birk Cray, where they had a very satisfactory day, killing one fox and running a brace to ground. Mr. Fox's last entry for the season runs as follows : — ' Hunted one hundred and twenty-seven days ' with foxhounds, from September i st to April 1 7th. A fair 'season.' Mr. Fox was unable to be out on the last day, owing to indisposition. 1858-59. A successful cub-hunting season commenced on August 28th, and concluded on October 20th, hounds killing nine brace of cubs in the fourteen days they hunted, and having an occasional good run in the open. They commenced the season proper on October 25th at Garforth Bridge, when they had a capital run from Kippax Park, to ground in Renshaw. An hour and three minutes, and a nine- mile point. Average sport was enjoyed up to Christmas, one of the best runs taking place on December 13th, when they met at Bardsey. They did not do much in the morning, THE RULE OF Mr. GEORGE LANE FOX. 7^ but their afternoon fox led them a merry dance from Dog Kennel Whin, by Hetchell, Bardsey, and Wike, and through Harewood Wood to Alwoodley, where he saved his brush by going to ground. It was a capital fifty-five minutes, and without a check. On the 22nd they met at Garforth Bridge, and ' found that good old fox in the whin at Kippax,' but after running hard for a few minutes, scent began to fail, and they ran the line out to nothing at Renshaw. A week later [they had a hard day from the Boot and Shoe, finding their fox in Parlington Old Wood at a quarter to three, and racing him for fifty minutes, a ring back into the Hollins. Then they hunted him on to Aberford, and finally had him dead beat, but he managed to escape them. The new year was ushered in with a good day, but misfortune attended it ; and as is often the case, misfortune did not come singly. 'January I St. Cross Roads, Bramham Moor. Found in Hazle- ' wood. A great number of foxes on foot. Hounds running 'very hard, at last went away through Bramham Park to ' Westwoods, back to the gardens, and killed. Hounds ' at work without ceasing an hour and forty-five minutes. 'Found at Oglethorpe Whin, ran prettily to Newton and 'Tadcaster, hunted on to Grimston, Renshaw, and Pate- ' field. One hour and a quarter, and lost. Unlucky day. ' W. Markham broke his leg ; W. Milner three ribs.' There was that very unusual occurrence, — a blank day, on March 12th, at Pool ; but it was easily accounted for by the wild and stormy weather which prevailed about that time. A few days later some distinguished visitors hunted with the Bramham, and as is seldom the case when men come from a distance to hunt, they were lucky enough to fall in for a good run over a nice line. Here is what Mr. Fox has to say about it : — 'March i8th. Marston. Found in Hutton Thorns, ran a bad 'ringing fox for an hour, lo.st. Found in J\larston Whin, 74 HISTORY OF THE B RAM HAM MOOR HUNT. ' ran a smart scurry, lost. Found at Collier Hagg, ran 'towards Angram, turned over Marston Hill, back by the 'village, left Hutton Thorns on the right, pointed for ' Calvert's Whin, turned to the left to Red House Wood, to ' ground. A very good forty minutes.' The distinguished visitors were Mr. 'Jack' Thompson and Capt. Percy Williams. The season ended on April 9th, when they had an uneventful day from the Boot and Shoe. 1859-60. The season commenced auspiciously at Bram- ham Park on August 29th, when, notwithstanding that the morning was hot and dry, the young hounds got blood. Rain fell shortly afterwards, and an exceptionally good cub- hunting season took place, something like fifteen or sixteen brace of foxes being killed. On October 29th a circumstance occurred w'hich might have been attended with serious con- sequences. Hounds met at Spacey Houses, and had not a very great day's sport, but they killed a brace of cubs. ' Somewhere, ' says Mr. Fox, 'the hounds picked up poison; ' three couples began to reel about and tumble over. Old ' Bantling nearly died. Two couples more were taken ill on ' the way home. Treadwell got them home in a cart. They 'all recovered after medicine.' There is no more mention of the mischance, nor is it accounted for in any way. On December 3rd they had a clipper. ' Stutton Mill. Found in Tadcaster Willow-bed, a bad fox, ' ringing about Grimston Park. At last he went away, ' and we killed near Tolston. Laid the hounds on to ' another seen going towards the Willow Garth, hunted him * away to Renshaw and back, and lost. Got on to another ' in Grimston Hills, went away down the park, came up to ' him in the fields near the Ulleskelf .Station. Ran him ' hard into the park, hunted him away to Jackdaw Crag, ' Hazlewood, and Hayton Wood. Here we changed, and ' ran a fresh fox hard by Becca and Potterton, and Tread- ' well stopped them with difficulty in the dark near .Scholes. ' Riot and Dorothy would not be stopped.' THE RULE OF Mr. GEORGE LANE FOX. 75 They were a good deal bothered with frost in the latter end of January, and all through February ; but Mr. Fox was keen to steal a day whenever there was an opportunity, and they had some capital runs when there was no chance of making a start till noon. March came in well ; and taken on the whole, the month was a good one, the following, perhaps, being the best day's sport in it : — ' March 3rd. East Keswick. Found in Wike Clumps ; ran a 'smart burst towards Keswick, back to 11 are wood, across ' the park, back to the right through HoUin Hall Whin, ' down to Cardwick. Found in the willow bed ; went away ' to Cardwick, up to the right, skirted Hollin Hall Whin ' into Harewood Park, running fast to the Grey Stone, out ' at the end of the woods pointing for Eccup ; turned to ' the right for Arthington, up the hill again pointing for ' Cookridge, kept to the right, leaving Bramhope on the ' right, and caught him just before he reached the wall of ' the Chevin Park. One hour and fifteen minutes. A ' capital run ; horses all beat.' Another day in March is worth recording, though there is nothing very grand about the sport. 'March 26th. Harewood Bridge. Tried Riffa, Almscliflf Whin, ' Rigton j\Ioor, Thurtle's Whin, Walton Head : blank. 'Found in Spacey House Whin, a fox with his forelegs ' injured, having been in a trap. Found in Herbert's ' larches, ran to Spacey House Whin ; killed : a wretched 'fox without a single tooth. Found in the Cocked Hat ' Whin and killed a fox : skin and bones, no teeth, hair ' falling off him. The hounds refused to eat him. Some- ' thing curious : evident that the foxes were not right.' The foxes to which Mr. Fox alludes were evidently suffering from mange ; and the really curious part of the thing is that it seems, so far as I can gather, to have been an isolated case. The season, which ended on April 19th 76 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. with a fair day's sport at Bramham Park, was a good one, though there was a lot of bad weather and frost, and Tread- well had a score of fifty brace of foxes killed. 1 860-6 1. Those whose memory takes them back to the year 1 860 do not need to be reminded of the sunless summer for which it had such an ill reputation ; and as a natural consequence of that sunless summer and consequent late harvest, September was well advanced before the Bramham Moor took the field. They had a short, but fairly prosperous cub-hunting season. At the latter end of it Lord Palmerston was a guest of Mr. Fox's, and would, he said, dearly have liked a gallop, but he was obliged to go to London. The regular season commenced on Monday, November 5th, when they had a fair day's sport from Spacey Houses, the cream of the clay being a very pretty forty minutes from Bathing- House Whin to ground between Beckwithshaw and Rigton Moor. On Friday following, when they met at Thorparch, they foimd a fox in some standing oats, — sufficient proof of the lateness of the season. Frost came early. On the 17th hounds' feet were cut with it, and two days later they were confined to the kennel. They were at work again in a couple of days ; and then one good run followed another, till frost put an end to hunting for upwards of a month. Nearly every day is worthy of record, but I have only space for a couple of these grand December runs. 'December 1. St. Harewood Bridge. Found in Swindon Wood ; ' hunted him very prettily to Almscliff, and killed. Fifty 'minutes. Found in Rougemont Carr; did not get well ' away with him, held on to Swindon Wood, away to ' Walton Head, hung in covert for some time, ran fast very ' nearly to Kirkby Overblow, back across part of the ' Haggs, skirted Spacey House Whin, along the back of ' Pannal to Harlow Carr. The hounds unfortunately ' divided in a cjuarry above Pannal, and did not catch the ' leading hounds till we got to Harlow Carr, Hunted THE RULE OF Mr. GEORGE LANE FOX. 77 ' through the plantation, leaving Birk Crag to the right, ' and carried him on about three miles, pointing for the ' Nidd. A good run, but getting late, and our horses not ' anxious to go on, we stopped. One hour and a half to ' Walton Head, one hour to Birk Crag. Very good and ' severe day.' On the loth, they met at Cross Roads, Bramham, and what they did that day is not Hkely to be forgotten, by those who were out. There was not much scent, and as usual under those circumstances, the fox hung about, and they hunted him into Bramham village. He looked in at the door of Miss Ledgard's house, and some hounds went in and jumped through the drawing-room window. The sport on the 1 5th is worthy of record for the curious circumstance which took place : — ' Boot and .Shoe. Killed a lame fox from the small wood near ' Newfield. Found near the Boot and Shoe, and lost. ' Found in jMicklefield Wood, and ran a ring round the ' woods, then away by Led Mill to Bullen Wood, turned ' away from Heyton Wood, and killed a few fields below 'Jackdaw Crag. One hour, five minutes. A most curious ' occurrence, whilst the hounds were running into their fox, 'a fresh one jumped up, and was killed at the same moment.' \^ery severe was the frost which set in two days later, and on Christmas-day the thermometer was nine degrees below zero. Sport was good when they got to work again, but February was rather a broken month. March, however, did well, and it opened with a glorious day's sport : — 'March ist. Tadcaster Bar. Found and killed in Catterton ' Wood. Found in Shire Oaks ; went away very fast ' towards Wighill, back towards Catterton, turned to the ' left to Healaugh village, came to a check at the gravel ' pits ; very fast, twenty-five minutes. Hunted slowly on ' towards Wighill, turned to the left to Healaugh House, y8 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. ' through the policies, viewed the fox over Brooksbank's ' Bridge. A tremendous storm of wind and rain came ' on, still the bitches kept their noses down. Treadwell ' persevering, hunted through Tadcaster town, and down ' the Ings, killing the fox on the banks of the river behind ' Grimston. Two hours, ten minutes.' This was indeed a remarkable run, and a triumph for the huntsman, whose patience and perseverance under such adverse circumstances are an example to all who carry the horn ; and to their critics as well, for it is within the range of possibility that there were some impatient gentlemen out that day who dubbed Treadwell 'slow' when he was carefully stickine to his hunted fox. Both huntsman and hounds thoroughly deserved their fox. The season ended with a good day's sport at Alwoodley Gates ; and the long frost and late start notwithstanding, a rare good season had it been, one good day following another from the beginning to the end of it. They killed forty -nine brace during the season. 1861-62. .September 2nd saw them at work again amongst the cubs, and they accounted for fifteen brace of them before commencement of the regular season. They commenced the reqular season this year at Byram, — it will have already been noticed that the Bramham Moor did not open at any place regularly — and they had a good hunting run from Huddlestone Wood, killing their fox at the end of an hour and fifteen minutes, near Aberford Bar. Fair sport was had through the month of November, and at one time foxes seemed to run pretty constantly into the Ainsty country. Indeed, on the 15th, when they met at the Wild Man, they spent a great portion of the day in their neighbours' country, for they lost their first fox at Askham Bogs, and their second fox led them a ring by Oxton and Palethorpe. A week later there happened a THE RULE OE Mr. GEORGE LANE FOX. 79 curious series of misfortunes. Hounds met at Bickerton Bar. It was a stormy day, there was not sufficient scent to press a fox, and there was no sport worthy of record. Yet on that uneventful day from a sporting standpoint, two horses broke their backs, and another broke a leg. On F"riday, December 20th, they had a typical Ingmanthorpe day, which is worth recording. They did not, however, meet at Ingmanthorpe. 'December 20th. Tadcaster Bar. Found in Shire Oaks; ran 'by Nova Scotia, Bilton village, to Bickerton Bar, nearly 'to Tockwith ; turned him, and pulled him down in a field 'on Skilbeck's farm. Forty minutes; fast. Found in Hall 'Park Spring; ran to Ingmanthorpe Willow Garth, 'Champagne Gorse, Hall Park Spring, round again a 'larger ring, into a hollow tree near Hall Park; bolted, ' ran him round the covert, forced him out, and killed. ' Two hours and twenty minutes ; first-rate hunting.' The year ended uneventfully. Hounds, of course, were kept in kennel on the day of the Prince Consort's funeral, and after that there was a good deal of frost and fog. The new year opened auspiciously, for though New Year's Day was frosty, on the following day they had a good run, of which a full account must be given : — 'January 2nd. North Deighton. Found in Deighton Spring; 'went away over the Crimple pointing for Spofforth, turned 'short to the left over the Crimple again; straight to ' Wetherby, leaving Stockeld Lodge two fields to the right, 'crossed the Wetherby road near the station, ran by ' Swinnow, by Ingmanthorpe Old Wood, and caught him 'below Geldart's plantation. Fifty minutes ; very fast ; no ' check. Found in Ribston Moor Whin ; came away ' along the Crimple bank, through Geldart's plantation, 'Ingmanthorpe Whin and Wood, to ground in a drain ' close to Cowthorpe village ; bolted, ran very quick to 'Wetherby, to ground in a rabbit-hole behind Mr. Ridsdale's 'wall. A capital day.' So HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. There was a good deal of frost in [anuary, though hounds were not stopped for many days together, but the weather seems to have been very unsettled, and scent none too good. On February 7th, a curious incident took place, which I relate in Mr. Fox's own words: — 'February 7th. North Deighton. Found a fox in Ribston ' Whin ; went away to Armitage's plantation, down to the ' river, crossed, hunted towards Hunsingore, went to ground 'in a hedgerow near Walshford Bridge. Found at Stockeld, ' went away over Spofforth Haggs towards Rudding, down ' to the Crimple below Follifoot, changed foxes, leaving * our run fox much beat, ran on to Rudding Park ; away ' again, bad scent. Jem came up with our run fox, the 'foot people having caught him. Turned him down, and ' killed.' On the 28th they had a good hunting run, much of which was over the York and Ainsty country. 'February 28th. Tadcaster Bar. Found in Catterton Wood; ' ran a ring, then away towards Oxton, leaving it on the ' right, ran down to the river and crossed ; the hounds 'racing him to Grimston Hills, turned him, and killed him ' by the roadside. Forty-five minutes. Found our second ' fox at Hutton Thorns ; ran at the back of Rufforth, left 'Swann's Whin on the left, crossed Angram bottoms, left ' Healaugh village on the left, ran on the right of Nova 'Scotia; and lost near Bilton church. An hour and twenty ' minutes ; good hunting run.' They hunted on till late into April, the last day being on the 2ist, when they met at Bishop Woods. They had an hour and five minutes' hunting in the woods, and killed ; then ended the day by drawing Brex and Milford Woods blank. The season was only a middling one, scent being indifferent on the whole, but they had some good sport in December and January. They killed fifty-two brace of foxes. THE RULE OF Mr! GEORGE LANE FOX. gi 1862-63. The harvest was a late one, and much corn was uncut when the cub-hunting season started on September 20th, at Bramham Park. Although it was a short cubbing season it was a fairly successful one, ten and a half brace of cubs being accounted for. Fog and frost seem to have taken it in turns to hinder and embarrass hunting men. The opening day of the season was at Riffa, on November 3rd, and then they had to wait a considerable time f^o ', ■• "•^' i. . & • J .. yj^^- j^^^. CHAPTER VIII. Mr. Fox as a Horseman and Coachman. ' Here's to the arm that can hold 'em when gone, Still to a gallop inclined, Sir! Heads in the front, with no bearing-reins on, Tails with no cruppers behind, Sir! Let the steam pot Hiss till it's hot ; Give me the speed of tlie Tantivy Trot.' Egcrtoii IVarburfim . Mr. Fox was a thorough horseman In the best sense of the word. He thoroughly understood all the details of the stable as well as of the kennel, and I have heard him tell how, when a boy, and hunting on his rough -coated pony, — for in his early days it will be remembered that clipping was only in its infancy, — his father insisted on him 'dressing' the pony himself when he came in from hunting, and used to watch the operation, seated on the corn-bin, to see that it was done properly. Mr. Fox held that it was the right way to train a lad to be a sportsman, and I think there is no one of experience who will not agree with him No milk-and-water sportsman was he, and he was justly severe against some of the modern methods which prevail. ' How many men are ' there in this big field,' he once asked, ' who could attend 'to their horse, and make him comfortable after a hard day, 204 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. ' if it so happened that he finished in an out-of-the-way 'place, and could not get home that night? 'Now-a-days,' he added, ' it is usual, as soon as a boy is born, to provide ' him with a second horse, and a portmanteau of sandwiches, 'and a sherry cask.' Mr. Fox was never at any time what is known as a ' bruiser,' and he had not much sympathy with those whom he used to call the 'thrusting scoundrels,' who ride regardless of spoiling sport ; but he liked to see a man ride well up to hounds, and he himself was a fine horseman. His weight of course handicapped him a little, but he rode good horses, had a remarkable eye to hounds, and though he did not go out of his way to seek them, if big places came in his way he did not 'gallop round.' He had beautiful hands, and liked a horse with a bit of temper about him, recognising, doubtless, that high-spirited horses carried him best through a run. But no matter how unruly a horse might be, he never 'did anything' with Mr. Fo.x on his back, — the secret, of course, beinsr the beautiful liajht hands for which he was famous. During the London season he frequently visited the late Newcome Mason's establishment, and he dearly loved to have a gallop on one of the pullers, if there was one of that sort in the stable. It is needless to say that in Mr. Fox's hands he was as steady as could be wished. An instance of Mr. Fox's consummate judgment as a horseman is given on a preceding page, where it is related how he got through that good run from Marston to Stockton on the Courtier. His cousin, who was a light weight and a good horseman and well mounted, killed his horse, whilst the Courtier was able to come out again in his turn. It has been said that the hands of a horseman are born with him, and that, like • poets, they cannot be made, and there is a great deal of truth in the saying ; but in all probability the fine hands for which Mr, Fox was distin- Mr. FOX AS A HORSEMAN AND COACHMAN. 205 guished were much improved by the practice he got in driving coaches from a very early age. Mr. Fox, it mubt be remembered, was the connecting link, if I may be allowed to use such a term, between the old and the new methods of quick travelling. Gentlemen of a preceding generation travelled in their own carriages drawn by post-horses, and it was not till 1786,3 little above a hundred years ago, that the real glories of the road began. In a few years the improvement in public conveyances was so great, and the service was so much better, that they became generally used by all classes, but it was not till Macadam had rendered himself immortal by his new system of road-making, that the words of Nimrod, ' Coach travelling is no longer a ' disoustino- and tedious labour, but has lono- since been 'converted into comparative ease, and really approaches to ■something like luxury,' could be said to apply literally. Mr. Fox's first experience of a stage coach has been told before, I believe, but the story is such a good one, and is, moreover, so typical of the change which was rapidly coming over the country with the development of the coaching system, that it must be given once more, and in the squire's own words : ' 1 was shivering under the archway ' at Wetherby, when ten years old,' he writes, ' my father ' having sent me to meet the Glasgow mail, just put on 'the line from Doncaster, running via Pontefract, Aberford, 'Wetherby, &c. " Coachey" was at breakfast. My father's ' servant was ordered to book me an inside place to London ' on my way to Eton, and to give the guard a guinea to look ' after me. A stout fellow with red face came up, and said, ' "Are you young Fox?" "Yes." "Why, you've booked inside ! ' "a gentleman rides upon t'box ; come wi' mea ! " He went 'to the office, and said, "This young gentleman has made a ' " mistake ; he wants outside to London, not inside ; give us '"back two guineas." (Inside fare was four guineas, outside 2o6 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. 'two). He handed the two guineas to me and said, "There, '"spend that when you get to school." Dear old Jack! I did ' not forget him. My father was told that I had been seen on 'the box of the mail, talkino; to the coachman. He wrote ' me, regretting that I should have to travel by a public ' conveyance, but to sit cheek by jowl with the coachman ' was the vulgarest thing I could do, and desired me not to ' do it again. My father could only travel with four post- ' horses in a chariot by Barker. How sudden the change 'was! Old Jack let me "take hold" of quiet teams as soon ' as I was strono- enough, and I did love the old Glasgow ' mail. Several times I have driven her from Alconbury ' Hill to the Cross Roads, Clifford Moor, — one hundred and ' forty-five miles.' Within a very few years coaching became a chosen and favourite occupation with gentlemen, and Sir St. Vincent Cotton, the Duke of Beaufort, Mr. Foljambe, Sir Charles Ibbotson, and others too numerous to mention here, used frequently to drive the public coaches, and great coachmen as the gentlemen I have mentioned undoubtedly were, none of them were superior to or keener than Mr. Fox. Indeed, it was with him fox-hunting first, and coaching next. As he truly said, ' The love of driving is born in some people, 'but there are plenty who cannot learn;' and curiously enough he seems to have been the only enthusiastic coach- man in the family, and he remarks himself that he does not know one of his relatives who cared for driving. It is to this love of driving which is born in some people that the modern revival of coaching is to be attributed, and though Mr. Fox did not take a very active part in it, his interest was keen, and he had every sympathy with it, and he had one or two journeys on the coaches which ran out of London during recent years, notably the Tunbridge Wells coach, when Mr. Charles Hoare drove it. Mr. FOX AS A HORSEMAN AND COACHMAN. 207 How dearly Mr. Fox loved the rattle of the pole-chains may be better gathered from two extracts from those letters which I have had the privilege to look over: 'A well- ' appointed coach, not too full, or the dear old mail, was a ' pleasant mode of travelling, and the pleasure of rattling ' along, stage after stage, bound to keep time, roads in good ' order, to a creature born with love of coaching in him, ' was delightful.' . . . ' How charming four horses, trotting at ' a good pace, well able to do the work, just feeling the work- ' man's hand, getting over the ground without any appearance ' of being in a hurry.' Mr. Fox's anecdotes respecting the road, and his graphic descriptions of the old stage coachmen, are very interesting, and one would fain linger over them, as indeed one would over anything that emanated from his pen, so graphic and terse are his descriptions ; but a couple more extracts must suffice ; one an anecdote of the road, and the other a description of a coachman named Conway, who was the son of a clergyman, and who used to drive the Leeds and Manchester mail. ' He drove the mail to the end,' writes Mr. Fox, ' forty-four miles in four hours to a minute, over ' Blackstone Edge. He was a splendid fellow : no talk, ' no nonsense, his attention devoted to his job ; his power 'great, nerve grand, and most delicate hands.' Whoever, that has sat on a coach or handled a team, cannot see Conway handling his horses over Blackstone Edge, after reading this vivid description of him ! On one occasion when the squire was driving the mail, an outside passenger gave him half-a-crown, of which he was very proud ; as was his friend, the late Mr. George Lowther, when a clergyman gave him the same sum once when he got to his journey's end at Bridlington. But to the anecdote, which is as follows : ' Your leader ' that cantered off reminds me of a skewbald leader of Billy 2o8 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. 'Cooper's. " First time I have seen him trot for a fortnight." ' What has been the matter .'' ' " Why, John Bastard was 'coming- up, and he drove quietly until we got nearly to 'Charing Cross, when a man in a trap tried to pass, Johnny 'let go his whip, and the horse has never settled till to-day." 'Johnny,' adds Mr. Fox, 'was neat with his whip, and it 'often did harm.' A hint this that young coachmen will do well to bear in mind, for when a man can handle his whip well, and it is by no means an every-day accomplishment, he is rather apt to show his capabilities in that line. It would be an impertinence to say that in all matters connected with the management of a country Mr. Fox was thoroughly at home, and the management of a country is often a more difficult task than the management of the hounds in the kennel and the field. There are conflicting interests to keep balanced, shooting men and shooting tenants to oblige, and countless other thinp's to do, which call for the exercise of the greatest self-denial. A master of hounds has no bed of roses, even in so sporting a country as the Bramham Moor, and doubtless much of the diplomatic part of the work was irksome to a man of Mr. Fox's straightforward nature. He has been heard to say, when sorely put on, and feeling that he would like to give expression to his thoughts, that the position of a master of foxhounds in these days was nearly as degrading as that of a Member of Parliament. He could, however, and some- times did, hit out rather hardly when a man laid himself particularly open to reproof. The following letter shows how masters of hounds are sometimes treated, and also shows that Mr. Pox at least knew how to reply to impertinent suggestions. I, of course, suppress names, date, and locality, as no good purpose could be served by making either public. Mr. FOX AS A HORSEMAN AND COACHMAN. 209 ' Bramham, April, 18 — . ' Dear Sir, — -A master of hounds is a servant, and must ' expect to be treated to fault-finding. I regret that you do ' not approve of my mode of hunting the country, but your 'pamphlet, though it informs me that you found the remains, ' and that your dog disturbed a fox, that from tittle-tattle ' with other people you were able to inform me that ' and did not allow their foxes to be destroyed : am ' much obliged to you for stale news. But do not suppose ' all this throws me off the line. Business is business, — ' you wrote to say you had twenty foxes, and many litters of ' cubs bred on your ground last summer. My foxhounds, ' at the earliest opportunity, drew your coverts blank. Again ' I arranged a meet purposely to draw your coverts, — again 'blank. If you had twenty foxes when you wrote to me, 'you and your keeper are pretty clever to have got rid of ' them so quickly. ' I believe my hounds — excuse me standing up for 'what you call "my dogs" — " 'Ounds, sir!" (as Jorrocks ' said to the lawyer). ' I agree with you about the great pleasure of seeing ' pointers or setters work, especially on a moor, and how ' delightful to see the clever performance of a good retriever. 'If I was your age again, I should enjoy shooting over dogs ' as I have done before you were born, and still support ' fox-hunting, a fine sport, and giving enjoyment to many. ' I thank you for offering to educate a foxhound for me. 'You may be good at breaking pointers or retrievers, you ' may train a poodle dog, but you are ignorant about fox- ' hounds and fox-hunting. I have to break one hundred 'foxhounds, that is, I have to secure the service of a clever ' man who can do it. I have bred hounds for years 'with great care, and in this bad-scenting country could do 'nothing without "nose." Sportsmen do not find fault with ' my hounds. They are celebrated for hunting a cold scent, ' and chasing hard when near their fox. This has been a ' bad scenting season, but the number of foxes my hounds ' have killed makes them (the hounds) laugh at your sneers, 'luckily for the people who enjoy a cheerful day out hunting. 2IO HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. ' The greater portion of the landowners do not permit * their servants to interfere with foxes. Before you were born ' Woods, Wood, , , &c., were full 'of foxes, and rare sport hounds had, and how the farmers 'enjoyed it! Then came the selfish gun, poison, and blank 'days. Many good farmers with capital gave up their farms, 'and I venture to say the neighbourhood was not benefited. 'Present my compliments to your friend, "the hunting '"man and rare sportsman, and a member of your Hunt," ' and tell him I should be glad if he will tell me how to 'hunt the country. I know some people will be more happy 'without a fox or a cheery hunt. I only wish , his 'friend, -, , and if you like had ^10,000, 'a year in Norfolk.' ' I have run into a pamphlet, and apologise. 'Yours truly, G. Lane Fox.' The last gentleman alluded to in the letter, I need scarcely say, was the recipient of it. As it is somewhat connected with the troubles which masters of hounds have to encounter, and the unjust criticism they have to put up with from the ignorant, I may perhaps be forgiven if 1 give an extract from a letter of Sir Charles Knightley's on the subject. It is unnecessary to say that .Sir Charles, who hunted the Pytchley country for one season, was one of the hardest men in the shires, and that on those two well-known hunters of which Dick Christian speaks, Sir Mariner and Benvolio, he was a very awkward customer to tackle. His opinion upon the question of sport, therefore, is especially entitled to respect, as he was a riding as well as a hunting man : — ' Do we ever see runs like those of old in the present day r ' If not, what is the cause r Hounds never were better ' than now, or altogether better managed. The sole reason ' is this : where in former days there were fifty men out 'there are now three hundred. Formerly five or six men J/r. FOX AS A HORSEMAN AND COACHMAN. 21 1 'used to ride hard, and if tliey knew but little of hunting, 'they generally knew when hounds were on scent and ' when not. At present everybody rides hard, and out of ' three hundred, not three have the slightest notion whether ' they are on or off scent. Although probably there are not 'three horses which could live with them through a clipping ' run, there are an ample number good enough to ride over 'them, and prevent their settling to a scent. When hounds 'are up to the mark they are apt to have a little fling 'and fly in them, and to go over it, and if they have room ' will come back again and catch hold of it ; but how is ' it possible with three hundred red-coats close to their ' sterns ? When there is a lack of sport one man abuses 'the hounds, another the huntsman. A few days ago I ' overheard one man, speaking of Derry, say, " He is a slow ' " fellow, and does not know what to do with his hounds ' " when he comes to a check." The next week I was out ' with Mr. Drake I heard another sportsman say, " There's '"no chance of sport with these hounds; that fellow ' " Wingfield will never let his hounds alone, and is always '"lifting them, so that they will never put their heads '"down." If they had but room neither Derry nor ' Wingfield would be found fault with. It is difficult to 'know what to do with an immense ungovernable field. ' If you do not cast your hounds the steam of the horses ' and the noise of the crowd will prevent their hunting ' through it, and if you do cast them too much they are 'always looking for the huntsman. If therefore there is 'want of sport, let people attribute it to the right cause, ' which is the jealousy and ig/iorancc of the sporisi/ieii, and ' not the badness of the hounds, or want of science in the 'huntsman. If hounds were let alone and not ridden upon, ' they would rarely miss a day's sport. I remember a ' flash day at Brooksby Gate. Jack Raven took the best ' pack, eighteen couples, almost without a fault. They were ' so overridden they had not one atom of sport. The same 'day old Stephen Goodall went out with the wildest of the ' young hounds who wanted work, and a few old hounds : 212 HISTORY OF THE BEAM HAM MOOR HUNT. 'Gayman, vStormer, &c. They found near Prestwold. 'Stephen said, "Let them alone; let 'em lose him if they '"will." They had a hunting run of three hours, and 'killed him. Sixteen miles from point to point. I mention ' this to show that if about two hundred and fifty of the ' Nimrods of this day would go to the splashing shop ' instead of going a-hunting, they would save themselves 'a world of trouble, anxiety, and expense, and would allow 'those who reallv love hunting to have a constant and ' uninterrupted fund of enjoyment.' Which homily I leave for the careful consideration of culprits and others, in the hope that they will profit thereby. CHAPTER IX. B RAM HAM Moor Huntsmen. The Bramham Moor Hunt has generally been fortunate in its huntsmen. They have almost always been men who have spent long years in the country in one capacity or another ; and this, it need scarcely be said, is a very important factor in the well-being of a pack of hounds. Of the earlier huntsmen but little record remains, and until Treadwell's time there is not much to be learnt about them beyond their names, and in some instances, the length of their service. The first huntsman whose name comes down to posterity is Martin Walkerley, a heavy man with a remarkably fine voice ; and as that is specially mentioned of him, it is to be presumed that he was not chary in the use of it. He was huntsman to Mr. James Lane Fo.x, who, though never himself a hard-riding man, was particularly careful to have his servants well mounted, a tradition which, it need scarcely be said, is maintained to this day. In the kennel he was a good man, as indeed he had need to be with so particular a master, and he showed good sport, as is evidenced by the old records of the Hunt. Luke Freeman, it may be stated here, was huntsman to Sir Thomas Gascoigne, though whether it was when that B 2 214 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. gentleman hunted the Bramham Moor country, or later when he hunted that country which is now divided between Lord Middleton and the Holderness, I have not been able to ascertain. Indeed, the mention of these heroes of a bv2one day is very infrequent, and the information about them is of the vaguest, whilst a date is scarcely, if ever, to be found. Luke Freeman may, however, be mentioned incidentally here, as it is a well-known West Riding name. That he was a good huntsman we have excellent authority, for Tom Grant, who hunted the Goodwood hounds so ably during the latter part of the last and the early years of the present century, speaks of some capital hounds that went from Sir Thomas Gascoigne to Goodwood, and relates that Luke Freeman was an immense weight for a horse to carry, but was a very clever huntsman: — 'As good there might be, 'but better, never!' High praise this from a brother pro- fessional. The first of Lord Harewood's huntsmen of whom I have been able to learn anything was George Payne, who was many years with the pack, and carried the horn for six or seven seasons. For reasons which I have given in the preface I have been unable to give as many particulars respecting this huntsman as I could wish. That he was not a hound man I think seems to have been pretty generally acknowledged by his contemporaries, though he was ' uncom- ' moh keen.' It was the riding part of the business that came more especially in his line, and it Nimrod is to be believed, he carried his keenness to the verge of rashness. Nimrod, it is true, was a 'superior person' who did not find much eood out of the shires, but that, notwithstandino-, there seems to have been a general concensus of opinion by those 'old ' hands' whose memories have been rubbed up, that as a huntsman Payne was not a conspicuous success. Will Bamford, who was the immediate predecessor of BRAMHAM MOOR HUNTSMEN. 215 Treadwel], carried the horn for many years, and was with the second Lord Harewood up to the time of that noble- man's untimely death. He was a good horseman, and an indefatigable and persevering' huntsman in the field, and a rare hand at killing his foxes, though as a scientific hound- breeder he does not bear a great name. He was as keen as the second Lord Harewood, which is saying a great deal, and no day was too long for him. He had implicit con- fidence in his hounds, and once made a bet that they would kill forty brace of foxes before Christmas, and the season luckily remaining open, he was enabled to win his bet. After the death of Lord Harewood he retired, and was succeeded by Charles Treadwell. Treadwell was the son of a man who had made for himself a great name as a huntsman in the difficult country presided over so long by Mr. Farquharson. For his father he acted as whipper-in, and on the retirement of the squire and old Jem Treadwell, he hunted the South Wiltshire. Like many as aspirant to fame he found that hunting a pack of foxhounds was not quite such an easy task as it looked ; and a story is told of him which would-be huntsmen may well lay to heart. The squire and old Jem retired at the same time, and when relieved from the cares of office, and in a position of greater freedom than responsibility, they were wont to go out on their cobs, and criticise the proceedings confidentially. Instead of being the criticised, they became the critics. No doubt the younger bloods had thought old Jem slow, and perhaps he had lost the dash of his youth. So they would, as is the manner of the impatient, talk freely to the coming man of getting on, &c. On one occasion, Mr. Farquharson and old Jem went to see the South Wiltshire. There was a very bad scent, and Charles, in a hurry to kill his fox, and pressed by the hot spirits, impatient as usual, made one or two very wild casts when 2i6 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. his hounds came to a check. The squire shook his head, and said, ' I am sorry for you, Treadwell, that your son ' Charles should act in such a manner ; he is a foolish ' young man.' 'He is, squire,' replied old Treadwell. Then came another check, and a wilder cast than ever. ' Tread- ' well,' said the squire, 'your son Charles is a fool.' 'Yes, 'squire, he is a born fool,' replied the old man. Anon came another check, and after a mad cast forward, the fox, who had slipped back, was lost. The squire approached his old huntsman with a look of commiseration on his countenance, and said, ' I am sorry to have to say it, Treadwell, but your 'son Charles is a d d fool' 'You are quite right, squire,' replied the old huntsman, disgusted at the display his son had made, 'he is a d d fool' So spake these old veterans of Charles Treadwell in his first season as a huntsman ; but he soon grew to be a past master in his profession, and his moderate start only served to accentuate his future success. He continued to hunt under Mr. Horlock for a few seasons, and then he went to the Ouorn, under the mastership of Lord Suffield. After he had been here one season. Lord Suffield sold his hounds to Mr. Robertson, of Lady Kirk. It will be remembered that this was the pack which the great Ralph Lambton had made famous, and which could not take kindly to the ways of a Leicestershire field, and sold to Lord Suffield. But in their new country they did well, and it was with them that Treadwell first came prominently before the world as a skilful huntsman. For six seasons he and his pack made the lives of the Berwickshire foxes a burthen to them during one half of the year, and then Mr. Robertson retired, and Treadwell went to Lord Harewood. For six seasons he hunted the hounds for Lord Harewood, and then he went on to Bramham when Mr. George Lane Fox succeeded to the mastership. During the twenty-three years in which he BRAMHAM MOOR HUNTSMEN. 2iy carried the horn he showed excellent sport, and he also did much to bring- the pack to that state of perfection which it has ever since maintained. A heavy man, Treadwell always managed to be with his hounds, and Mr. Fox never found him an expensive man to mount ; and though he was a man who would ride up to his hounds, he never rode jealous, nor, to use the words of his biographer in ' Baily,' tried to ' cut down the cornets.' He did not like hounds to have much cry, and was wont to say that he hated a hound that spoke twice where once would do. The consequence was that he got his hounds very light tongued, which is scarcely an unqualified advantage in a woodland country. He was quick and rather cheery with his hounds, and on a bad-scenting day, when hounds could just own a line after getting through a fence, he would carry them on to the next without hesitation. Nor was his confidence ever misplaced, as the fine record of sport which he showed during the twenty-three years he hunted the Bramham Moor country amply proves, and in ' Daily's Magazine' he is fittingly spoken of as 'that truly great man ' in his profession.' On Treadwell's death, in June, 1865, Mr. Fox engaged Stephen Goodall, who had been fourteen years in Ireland, where, at the time Mr. Fox engaged him, he was hunting the Duhallows for Lord Doneraile. Goodall showed good sport in his way, and was energetic and persevering, but his way was not the way of the squire of Bramham. In the kennel he was a good man, as indeed what Goodall is not ? and he was, like most of his family, a fine horseman. But he was one of the flash school of huntsmen, who thought he could catch his fo.x himself, and who was constantly galloping in the contrary direction to that in which his fox had gone in his endeavour to do so. To do him justice he killed a fair number of foxes, and gave his field plenty 2i8 HISTORY 01 THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. of galloping ; but Mr. Fox could not put up with the wild casts he made. ' There goes the stag,' he would say. when Goodall was galloping with his hounds in the contrary- direction to that in which the hunted fox had gone, followed by an excited field. After a couple of seasons, Goodall, who by the way was the brother of Will Goodall of the Belvoir, and Frank Goodall who hunted the Royal Buckhounds, left, changing places with Pred Turpin, who was for some time with the Fife when Mr. Anstruther Thompson was master, and who went from Scotland to the V.W. H. Turpin's career in his new place was but a short one, but he made a very favourable impression, and would doubtless have made for himself a name in his new country had it not been for his sudden death. He was found in an unconscious state near Chestnut Grove, and it is believed that he had taken a fit. He, however, never recovered consciousness. His successor was one of the famous Morgan family. This was Goddard Morgan, son of old Jem Morgan, whose name in hunting history will ever live. He was huntsman to the Old Berkeley till he was seventy-six years old, and Goddard started his career by whipping-in to him when he was hunting for Mr. Conyers, who, it seems unnecessary to say, was one of the foremost sportsmen of his time, and with whose name hunting in Essex is inseparably connected. He afterwards whipped-in to the Belvoir, and then he went back to his father as first whipper-in to the Old Berkeley under Lord Lonsdale's mastership. Subsequently he hunted that country under Lord Lonsdale, and afterwards Lord Maiden From the Old Berkeley he went to the Bramham Moor. In the kennel he had no superior, and he was undoubtedly a fine huntsman ; but some of the hard- riding spirits thought him getting slow, and perhaps he was not quite so quick in getting away from the big woods as some of his predecessors. At any rale he left after three BRAMHAM MOOR HUNTSMEN. 219 seasons and went to the York and Ainsty, and after that to the Berwickshire, where he hunted for Mr. Watson Askew for several seasons. On leaving Mr. Watson Askew he practically retired, though he acted as stud-groom to Lord Derwent, then Sir Harcourt Johnstone, for a short time. Morgan was succeeded by George Kingsbury, who had whipped-in to him and his predecessors Kingsbury com- menced by riding second horse to Treadwell, and then he went for a time to the Blackmoor Vale. He then came back to Bramham in the capacity of second whipper-in, and was quickly promoted to the place of first whipper-in. He was very quick as a whipper-in, indeed he sometimes took upon him the huntsman's place, and went away with hounds when he should have stopped behind. When Morgan left, Kingsbury had been back to Bramham six years, and though young, it was determined to give him a chance. Indeed, he was a oreat favourite alike with master and field, and when he took the horn he proved himself a capable hunts- man. After hunting hounds for six seasons he retired. He was succeeded by Tom Smith, who is a descendant of a long line of huntsmen who have made their name famous in their native Brocklesby country. Smith commenced by riding second horse to Philip Tocock, when he hunted the Brocklesby, and he afterwards acted in the same capacity to his father in the same countr\'. A season as second whipper-in to his father gave him his first chance in the more practical part of his profession, and after that he went as second whipper-in to the Burton, and there he remained for five seasons. From the Burton he went to Sir Watkin Wynn, where he was first whipper-in under Charles Payne for seven seasons. That he got a good schooling under that distinguished huntsman there is no doubt, and that he profited by it those who have hunted with him can bear ample witness. From Sir Watkin Wynn he came to the 2 20 HISTORY OF THE B RAM HAM MOOR HUNT. Bramham Moor, and when he came into Yorkshire he had no fewer than eight huntsmen's places offered to him. It is needless for me to say much about Smith as a huntsman. Quiet and painstaking in the kennel and in the field, he is very patient, and he always knows what his hounds are doing, whilst on a bad-scenting clay his skill is marvellous. He always gets to his hounds, yet he does not ' ride jealous,' and perhaps I may best sum his capabilities as a huntsman up by saying that from first to last he enjoyed the thorough confidence of Mr. George Lane Fox and his family. (A.»v**J^^y ^. CHAPTER X. Some well-known Supporters. ' Each tongue relates, with ardent breath, 'Midst loud applauding cries, Who came the foremost to the "death," And gained the noble prize. ' How Dick, the parson, jolly soul ! Did dash through thick and thin ; And Tom, the huntsman, reached the goal, With Jack, the whipper-in.' With ' the System of Meynell,' which, as I have shown, was so closely itdentified with the early history of the Bramham Moor Hunt, was also introduced that hard, not to say jealous riding, which may be said to have developed under the rule of the first great master of the Ouorn. As in the kennels at Wothersome, Harewood, and Bramham was to be found one of the best packs in England, so in the field were to be found some of the hardest riders and the choicest spirits of their time. To most of them nothing came amiss. They were equally at home over the stone walls and moors of the west as they were over the drains of the Wighill and Selby c 2 222 IT I STORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. countries, and when they went into the latter districts they never made the excuse that they had ' left their water- ' jumpers at home.' Indeed, in the Shires or out of them, it would have been difficult to have found a ' harder ' or more sporting field than that which followed the fortunes of the Bramham Moor. Perhaps the pride of place should be given to ' the old ' offender,' which was the name by which Mr. Tom Fairfax of Newton Kyme was known amongst his hunting friends ; a name, too, which seems to have been pretty well deserved from what can be learnt of his doings in the field. ' Resolved ' to be first,' was his motto, and it was his boast that, from twenty to seventy, he would never allow any man to go in front of him at a fence. He was as fine a horseman as he was a hard one, and no horse ever refused with him. In his dress he was rather peculiar, for instead of the orthodox top-boot he wore boots which came up to his thigh, some- thing^ after the fashion of the celebrated Lord Alvanlev, with whom he was a contemporary. Spurs he always eschewed, and he used a straight cutting-whip instead of a hunting- crop. One of the most jealous riders of his time, he kept going longer than falls to the lot of most men, and he occasionally harassed his son. Colonel Fairfax, when the latter was Master of the York and Ainsty, as he had harassed the Lords Harewood and the Lane Foxes in the days of his youth. He was a very abstemious man, in an age when abste- miousness was not a conspicuous virtue, and he was athletic withal. Like a distinguished statesman, he was partial to the felling of trees, and was very skilful at this occupation. Indeed, there were Yorkshiremen who would have backed him against the statesman in question, and it is highly probable that he would have had the best of it. Descended from a long line of soldiers and statesmen, Mr. Fairfax SOME WELL-KNOWN SUPPORTERS. 223 inherited the literary ability for which some of his ancestors were distinguished, as well as their pluck and hardihood ; and the verses which are given elsewhere are not only sporting in tone and character, but they are well turned and graceful, and show remarkable powers of satire. Foremost amongst the hard riders of his day was Mr. Fenton Scott, a typical Yorkshire squire of the olden school, an ardent believer in Englishmen and English ways, more especially if the Englishmen hailed from Yorkshire. A patriot of a type now extinct was Mr. Fenton Scott, as the following anecdote goes to prove : — A dinner was given at Leeds at which the Dutch Minister was a guest, and speaker after speaker had flattered His Excellency with a fulsomeness which was very offensive to the downright and plain-spoken Mr. Scott. At last it was his turn to speak, and he proved quite equal to the occasion. ' Mr. Chairman,' said he, 'I say all foreigners, 'and,' looking full at the Dutch Minister, 'especially "the Dutch.' The feelings of the guests at that meeting had better be left to the imagination of my readers, for they beggar description. I may add, however, that Mr. Fenton Scott was something of a fire-eater, and was always ready to back up his words and actions with his pistol. He had fought many duels ; and it is related of him that on one occasion when he considered himself insulted, he took up a joint of veal and threw it at the gentleman who had offended him. Of course a hostile meeting was the result, and Mr. I""enton Scott was shot in the leg. ' I would not have ' cared if the beggar had not shot me in the sound leg,' was the remark he made. He was a bold horseman, one who stopped at nothing, and was very keen. On one occasion Mr. Scott went to hunt with the Belvoir. The horse he was riding was a bit of a screw, but he could both gallop and jump, and after hounds had been running 2 24 HISTORY OF THE BR AM HAM MOOR HUNT. some time, he pounded the field, which, as may be believed, was no easy matter. When they once more got to Mr. Scott they found him seated on a gate, with his horse tethered to it, and the fox laid over his knees. ' Here's your fox, ' Mr. Goosey,' were the words with which he greeted the huntsman.' Another keen sportsman who frequently hunted with the Bramham Moor in the olden time was Sir John F. B.Johnstone, a bold dashing man to hounds, but not a particularly fine horseman, — his son, Lord Derwent, and his grandson, the present Master of the Hackness Hounds, being his superiors in this respect. The Maxwells, Joe and Henry, from Scarthingwell, relatives of Lord Herries, could always take their own part. They were big fine-looking men, standing over si.x feet, and with Mr. Edwin Lascelles, brother to the third Earl of Harewood, made a trio it were bad to tackle when hounds ran hard over a big country. And here I may remark that though it is a big country to cross, and _has a large proportion of plough, the Bramham Moor country has always been famous for the heavy weights that could hold their own in it, however fast the pace. Another fine horseman and bold rider whose name is closely associated with the Bramham Moor hounds, was Mr. Edwin Markham, of whom it can be said with truth that to him naught came amiss. He was hard as nails, and was a prominent man in the Hunt. His father. General Markham, was a distinguished soldier, as well as a distin- guished fox-hunter, and I may remark passim that the combination is well known in the present day. He was Colonel of the 32nd, and was sent for out of Central India to the Crimea, when things were not going too well with our army there, but died as soon as he reached, or just before he reached, the seat of war. Of the late Mr. Egremont Lascelles it may be said that SOME WELL-KNOWN SUPPORTERS. 225 no keener sportsman, and tew better horsemen, ever crossed a horse ; yet, strange to say, he gave up riding hard when quite a young man, after going for some seasons with the best of them. A light weight, and an elegant horseman, it was a sight to see him sailing over a country in that effortless style which is so rarely to be found, even in the first flight. Quite as keen, though heavier and perhaps not quite so elegant in .style, was his brother, Mr. George Edwin Lascelles, who, I am glad to say, is still amongst us, taking as lively an interest in the sport of kings as he did in the days of his youth. A good man, especially on a rough horse, Mr. Lascelles in his younger days could 'Tame the wild young one, inspirit the old; The restive, the runaway, handle and hold.' and in its proper place it is told of him how he got to the end of a famous run on a kennel pony. The ' Cheeryble Brothers*' were very keen, and no men were more popular in the Bramham Moor country than these warm-hearted and charitable gentlemen, who were as well known by the title I have given them as they were by their patronymic of Cooper. The brothers were well nigh in- separable, and they hunted a great deal. But into the Wighill country they would not come. Over the stone-walls and fences of the west they could do well enough, but the wide and deep drains of the Ainsty were to them anathema. It is related of them that on one occasion they got into the Wighill country in spite of themselves. Where hounds met that morning I am not able to say, but the fox, with the perversity of his kind, and without consulting the con- venience of the 'Cheeryble Brothers,' made straight for the Wighill country. Catterton drain and its tributaries were becoming unpleasantly near, and James, who had gone well * Messrs. ^^'illiam and James Cooper, of Gledhow. 2 26 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. up to this point, seemed inclined to stop. Not so William, who, acting on the 'In for a penny in for a pound' maxim, shouted to his brother, 'Come on, James, don't be cowardly!' The two went on to the end, but I have not been able to learn whether they ever conquered their aversion to a ' big 'drain country.' The Yorks of \\'ighill were also very prominent sports- men in their time. Mr. Edward York, whose son hunted the York and Ainsty for part of a season* was a big man and a fine sportsman, but he never rode hard. He, however, always got to the end of a run, though he rarely jumped a fence, and no man knew the run of foxes better than he did. He was a hospitable man, keeping almost open house as his father had done before him. Mr. 'Abraham' Brown, of Beilby Grange, now known, by the way, as Wetherby Grange, was a great supporter of both Lord Harewood and Mr. George Lane Fox. He bought Beilby Grange and went to live there, taking with him a useful stud of steeplechase horses. Of course there is always something which wants schooling in a stud of chasers, and Mr. Brown soon became highly popular amongst the younger members of the Hunt by the liberality with which he placed his horses at their disposal. He was himself a good man to hounds. It seems scarcely necessary for me to add that he afterwards sold the Grange to Col. Gunter, who is now generally seen out with the Bramham Moor whenever they are within reachable distance of him. Harder riders and better fellows than the Gascoignes, Dick and Tom, it would have been difficult to find, even in hard-riding and hospitable Yorkshire. They were both in the Blues, and they brought half that sporting regiment to Parlington, whence they hunted right merrily, and I have * Col. York, of Hutton Hall, took the York and Ainsly in 1885, and died during his first season. SOME WELL-KNOWX SUPPORTERS. 227 no doubt, upon occasion, caused master and huntsman to lose their tempers when scent did not serve. For they were hard-riding men, those same Bkies, though they found their match amongst the country squires of the West Riding. And, by the way, may not the hard and straight riding which prevails in the Bramham Moor, York and Ainsty, and neiohbourinp; countries, be in a gfreat measure attributed to the friendly rivalry which has existed between ' the ' soldiers' and their civilian friends, a rivalry which is as ancient as hunting itself .'' And so may it long continue, provided always that hounds are not overridden, and masters' patience is not tried too much. The Olivers of Lotherton were good men and true, 'uncommon fond of hunting,' and found worthy rivals in the Elands of Kippax, and the Ramsdens of Ledstone. The brothers. Stanhope and Martin Hawke, were also regularly to be found at the Bramham Moor fixtures, and always together. The elder of the two bred and owned that good racehorse. The Marquis, who won the Two Thousand and St. Leger of 1862, and succeeded to the title as fifth Lord Hawke. He was a very fine horseman, with the best of hands, and always with hounds. His brother Martin, however, never had much of an eye for a country, but he was hard enough, and would go anywhere that Stanhope, whom he always selected as his pilot, went. An eye to country, however, it was not his lot to possess. He was killed in the hunting-field, his horse fallino- across some rails over which he had followed his brother. This sad accident took place with the York and Ainsty hounds on the 19th of November, 1857. It is not a little curious that in the Badsworth Hunt song there should run a verse to the following effect : — ' And next him, on Morgan, all rattle and talk, Cramming over his fences comes wild Martin Hawke, if 228 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. He'll break his neck, sure, either sooner or late, For he'd rather ride over than open a gate.'* It is related of Martin Hawke that he always had a keen eye for anything- relating to sport, and that he had little regard for anything else. On his return from the Grand Tour, which in his younger days it was de rigueur for every gentleman in his position to make, he was asked what he thought of the Continent, and what he had seen there ? His reply was that he had seen a very good pointer at Vienna ! The keenest of the keen, as he was the most hospitable In a country famous for its hospitality, was Mr. Lamplugh Wickham, of Chestnut Grove. He kept open house, and there was always 'oceans' of claret for the followers of the Bramham Moor, whether natives or visitors, in which to drink the favourite and time-honoured toast : ' Bramham ' Moor and five-and-twenty couple.' Claret Grove was the name which Mr. George Lane Fox bestowed upon this hospitable mansion. Mr. Wickham was not only keen and a good man to hounds, in which respects his descendants follow his excellent example, but he was one of those men who are invaluable in a Hunt. If any little thing wanted smoothing down, or there was anything which required doing for the benefit of the Hunt, Mr. Wickham was the one to take it in hand, and bring it to a successful issue. The Leeds contingent was not such a strong one in those days when railway accommodation was not, but there were some good men and true from the capital of the West Riding who threw in their lot with the Bramham Moor. * Another member of the Hawke family met with his death by a fall from his horse. This was Chaloner, thiid son of the first baron. The song from which the quotation is made w-as written by Mr. Martin Hawke, who, ' with George Osbaldestone, was the life and soul of the Hunt Club at Beverley,' in the early days of the Holderness. He was uncle to the Martin Hawke who was killed. SOME WELL-KNOWN SUPPORTERS. 229 Foremost amongst these was Lawyer Payne, who, though no great horseman, was very fond of the sport, and always ready to lend a helping hand whenever his services were required for the benefit of the Hunt. Many a memorandum is to be seen in the old records to the effect that 'Mr. Payne 'was to be consulted,' or that 'Mr. Payne said'; — in this respect the Leeds solicitor making common cause with Mr. Lamplugh Wickham whenever money was to be collected for a specific purpose, or anything was to be done for the good of sport. It is always a sign of a man being a 'good fellow' when his friends know him by some other name than his own. Mr. Payne was known as 'Champagne,' and the famous Champagne Corse was named after him. The history of that well-known covert is as follows : — ■ Mr. George Lane Fox promised to give the land for the covert if the Hunt would find the money to plant it. Mr. Payne at once offered to find the money, and such was his persuasive eloquence that he was not long in getting it. It would have been a sad mistake had not his name been perpetuated in connection with it, for no better sportsman ever followed the Bramham Moor. Amongst other Leeds supporters was Dr. Chorley, a capital sportsman, who, however, was handicapped by the circum- stance that he had only one leg. This, of course, is sufficient to account for the fact that he was not a great horseman, but it did not affect his keenness in the least. Mr. Jowett, too, was a very good man, and so at a later date was Mr. Robert Goodson, a heavy man and a bold rider, who was always mounted on the best of horses. He was scarcely to be called a fine horseman, but he was always in front, and sometimes so much so as to call forth sarcastic reproof from the master. His death took place a few years ago in the hunting-field. Though not contemporaries with most of the celebrities 230 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. of whom I have spoken, this seems a fitting place to mention two good sportsmen whose names occur to the mind as soon as the Bramham Moor hounds are mentioned. I allude to the late Mr. Georo-e Low'ther and the late Mr. Tom Kennedy. Mr. Lowther was as devoted to hunting as is his brother, Mr. James Lowther, to the turf, and he knew as much about hounds and hound pedigrees, and was as keen of talking about them, as Mr. James Lowther does about the thoroughbred. Never a fine horseman in the best sense of the word, and never a hard man after I knew him, there was no man keener, and I do not know of anyone who saw so much sport. A capital pilot if you chanced to be thrown out, he seemed to have an instinctive knowledge of the run of a fox, as well as a very sharp eye to see when hounds turned. There was no better judge of the capabilities of a Hunt servant than he was, and he was quick to recognise merit in the subordinates. He was not one of those sportsmen who postpone their hunting operations till November, for though he was an all-round sportsman, hunting with him ever stood first. It was never too early in the morning for him to go cub -hunting, and he was generally attended by Mrs. Lowther and some of his family. I remember him asking me once on a fine October morning if I was going to the second October Meeting at Newmarket, and I shall never forget his reply when I answered in the affirmative: 'I think the October Meetings are the best,' said he; 'but 'they have one great drawback. If it is a fine hunting ' morning as you walk or ride across the heath, you feel that ' you ought to be doing something else, and that you have ' no business to be racing- when there is a prospect of 'hounds running.' It seems almost superfluous to add that Mr. Lowther was a fine 'whip,' and that he used to run the Bridlington coach for many years. There is an anecdote told of him when driving the coach which I perhaps may SOME WELL-KNOWN SUPPORTERS. 23 1 be permitted to repeat, as I do not think it has ever been told in print : — On one occasion a parson occupied the box-seat, and Mr. Lowther, who liked an appreciative listener, began to tell him a good deal of the history of some of the country houses they passed on the road, as well as of the families to whom they belonged or had belonged. On their arrival at Bridlington, the parson, who was evidently a man of not much discernment, congratulated Mr. Lowther on ' being a 'most intelligent man for his station in life,' and handed him halfa-crown, which was received with becoming gravity and an amusement which can be better imagined than described. Mr. Tom Kennedy began to hunt rather late in life, and his ddbut was not a very promising one, for he fell with a regularity which became monotonous during his first season. But he possessed that invaluable attribute of the horseman — a nerve that nothing could daunt, and having naturally light hands, he soon became one of the best men of his day ; a day, alas ! which was all too short. As well as being a good man to hounds, Mr. Kennedy was a fine polo player, and one of the finest judges of the game in his day ; and he was also an excellent tennis player as well as an Alpine climber. As a rider to hounds he was absolutely without fear, and his horses soon found that there was no such word as ' refuse ' known to him. His ideas on jumping were of a liberal nature, and he seemed to think no place impracticable. Considering the width of his views on the subject of jumping, he got very few falls, a fact to which his fine hands contributed no little. He was the most unselfish of men, and would lose his place in a good run to succour a friend who was down. None who knew him will fail to endorse Lord Harrington's opinion, expressed in a sympa- thetic article in 'Baily,' that 'he was the best sportsman 232 HISTORY OF THE BR AM HAM MOOR HUNT. ' and the most unselfish one, in the true sense of the word, 'that he had ever met.' This seems a fitting place to insert a spirited hunting poem, which, though it treats of the York and Ainsty, contains allusions to most of the sportsmen who were well known in the Bramham Hunt at the time : — The Second Edition of a Poem by F. Ford, Esq., revised and enlarged by a brother sportsman. The wind is at east, but seems surely to know That courtesy bids that it scarcely should blow, When the rest of the elements kindly conspire For once to give vent to the fox-hunting fire That burns in the breasts of the crowds that tiock in, When the Ainsty are drawing Swann's favourite Whin. High beats every heart, yet there breathes not a sound, "Save Chanter, who challenged: says Wilson, 'He's found.'" Then Restless and Dimity join in the cry, Nor the gallant fox needs further notice to fly. 'Gone away,' echoes high o'er the crash of the throng, And hounds, horses and riders are streaming along ; But the Muses, alas ! so ill-natured are grown. That they won't lend their horse, and we've none of our own ; So we e'en must recount what we can, standing" still. And sketch some of the talent from Bilbrough Hill. One who knows what a start is, leads off in the chase, And defies all the field to take from him his place. A vain-glorious boast, though, he silently feels, Whilst Thompson and Somerville press on his heels ; Ah ! too surely they'll give him the slip unawares. For his black is no match for their flying grey mares ; And thin as he is, they'll e'en say he'll look thinner, From the loss of his rest and the spoiling his dinner. Half a field wide, see Gilbert, with natural grace, " O'ertopping each fence, and securing his place";* * The lines in inverted commas are in the original edition. The rest is from the pen of Air. J. T. Fairfax, of Newton Kyme. SOME WELL-KNOWN SUPPORTERS. 23 So easy his seat, nor presume we to mock it, When we warn him 'gainst chucking his neck from its socket. On his favourite mare there's the dangerous Joe, 'And rattling Tom Dayi-ell, whom all of us know'; A true Marston Moor zealot, who'd charge his own church Much rather than risk being left in the lurch. Then Ridsdale appears, pressing on in the van, And ne'er turning the head of rejected Sedan ; Never known from a brook or a bullfinch to swerve. See him smoothly creep on, — the true pattern of nerve. A prime workman we hail, too, on yon mealy nag, Who'll lead them a dance ere they reach Brocket Hag ; Whatsoe'er be the pace, not a binder he breaks. Though distinguished of old as the Swan-with-two-Necks. There's no check, not a pause, they're increasing their speed. Not a tail-hound the gallantest horse to impede. Bill Scott, half persuaded he's riding a race, Lays Ainderby out at a good four-mile pace ; And that miracle Wyndham, his poor mare must smother. In spite of their contract to carry each other. Johnny Forde, too, though placed in the very first flight, Can't help cursing the oysters he'd eat overnight ; And fearing that Paddy can scarcely get on, Now the scales have pronounced him a good thirteen stone. But what horse in the front rank refuses so flat ? 'Tis Tom Gascoigne, we'll swear to the coal-heaver's hat. See, his cousins brush past him, nor notice dare take, While the credit of Hawke and the Badsworth's at stake. Par nubile fratntni I — but Parlington still Sends another you'll mark by his loose deshabille; Yes, on Dobbin the generous Dick's crowding sail, — ■ Hair, neckcloth, reins, ribands, all loose in the gale. Now Lloyd makes his start, nor need longer delay. Having counted his sons, and his hounds all away ; He ne'er finds the fence that he scruples to face. Though he'll not be seduced into quickening his pace ; For he knows well of old, on £i high scenting morn. That his horse is more easy to blow than his horn. 2 34 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. Now we catch 'em again, as for Colton they're making, Earth and air, reins and tails, seem in sympathy shaking ; And we recognise clearly the resolute look Of the gallant young hand who is charging the brook ; Though in houdahs through jungles accustomed to ride, Bold Plymouth ne'er seems an offence to his pride; See, he fearless confides to this Leicestershire sticker, And calculates coolly on clearing the Vicar. Then his seat, a la cici, unobtrusively keen, Comes a rector, whose hat would fain make him a dean ; He'll tell you this sport saved his life— that Gibbes knew it ; — Now we question. Are three-year-olds likely to do it ? But whatever befall him, he'll stick to the track. For he knows he's in reach of the Boroughbridge pack; And as for a gate, why he needn't to fear it,* With Jacob and Bentley, his sureties, to clear it. And sure none would o'erlook that next merry young fellow. Were his waistcoat less radiant with scarlet and yellow; So laughing his mood, there no jump he looks grave at. Though he don't like his fences as stiff as his cravat. But why lingers yon slow bulky sportsman behind ? Both his horse and his dress of funereal kind: 'Tis strange, for he showed signs of life when they ' found,' And he don't look a man that could make up his ground ; All in vain : — Nat, you dare him to join your third flight ; — No, he'll not budge a inch while a horseman's in sight ; For twenty-six seasons he's brought up the rear. And professes a system of riding by ear ; But he knows by its name every Bramham Moor cover, And he boasts there's no hedge that he hasn't led over. But ah ! surely ye know only half of the fun. Who for ever were struggling the first in the run. What tempers, what passions, it brought into play !^ Here rapture and triumph, there grief and dismay. There were pips, purls and crowners, each after their kind, There were fences of all sorts, — live, staring, and blind ; * It is related of tliis reverend i;enllenian that when he made a detour to avoid paying the toll-bar, the two gentlemen said to him, ' We would have ' been your surety for three-halfpence.' SOME WELL-KNOWN SUPPORTERS. 235 There was flying and creeping, and balking and spurting, There was craning and cramming, and tailing and skirting. Oh ! it left far behind the famed hunt of the Trossachs, We'll compare it to naught but the French and the Cossacks. Now Spur, Walker and Wilks for the turnpike are dashing. And Kitchinman recklessly hazards a splashing. There's Judd, Hardman and Bartman and Cowper abreast. And Strickland, whose bellows are none of the best. But to name all the polls and the places they took, Would be worse than the great Grecian bard's Second Book. And the feats and the fates of the glorious few. Our Parnassus could no longer offer to view. So no more. Let's away, — but what's this that we meet. With his scrambling posthorse and postillion's seat r Some accident, sureh' ; — the devil to pay ; — For ' the devil ' is all we can get him to say. A groom, on a chestnut, he always keeps nigh, When we ask him, he tells us the devil knows why; Now he rattles away round a fallow, full tear, — - When we ask him, he tells us the devil knows where ; But at night he'll recall all the run and the row; — If you ask tis, we must say the devil knows how : But to this we'll agree, be his tale what it may, That this sure may be counted the devil's own day. The Rev. Thomas Dayrell, who is mentioned in the above spirited poem, was the Rector of Marston, and was a very hard man. He used to ride a roaring horse, one that made a great noise, but was as clever as they are made, and good=looking to boot. The story goes that once when the hounds met at Bishopthorpe the rector was riding this horse, and Archbishop Harcourt, who had a keen eye for every- thing good in horse and hound, immediately spotted him, and went up to his owner to have a talk about him. After hearing the archbishop's laudatory remarks, he replied that he was a good-looking horse, but that, unfortunately, he was a roarer. 'Ah!' replied the archbishop. 'What is the 236 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. ' shortest time it has taken you to stop him ? ' ' Ten minutes, 'your Grace,' was the reply. 'Well, I've stopped them in ' seven minutes, Mr. Dayrell,' was the Archbishop's answer. Archbishop Harcourt can scarcely be said to have been a follower of the Bramham Moor ; but during the time that he ruled over the province of York, viz., from 1808 to 1847, he was sure to have been 'riding that way' when Mr. James Lane Fox and the Earls of Harewood were rousinof the echoes in Bilbrough Whin or Hutton Thorns. In the early years of his life he was an ardent sportsman, though that he never neglected the duties of his profession is evident from the eminence he attained in it. After he was appointed to the archbishopric I believe he never attended the meet of any packs of foxhounds, but when hounds met within reason- able distance of him, he generally took a ride that way for the sake of his health, and his knowledge of woodcraft enabled him to see a good deal of the fun. It is recorded of him that once when he was riding along a lane he viewed the hunted fox, and hallooed. Hounds had checked, and the huntsman was almost at his wit's end, but he brightened when he heard the halloa, and exclaiming, ' That's gospel, ' by ! ' galloped on, and ultimately killed his fox. The story is an old one, and it may not be true, but I think there is likely to be some foundation of truth in it, for it is well known that the archbishop was as ' keen as mustard ' as long as he lived. Another story has been frequently told of him, but it will bear repeating : — It is well known that the Rev. Sydney Smith, who, by the way, owed his first preferment in the Church to Archbishop Harcourt, who presented him to the living of Foston, was a bad horseman, and was wont to be very sarcastic about those of his clerical brethren who were his superiors in this respect. Indeed, he is said to have gone so far as to say that clergymen should not ride at all. The archbishop having heard of this, SOME WELL-KNOWN SUPPORTERS. 237 asked him if he thought it was permissible for an archbishop to ride? 'Yes, your Grace,' replied the wit, 'provided he ' does not ride too well.' It is needless to add that Arch- bishop Harcourt was a fine horseman. A name which must not be omitted from this chapter is that of the late Mr. Brady Nicholson, of Stourton Grove, Mr. Nicholson came of a hard-riding Lincolnshire family, anci was as good a sportsman as ever buckled on a spur. Many years ago I had a slight acquaintance with him, when he used to judge at horse-shows. He was a fine judge, and a fine horseman, always in front and often alone. I have not been able to gather any particulars about him, but an anecdote about his brother. Field Nicholson, may perhaps be interesting. Field Nicholson, who lived at Melton Ross, was a prominent man with Lord Yarborough's hounds, and very hard. He was also very friendly with Charles Dickens, whose acquaintance he had made at Harrogate ; and some of my readers may care to know that it was from Field Nicholson's house, at Melton Ross, that Dingley Dell was drawn. But this by the way. Field Nicholson, C. Dowson, the late G. Nelson, and one or two others, amongst whom I believe was the late Capt. Skipworth, went to have a day with the Burton when Lord Henry Bentinck hunted that country. The North Lincolnshire contingent were 'on the ride,' — that goes without saying-, — and un- fortunately there was only a catchy scent. Field Nicholson consequently was frequently rather nearer to hounds than he should have been, and this provoked Lord Henry Bentinck's ire, which, by the way, was no very difficult matter. Turning to William Nicholson, of Willoughton, who was one of the most prominent farmers in the Burton Hunt, and was a 'right-hand man' with Lord Henry, he asked, 'Who is that red-faced fool, Nicholson ? ' ' Nicholson, ' my Lord,' was the reply. ' A disgrace to the name ! a E 2 238 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. ' disgrace to the name ! ' replied his Lordship. Afterwards he tackled the redoubtable Field Nicholson himself, but the latter was nothing daunted, and answered, ' You are mad, ' my Lord, because my ^1 5 crock can beat your ^^500 horse ! ' As Nicholson had rather a curious lisp, and Lord Henry had a peculiar falsetto voice, it may be imagined that those who were present were witnesses to an amusing scene. Another poem has come into my hands, the authorship of which I cannot learn, but certainly judging from internal evidence, it looks as if Mr. Tom Fairfax had had a hand in it, and that notwithstanding he is alluded to somewhat .sarcastically : — Recollections of a Run with Lord Harewood's Hounds, 1846. To the famed Harewood pack we are off with the lark, The meet'.s in a paddock nicknamed ' Wighill Park'; But how changed is that meet in two fleeting years ; How we miss well-known faces of yeomen and peers ! Where's the gallant old earl r Where veteran Scott ? Where's Pantaloon York r Where Fairfax r Who got The old English gentleman's title and name r Where others, whose feats are recorded by fame ? Time has run them to ground ; but bitter the tears, House of Gascoigne, are those we give to thy heirs. Lamented and loved, you'd stout hearts, open hand, But nor wealth, manly courage, nor youth could withstand Of the hunter of men that dire ' whoo-whoop ' To which prince and peasant must equally stoop. But the first covert's tried, sly pug leaves the brake, Let us note a few horsemen that ride in his wake. No country in Britain like Bramham can boast Of well-mounted welters so goodly a host : — Thynne, Dayrell and Fox are never found slack, Nor Carroll, though he sits his horse much like a sack. But, imprimis, to light weights we'll give our attention, And Newton Kyme's Crichton will claim the first mention. SOME WELL-KNOWN SUPPORTERS. 239 His garment of pink no longer is donned, As he says that by all hunting ought to be shunned, Unless six daj's a week you're provided with carrion. And estate unencumbered by jointure and marrying. If you don't mean to hunt, but ride for a lark, Why not gallop your nag, my good sir, in your park : For so jealous a rider might keep within bounds. When he could not ride over, for lack of the hounds. Then, snarling, comes Gilbert, a gallant, turned fifty ; He could ride in his day, but's become somewhat shifty ; Still he follows the chase because it's the fashion. And with him an excuse for being aye in a passion. Not so courteous Brown, who is in a good place, And on Jacob Faithful is going the pace. Then we've Ma.\.well and Markham, with true spirit burning, A Lane, though a long one, not given to turning ; With Calcaria's lawyer, whose nerve must be good. Hunting twice in a week, with one screw for a stud. The Olivers twain, too, we can't but admire. Although in the ' Blues,' they ride with much fire ! In Badsworth they're bred, where sport must abound. As the country is hunted by both Hawke and hound. From the regions of smoke we've both blood and bone, Beau Atkinson well for the former is known ; Of natty appointments so ardent a lover, One would swear in a band-box they'd brought him to covert. Ned Jowitt, at starting, sets off with a dash. Forgetting, in girth, he resembles Lablache ; But a drain stops him short, though no wider, in truth, Than the brim of the hat he wore in his youth. With his knees to his chin, and paunch like an apple. See Fenton, the image of Sancho, on Dapple. But who's in such haste on reeking-hot steed, sir r What ! not know our jovial friend, Billy Read, sir r Of the law and the turf a component matter, A limb of the former, and a leg of the latter. And who goes so listless, of the field keeping wide } 'Tis the Squire of Fairfield, once of Ainsty the pride ; But quite sick of sporting, he fee'd his physician, 240 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. And was cured by conversion into a magician. He takes it thus easy because, if thrown out, His mesmerised servant can point out the route. See Barlow's laird bruising along in the van, Though backing a 3'oung 'un, why, catch him who can; Full of pluck at a burst, of joke at a check, As if his broad shoulders did not prop a neck. Game Colton's Marine, too, is scorning to creep, And at twelve miles an hour is ploughing the deep ; Whilst with whiskers well combed, and hat cocked genteelly. The pink of good humour, rides Captain Bob Healy. His neighbour, John Roper, comes up with such speed That he clears both the fence and the head of his steed ; If he supped late last night and's well primed with champagne. He'll recover his saddle, and do it again. Johimy Clough to the left takes a line of his own. Though he owes to the sport a warped nose and crooked bone ; Still he rides like a hero, but has nearly got spilt, O'er a wall which, 'tis said, his grandfather built. His partner in trade takes it easy the while. With an eye to a gate for at least half a mile. As the Swan's a mute fowl, and not .given to riot, This must sure be a goose, for its tongue's never quiet. Whilst these with the hounds are enjoying the spurt, Squire York has been robbing the lanes of their dirt ; Yet declares that of hunting he's not had his fill, And anxiously asks if they've managed to kill ? Ah ! bred in the bone is delight at brutes slaughtered. For a Leeds butcher's axe on his 'scutcheon is quartered ; But his wish is accomplished, and pug finds repose At length, in the maws of his clamorous foes. Though the field at the time is consumptive and thinnish. Some hundreds contrive to ' nick in ' at the finish ; Return to their homes, and brag o'er their port. Of fences ne'er faced, and invisible sport. Whilst Lotherton Billy, in telling his wife He ne'er before saw such a run in his life, Lauds his glorious luck in escaping a pip, For he rode down a field and encountered a grip ! SOME WELL-KNOWN SUPPORTERS. 24 1 The writer of the poem is certainly somewhat severe on many good sportsmen, but his satire is good humoured enougli, and there is no sting in it. The following quotations from the Badsworth Hunt song, written by the Hon. Martin Hawke, and a verse of which has been previously quoted, may fitly conclude the chapter, especially as Mr. Hawke has had the knack of hitting-off his hunting contemporaries in a few happy words : ' Never heeding a tumble, a scratch, or a fall, Lying close on his quarters comes Scott, of Woodhall ; And mark how he cheers them with ' Hark to the cry ! ' Whilst on him the peer keeps a pretty close eye ; And close on his heels see Bob Lascelles advance, Dressed as gay for the field as if leading the dance ; Resolved to ride hard, nor be counted the last, Pretty sure of the speed of his favourite, Outcast.' Mr. Lascelles, of Sowerby Hall, near Thirsk, is the gentleman alluded to in this verse. He was a very hard man, and was one of the half-dozen who saw the end of a long and hard run with Sir Mark Masterman Sykes's hounds in 1806; the others being Lord Hawke, Mr. Treacher, of the Life Guards, Sir F. Boynton, Mr. Best, Mr. Batty, and Will Carter, the huntsman. ' Then Bland and Tom Gascoigne I spy in the van, Riding hard as two devils at catch as catch can ; But racing along to try who can get first, Already I see both their horses are burst.' Mr. Thomas Davison Bland, of Kippax Hall, is the gentleman alluded to. According to Mr. Hawke's estimate of him — and it must be remembered Mr. Hawke was a good judge in these matters — he was a very hard man. The last verse I shall quote refers to two gentlemen from a distance who apparently took up their quarters in 242 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. the Bramham Moor country when the hunting season came round, and it is for this reason that I give it : — ' See Starkey and Hopwood, so full of their jokes, From Bramham Moor come to be quizzing the folks ; And when they return the whole chase they'll explain, Though they saw little of it, to crony Fox Lane.' The gentlemen alluded to in this verse are Mr. James Starkey, of Fellifoot, Westmoreland, and Mr. Hopwood, of Hopwood, Lancashire. t A. K-»^~-~ ^^ *) CHAPTER XI. On the Flags and in the Show Ring. ' How gay they bustled round him ; How gallantly they found him ; And how stealthily they wound him O'er each brake and woody dell. ' Oh ! how they sped together, O'er the moor, among the heather. Like birds of the same feather. And their music like a bell.' A History of the Bramham Moor Hunt would be incom- plete without some reference to the hounds, which, in the kennel and in the field, have had a world-wide reputation for upwards of a century and a half. Unfortunately there is not much to be gleaned about individual hounds during the earlier years of the Hunt. One of the earliest hounds of which I can learn anything is Ringwood, Lord Yarborough's Ruler — Bonnymaid, a narrow snipy-nosed blue-pied hound, that was a wonder in his work, and remarkably stout. He ran at the head of the pack for ten seasons, and when he was well advanced in years he led them over Saxton field at a great pace, never speaking.* His blood went into the * Captain Fo.x tells me that Ringwood had plenty of cry, so that this would seem lo have been a special occasion. 244 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. Duke of Buccleuch's kennel, but I have not been able to trace any hounds by him in the Duke's kennel-books ; and as 1 have already said the Bramham Moor kennel -books only date back to 1841.* In the Duke of Buccleuch's kennel- books the names of Lord Harewood's Benedict, Gilder and Merlin occur as sires, but of them or their pedigree nothing can be learnt. The hounds purchased when Mr. Wyndham gave up have been noticed already, but a few of Mr. Lane Fox's early sires may be mentioned, and their pedigrees may be of interest to those who care for that most fascinating of pursuits, — scientific hound-breeding. The first hound to be named is Streamer, by Mr. Fol- jambe's Rifler — Lord Henry Bentinck's Airy, a hound that was most likely obtained in a draft, for he figures as a two- year old in Mr. Lane Fox's first hound-list. He was used for several seasons at home, and was also used in the Duke of Buccleuch's kennel. Baronet (1851), by the Duke of Rutland's Prompter — Bonnymaid, by Lord Lonsdale's Limner — Bonnylass, was also a good hound. Another, that was descended from a bitch of Lord Harewood's, was Charon, by Lord Henry Bentinck's Charon — Resolute, by Badsworth Lubin, a famous hound in his day ; her dam. Ringlet, who was bred by Lord Harewood, and was by Benedict — Rosebud. Both these hounds were a good deal used. Later on there was a good hound in Grappler (1856), a rare bred one, by the Duke of Rutland's Guider — Susan, by Mr. Foljambe's Streamer ; her dam, Blowzy, a bitch bred by Lord Harewood, by Lord Yarborough's famous hound, Bluecap — Careful. Ronitm, by General (by Ringwood, by Lord Yarborough's Ruler) — Rosamond, by Sir Richard Sutton's Albert, her dam, Rarity, by Mr. Wyndham's Remus — Blowzy, was also a good hound. These were both * There is a list of James Lane Fox's liounds in 1808. ON THE FLAGS AND IN THE SHOW RING. 245 exceptionally well-bred hounds, and did good service in other kennels as well as in the home one. Unfortunately, however, there is nothing forthcoming about their merits beyond what the Stud Book has to record. Guider and Helen were a couple of remarkably good- looking young hounds, as their portrait shows. They were shown at Pontefract in i860, and won for the best couple of unentered hounds. This Show, however, must not be mistaken for the forerunner of the Peterborough Hound Show, which was held in connection with the Cleveland Show until 1S64. Guider was by General (the hound, it will be remembered, who figures in the presentation-portrait ol Mr. Fox) — Cowslip, and Helen was by Mr. Percy Williams's H elpmate — Bantling. But it would be tedious to give a bare list of the hounds that have made themselves a name at the stud, so I will hasten on to a later period, when something more than mere name and pedigree can be related. When Smith went to Bramham he found a famous sire named Mountebank. He was by Mr. Leigh's Merryman — Affable, by Lord Poltimore's Archer. A bi"-, fine hound, he was used a great deal both at home and in other kennels, but he was about worn out when Smith went, and he saw little of him in the field. A younger hound was Gaylad, by Gamester — Affable, and consequently a half brother to Mountebank. Gamester was by Gainer — Stately, and Gainer was by General. Gaylad was a powerful hound, with a good neck and shoulders, well ribbed, and with plenty of bone. He was a good hound in his work, and was a resolute hound from the first. One morning, after a lot of work in Hazlewood, they went to Haighton, where they found a cub, and after a lot of work in covert, they forced a cub out into the park and into a pond, where hounds lost view of him. But Gaylad was all there, and catching sight of the fox swimming, he V 2 246 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT swam after him, and brought him to land Hke a retriever. More than once is Gaylad mentioned as having- done something good. In the same year (1873) was entered Monarch, an useful hound by Manager — Woodbine, who was much patronised by Mr. Foljambe and Lord Yarborough. .Struggler, by Sampson — Gladsome, was a very good-looking- hound, of whom much was expected as a sire, but he did not do much good, In 1875 Damper was perhaps the best of the dog entry. He was a good-looking dog, and as good as he was good- looking. He was by Diver — Primrose. His sire was a son of the Blankney Damper, and on the dam's side he strained back to Lord Poltimore's Warrior. He was used a great deal, and his stock turned out well. Musket (1876), by Monarch — Dulcet, by Fencer, descends through his grandam, Dahlia, from Lord Poltimore's Warrior. He was a capital hound in his work, and many hounds in the pack go back to him on one side or the other. His three sisters. Muslin, Myrtle, and Mistletoe made up an excellent litter, and it is a testimony to their good qualities that, with the choice there always was at Bramham Moor, they were all bred from. Chanticleer (1877) was by Racer— Chorus, through whom he traced his descent from the Meynell Chorister. He was a big hound, standing fully twenty-four inches, but he was level and a good shaped one, and had a lot of bone. He was used a great deal both in his own and other kennels. The year 1877 was prolific in good hounds. The litter- brothers. Gallant and Gambler, by Gaylad — Primrose, could scarcely fail to make good foxhounds, for their dam was the dam of Damper, and it would be superfluous to again refer to the deeds of their sire. Gambler did a lot of good service in the York and Ainsty kennel, and several good hounds were sired by him. Then Harbinger, by Lord Portsmouth's ON THE FLAGS AND IN THE SHOW RING. 247 Harbinger — Damsel, by Rallywood ; and Rasper, by Random — Graceful, by Gamester, were both good hounds that were in high favour amongst hound-breeders. But amongst the entry of 1877 was a hound that was destined to make a greater name than any of these, good as they were ; and wherever foxhounds are bred the name of Bramham Smoker is a 'household word.' He was by Dread- nought (by Blankney Damper — Ruin, by Rocket) — Starlight, by Sportsman — Wisdom, by Roman. He was an August puppy, and was scarcely looked at ; indeed, it was thought that he would never grow into a hound. But he did grow Into one, and Smith expresses it as his opinion that he was one of the very best foxhounds he ever saw. He was not a particularly handsome hound, just an useful one in appear- ance, but in his work he was a wonder. He had an excep- tionally fine nose, and was full of drive. As an instance of his fine hunting powers may be given an incident which took place in a run, the date of which is not at hand, though there is no doubt about the fact. Hounds had run over the York road to Colton Whin, through which they drove their fox on to the lane leading to Copmanthorpe. On the lane scent failed, and no hound could own the line save Smoker, who carried it on for half a mile by himself, a circumstance which Mr. H. Preston will doubtless remember, as he was much pleased with the performance at the time. Smoker, it need scarcely be said, was a great success at the stud, and in most of the kennels in England there is some of his blood to be found. In 1S78, Grasper, by Gaylad — Famous, by Fleecer, stands out as an useful hound both in the field and at the stud. He unfortunately got 'stifled,' and was then sent to the Duke of Buccleuch's kennel, where he did good service. Dancer, by Damper, a grandson of the Blankney Damper — Merrylass, by Mountebank, a very well-bred hound, was 24S HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. used a good deal both at home and in other kcnneh, especially the Goodwood and the Heythrop; but even his good qualities pale before those of one of the same year (1879), Sailor, by Smoker — M istletoe, a litter-sister to Musket. He was not a big dog, but he was a rare-shaped one, full of quality, and Smith says enthusiastically when speaking of him, 'a gentleman all over.' He was a good worker, as indeed with his fine pedigree he could scarcely help being, and as a sire he takes a foremost place amongst the hounds of his time. He was used all over the country, and his stock all turned out well. In the Pytchley country they swear by him, and with Mr. Wright, of the Badsworth, he was an especial favourite ; also with Lord Willoughby de Broke. Crowner (i88r), by Chanticleer — Marigold, by Monarch, strains back to old F"encer on the sire's side, and to Mr. Leigh's Merryman on the dam's. He was a very good hound, and was used a good deal ; but he was scarcely so good as Grappler, by Grasper (by Gaylad — Primrose) — Ruthless, by Rocket (by the Belvoir Rallywood, by Brock- lesby Rallywood) — Rosamond, sister to those good hounds, Roman and Rifler. Many of the best hounds in the pack 00 back to this CTood and well-bred hound, and he also did eood .service in Lord Portman's kennel. Conspicuous amongst the entry of 18S2 were Sparkler and Ranger. Ranger was by Blankney Rallywood (by Rifleman, a son of Regulus, — Careful, by Belvoir Contest) — Sophy, by Struggler, a grandson of Belvoir Senator — Gravity, by Lord Portsmouth's Gainer, by Puckeridge Gulliver. He had a capital nose, and was a rare hound at head, and indeed he was, take him altogether, an excellent fo.xhound. Sparkler, by Sailor — Daffodil, by Dashwood, a son of Grove Druid — Musical, by Mr. Leigh's Merryman, was a big hound, standing fully twenty-four inches, and very full of quality. ON THE FLAGS AND IN THE SHOIV RING. 249 Granby, by Grappler, who was used after his first season, as was also Smoker, an exceptional proof of merit, — Muslin, sister to Musket and Mistletoe, was a good hound that was used freely in the home kennel, though he did not take so well with other packs. In the same year (1883) there were a couple of large litters by the Uuke of Beaufort's Render, a hound that was much used at Badminton. He was by Lord Portsmouth's Render, who was by Rocket, by Sir Watkin Wynn's Regent — Caroline, who strains back to Cottager on the sire's side, and to the Blankney Warrior on the dam's side. One ot these litters was from Primula, by Racer — Primrose, and the other from Harmony, by Lord Portsmouth's Harbinger — Damsel, by Rallywood. The dogs were not much used, but all the bitches turned out well, and were bred from. In 1 88 5 there was a very well-bred hound put forward In Gleaner, by Grappler — Sorceress, by Sailor — Sophy. He was a fine hound, very level and shapely, but a trifle light of bone. He was a great favourite, and was much used, Mr. Chandos Pole being very partial to him. Next year three good hounds call for notice : the first being Coroner by Contest (by Chanticleer — -Vestris, by Victor — Ruthless) — Sorceress, a very good dog, both In the field and on the flags. Then comes Hospodar, a hound that has made himself a great name at the stud. He was by Ranger — Heedless, by Lord Galway's Slasher, a son of Lord Portsmouth's Clasher — Artful, by Brocklesby Ambrose — Hasty, by Har- binger, straining back to Magic, litter sister to Mountebank. Hospodar was a thick-set powerful dog, and was certainly one of the best sires of his day. Nearly the whole of the Bicester entry one year were by him, and he was much used by Lord Chesham and Lord Wllloughby de Broke. The prize unentered dog-hound at Peterborough, this year (1897), the Warwickshire Tuscan, was descended from him, through 250 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT his grandsire Warlock, who was a son of his. Spokesman was a rare-bred one on both sides. His sire was Lord Galway's Spokesman, by Bramham Smoker — Ransom, by Lord Coventry's Rambler, and his dam was Dangerous, by Sailor — Delicate, by the Grove Saracen, a son of the Puckeridge Saracen — Damsel, who strained back to Lord Poltimore's Warrior. He was an excellent foxhound, and a great favourite. \\\ 1887 Aimwell stands out as a good hound. He was by Brocklesby Autocrat, a son of Holderness Sambo and Alpine, who strains back to Ambrose through her sire Alfred — Haricot, by Rasper. He was a big powerful dog, rather on the leg, but a rare-made one, and he did a lot of good both at home and in the Duke of Buccleuch's kennel, whither he subsequently went. Salisbury, by Sparkler — Clara, by Lord Galway's Clasher, was also a very useful hound. Albert (1888), by Brocklesby Artist, a litter brother of Autocrat — Clara, was a rich tan dog, with fine quality, that was used a lot, and that was about the best of his year. Folkestone, by Grappler — Fearless, by Lord Radnor's For- ester, was another very good hound, but he unfortunately got lamed in his shoulder, and was sent to Mr. Langridge in Ireland, where he did a lot of good. Gainsborougii and Gayman, by Gleaner — Rosemary, by the Duke ot Beaufort's Render, were also a couple of very useful hounds, both in the field and at the stud. Herald (1889), by Brocklesby Hermit (by Mr. Foljambe's Major — -Hopeful, by Ambrose) — Handmaid, the litter sister of Haricot, is a badger pie, full of quality, and one of the most taking hounds in the pack. His elegance, combined with size and substance, make him an exceptionally good sire, and in the field he always ran at head. Roderick and Rasselas, by Ranger — Speechless, a litter sister of Spokesman, ON THE FLAGS AND IN THE SHOW RING. 251 were a remarkably useful and level couple that did well at the stud, several very good hounds straining back to them. Rambler, by Brocklesby Rubicon — Symphony, by Sparkler — Vestris, was another good dog of the same year, and one of the hardest, for though eight years old at the time, he scarcely ever missed his turn last season (1896-97). Amongst the older hounds in the pack at the commence- ment of the season of 1896-97 may be mentioned Druid (1890), by Lord Galway's Druid, by Grafton Druid — Mer- maid, by Musket, a powerful well-bred hound, with nice quality, and Driver, by Cayman — Dormouse, by Lord Galway's Clasher, a remarkably straight hound, with good ribs and shoulders, a good one in his work and with plenty of cry. Herald's excellences are well represented by his son, Harper (1892), whose dam, Gracious, was by Grappler. A well-bred hound, he represents both quality and substance. A good hound and a rare worker is Speaker, by Spokesman — Handsome, who is in the same year. Amongst the younger hounds one that shows great promise is Dramatist (1894), by Rasselas — Darling, by Gayman. Coming from such a good strain, a great deal is naturally expected of him, nor will those who expect much be disappointed in him, for he is very shapely, and full of quality, with plenty of power and substance. Monarch and Marmion, by the Belvoir Discount — Midnight, by Coroner, Norman, by the Belvoir Noble — Gracious, and Rifleman, by Rambler — Handsome, are very promising young hounds that were entered in 1894, and that have proved themselves to be good in their work. Of them it is not difficult to predict success at the stud as well. It has been stated that Mr. Fox never showed his hounds, but this is not correct. Mr. Fox was one of the earliest and staunchest supporters of the Foxhound Show, and, indeed, had it not been for him, it is highly probable "r 252 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. that it would have fallen through when Mr. Thomas Parrington resigned the Secretaryship of the Cleveland Agricultural Society, and that Society declined to continue the Hound Shows. All the time the Foxhound Show was held in connection with the Yorkshire Agricultural Society's Show Mr. Fox was an active supporter of it, and for many years he was President. After the Show went to Peter- borough he took a great interest in it, but he never exhibited out of Yorkshire. He, however, visited the Show occasionally, and was President one year. The first time the Bramham Moor appeared on the Show benches has been already alluded to. At Yarm, in iS6i, Mr. Fox showed largely, and took some prizes, though I have not been able to get a correct return. They were highly commended for the best couple of one or two season hunters with Guider and Hero; the prizes going to Mr. Hill's Charon and Merrylass, and the Milton Hercules and Stately. In the class for brood bitches, which was a very good one, the Milton Harpy was first, and the Bramham Moor Royalty, by Belvoir Clinker — Royalty, was second. At York, in 1866, some hounds were shown, but they gained no honours ; but in the following year, at Thirsk, they were first with two couples of entered dog-hounds, — with Rector, by Rector — Blowzy; Stormer and Stripling, by Belvoir Stormer — Royalty ; and Flasher, by York and Ainsty Comus — Baroness; and in the class for unentered bitches the second prize went to Sportly, by Gainer — Stately. In 1868, at Wetherby, they took no honours; but the following" year, at Beverley, the first prize for unentered bitch went to Syren, by Sportsman — Bluebell. In 1871, when the Show was held at York, the Bramham were well to the fore. In the class for two couples of entered dog- hounds, they were second to the Brocklesby, with Rally- wood, by Rocket — Rosamond ; Striver, by Gainer — Stately ; ON THE FLAGS AND IN THE SHOW RING. 253 Gamester, an own brother, two years younger, and Falstaff, by Fencer — Whimper. They were also first in the class for entered bitches with Syren, Dainty, by Fencer — Dahlia; Gracious, a litter sister of Gamester, and Wisdom, by Roman — Winifred, and they took second prize with Diver, by Mr. Chaplin's Damper — Ruin, in the class for unentered dog'-hounds. They were in good winning vein at Malton in the following year. Nobleman, by Lord Portsmouth's Nobleman — Dulcet, won in the class for unentered dog-hounds ; and in the class for the best two couples of entered dog-hounds they were first with Guider, a litter brother of Gamester and Gracious ; Statesman, a litter brother of Striver ; Singer, by Sailor — Lawless; and Marquis, by Mr. Leigh's Merryman — Streamlet. Statesman and Gamester were first and second in the class for stallion-hounds ; and in the class for two couples of entered bitches they were second with Gracious, Sunbeam, by Sportsman— Wisdom ; Whimsey, by Fugleman —Welcome ; and Magic, a litter sister of Mountebank. At Sheffield, in 1874, no score was made; but in 1877, which was the last year in which the Foxhound Show was held in Yorkshire, and consequently the last year in which the Bramham Moor were exhibited, they had a capital record. In the class for unentered bitches they won with Cymbal, by Racer — Chorus, and a litter sister of Chanticleer. The class for two couples of entered dog-hounds was a wonderful one, and the judges were unable to come to a decision as to the respective merits of Lord Fitzwilliam's The Mitton exhibits and the Bramham Moor, so the prizes were put together and divided : an unique experience at a Hound Show. The hounds shown by the Bramham were Gimcrack, by Lord Portsmouth's Gainer — Dulcet, Struggler, by Sampson — Gladsome, Marquis, and Dulcimer, by Dashwood — Musical. So it will be seen that the Bramham Moor took their G 2 ^54 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. full share of show honours, and that in the show yard, as well as in the field and on the flaos, they were well in the van. Indeed, in later days, when they have not courted show-yard honours, the Bramham Moor blood has been well forward at Peterborough, and in the Warwickshire kennel there is a great deal of the blood of old Sailor, who was much used by Lord Willoughby de Broke for two seasons. CHAPTER XII. PUPPV-WALKING AND THE BkAMHAM MoOR HoUND-ShOW. The making of a pack of foxhounds begins when they are out at walk. The Master may be a keen and scientific hound-breeder, sparing neither trouble nor expense in his attempt to secure the best blood in the kingdom. The huntsman may be his equal in zeal, and may take all the pains possible with his charges before they go out to walk and after they come back to the kennel ; but unless the puppies are well walked all their labour will prove in vain, and it will be a mixed lot that they will have to take into the field. The great improvement which is apparent in hounds all over the country is undoubtedly due in no small degree to the increased number of walks which are obtainable for puppies, and to the increased care which is taken in walking the puppies. For some reason there is now no difiiculty in getting a puppy walked, and walked well ; anil in some Hunts that I know of walks are more numerous than puppies, and it is an easy matter to walk from fifty to sixty or even seventy couples of young foxhounds every year. This of course admits of a large choice when the day comes for drafting, even allowing for the ravages which distemper is sure to make. 256 HISTORY OF THE B RAM HAM MOOR HUNT. As with everything else connected with hunting, there is much more generous and scientific management of the puppy at walk than used to prevail a few years ago, and there is now seldom to be seen the over-fed, clumsy, and 'crooked' puppy, whose appearance was at one time wont to trouble the mind of master and huntsman when the young lot came home to kennel, and made them wonder, not which they were to draft, but which they were to keep. In those days an unfortunate puppy was not infrequently shut up in a small outhouse as soon as he went to his quarters, and I have seen one chained to a barrel which did duty for a kennel. But that is a sight rarely, if ever, witnessed now-a-days, and the puppy out at walk generally has a 'good time.' When the young puppy is first taken to his quarters, which is at a very early age, he should be kept for a time to a diet of milk, which is his natural food at that period of his existence. It would, of course, be to his advantage to give him new milk for a time, and those who do so will find their reward in his fine glossy coat, satisfactory growth, and generally healthy appearance. He should never be allowed to distend himself with large quantities of washy food, and the less churn milk and such like sour stuff he gets, the better will be his health. One very important thing is that he should lie warm and dry : many puppies suffering from a damp bed and a cold kennel to such an extent as to affect their growth, or even to kill them altogether. A hunting stable is a sufficiently good sleeping- place for them when they are big enough and sensible enough to keep out of the way of the horses ; and if they are allowed to sleep in a hunting stable, and encouraged to follow the hunters when out at exercise, so much the better for both hound and horse, for the hound will get sufficient exercise to keep him out of the more troublesome of those mischiefs to which he is prone by nature, whilst the hunter PUPPY-WALKING AND THE HOUND-SHOW. 257 will get accustomed to having the hound he knows about him, and so will not be alarmed at, and so likely to kick, hounds when in the field. For this reason, if for this reason alone, every hunting man ought to walk a puppy wherever he has the convenience. When the young foxhound gets past the milk stage, he generally feeds well on the scraps which are so plentiful about a farmhouse. Care, however, should be taken that he is not fed too heavily, and that he does not get too much flesh. Raw flesh is to be avoided under all circumstances, and a little boiled cabbage mixed up in his food will be found to keep his blood in order, and prevent outbreaks of mange, eczema, and other skin diseases. If ever oatmeal is given, it should be given in very small quantities. One thing that is necessary to the successful rearing of the young foxhound is exercise. He should on no account be kept fastened up, or all the trouble that has been taken will be of no avail. It is also a sine qua noii that he should never be allowed to go about with the sheep-dog, who will soon teach him to chase sheep, and with a foxhound to chase sheep means, sooner or later, to kill them. But it is an excellent plan to walk out amongst the sheep with the foxhound puppy as a companion : he will get used to them, and will soon come to take no notice oi them. It is in the nature of puppies to be mischievous, but they are easily managed by a little firmness. It is better never to have a puppy at all than to hammer him with a broomstick as I have seen a puppy hammered, for the very venial offence of running away with a dishcloth which a careless servant had left within his reach. If ever a puppy should take to running sheep, or to any other mischief which becomes too troublesome, he should be sent in at once. The necessary discipline to bring him to his senses is better administered by a man who understands the breaking and 258 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. management of hounds. One thing the man who walks puppies should constantly bear in mind, and that is that in any case of illness, such as distemper, he must at once send to inform the huntsman, and not attempt to do any 'doctoring' himself A little tincture of rhubarb will do no harm if a puppy is a little staring in his coat ; but that is about as far as the average puppy-walker should venture in the way of administering medicine. lo sum up the whole art of walking puppies in a few words : — it is wholesome food, warm and dry lying, and above all plenty of exercise, which go the building up of the perfect young foxhound. One of the great functions of the year at Bramham Park, a function which was looked forward to by all the hunting world, was the Annual Hound Show, which was held in the month of August. It was a function unique in itself, and then the squire had always something to say witty and pungent about the affairs of the nation as affecting farming and fox hunting. Prizes for the best puppies which had come in from walk were no part of the programme ; Mr. Fox being of those who hold that there is considerable amount of luck in the gaining of such prizes. But every man who walked a puppy, and puppy-walkers who are aii fait at the business are as plentiful in the Bramham Moor Hunt as leaves in Vallombrosa, was asked to the luncheon which was provided in a large marquee near the kennels, and there they met the Master and his friends and chief supporters. It need scarcely be said that Mr. Fox's speeches were always looked forward to with the keenest interest, for he never talked round any subject, and the practical advice he had to give about everything appertaining to the sport to which he had devoted so much energy during his life, was treasured up by all whose privilege it was to hear him. Luncheon and the speech-making over, the hounds were had out, and the yoking entry keenly criticised, and the day was PUPPY-WALKING AND THE HOUND-SHOW. 259 brought to a conclusion with a garden-party in the beautiful grounds of Bramham Park. A more enjoyable way of spending a summer afternoon could not well be imagined. Sportsmen met each other who had not come together since the lengthening days and April sun had brought about the summer of their discontent, and indulged in reminiscences of past sport, and anticipations of the forthcoming season. A few extracts from Mr. Fox's speeches on the occasion of these reunions at Bramham Park may prove interesting. The first is from the speech which was delivered on August 20th, 1886: — 'Once again,' said Mr. Fox, ' I am delighted to welcome ' you here. Once again I have the pleasure of thanking you ' for the manner in which you have supported my foxhounds ' and me. There are puppy walkers and puppy walkers. ' There is the man who gives his hound good exercise, and ' who takes him amongst his sheep, and whose wife won't ' grudge to give him a drink of milk. (Laughter and cheers.) ' Then there is the puppy walker who shoves his puppy in ' the pig-stye, and after a few weeks sends him back, and 'says, "He's eat a sheep ! " (Laughter.) I am certain there 'is no such man in this tent. (Hear, hear.) Consider what ' capital fellows puppy walkers are. There are a great many ' gentlemen here who are not puppy walkers, and who want ' to get their names up as jolly good fellows and puppy ' walkers. I don't see why people should not do so. A ' foxhound gives an air of respectability to the place. Ladies ' are fond of walking puppies ; they like them. It is mar- ' vellous how foxhunting has increased of late years. There ' is more interest taken in it, and Til tell you why. Where ' twenty years ago one lady hunted, twenty hunt now, and 'where they go the men will follow them.' (Laughter.) The next extracts I give are from the speech made in the Jubilee year, when some words of wisdom fell from the 26o HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. Master. His political opinions are well known, and he was a very hard hitter on occasion, and there were some political allusions in the Jubilee year, as a matter of course. Those however may be passed over till we come to the practical side, and Mr. Fox's speech of August 20th, 1887, is worthy of the careful attention of all practical men : — ' I know in all directions,' said he, ' we hear that the ' large landed proprietors are very much reduced in circum- ' stances. I have had several instances. A friend of mine ' who keeps a pack of hounds in the south of England has ' let his house, and now lives in the cottage adjoining the ' kennels, declaring he will stick to his hounds as long as ' he can. (Applause.) Another man, a son of a great friend ' of mine, had large farms, scientific farms, splendid farms ' thrown on his hands, and what did he do ? He did not ' run away to Monte Carlo, and pot his hat on the table. ' (Laughter.) No, he stuck to the land, and undertook it ' himself and worked like a farmer, attending to the cultivation ' of his land, and riding over it day and night himself (Hear, ' hear, and applause.) Here is my friend, Lord Harewood ' (applause), who sticks to his estates, and stands by his ' tenants. He does not go to Monte Carlo, or up in a 'balloon. (Laughter.) He stays at home, and stands by ' his tenants, and though not so young as some of us he still ' supports fox-hunting, knowing that it keeps good-fellowship ' in the country. (Applause.) Can you get at your landlords ' if they are wintering in Rome ? (Laughter.) What is the ' use of asking a fellow who is spending his time in Rome 'or Paris for a new gate ? (Laughter.) Wish you may get 'it! (Renewed laughter, and applause.) I thank you for ' walking puppies for me. I have a most capital entry, and ' have had many masters of hounds to see them lately, and ' they were very pleased with them. Great credit is due to ' you for this And I must not leave out the great credit PUPPY-WALKING AND THE HOUND-SHOW. 261 ' due to my huntsman, Smith (applause), who will show you ' this afternoon the young hounds, full of muscle — none of ' your Peterborough fat — full of muscle, and fit to go ; and ' this is only to be attained by great painstaking and ' attention.' Failing health prevented Mr. Fox from taking his accus- tomed place at the head of the table and greeting his guests in person the following year ; and the speech from which the foregoing extracts are taken was the last of the many he made to his staunch supporters during the forty- eiofht seasons that the Bramham Moor flourished under his Mastership. But if he did not feel equal to making a speech he wrote a characteristic letter, which was read by Captain Fox to the assembled guests. This letter I give without curtailment : — ' Age and influenza have nearly snuffed me out. I am ' not able to join your party at luncheon, but will ask you to ' tell them that I am as keen as ever to keep up the good ' feeling which exists in this neighbourhood between all good ' fellows who ride, walk, run or talk about fox-hunting. I ' have lived to see many changes. The great men of years ' back who determined to use the abilities that were given ' them to crush the Agricultural interest, invented the game ' of Free Trade, declaring that the whole world would derive ' benefit, and that our example, if we started Free Trade, ' would at once be followed. I have lived to see there is ' no such thing as Free Trade. It is false trade. The ' manufacturing interest has derived great benefit in conse- ' quence of steam and science, but the owners of land have ' been hit hard, and are reduced. For some years farmers 'have been asking their representatives in Parliament to ' help them. But what can they do ? England has a very ' eccentric House of Commons. What are they ? Have ' they any firm opinions ? IMy advice is to stick to farming H 2 26? HISTORY OF THE BR AM HAM MOOR HUNT. ' as a very useful, healthy occupation, not a lucrative one ; — ' to carry a "spud," not a i;un. Thistles are increasing since ' guns became the fashion. Let every cheery fellow remember ' that by walking a puppy he is doing a generous thing. He ' is liberally supporting fox-hunting, keeping money spent in ' the neiofhbourhood, and encouraging the breed of well-bred ' hunters, which will always be of value. Long life to all ' puppy walkers ! ' Though not able to be present at the luncheon, Mr. Fox was at the garden-party in the afternoon, where he was cheery as ever when he met his guests. A pathetic figure indeed is that of the man whose life had been spent in his own neighbourhood, doing his utter- most to provide good sport for his friends and neighbours, and ruling over an important country firmly and wisely for nearly half a century, taking his last public leave of the hounds and country he had loved and ruled over so well ! A-iAi^i> CHAPTER XIII. Death of Mr. George Lane Fox. The hunting- season of 1896-9; had a g-loomy beginning, for on the opening clay the Squire of Bramham passed away from the scenes in which he had been so long a ruling power. He had suffered from influenza more than once, and he had a pretty sharp attack in the latter part of the summer, but he got out again, and was as cheery as ever on the afternoon of the annual Puppy-walkers' luncheon, in August. On the Great Ebor day, when hunting men fore- gather more perhaps than on any other day throughout the racing season, many were the enquiries as to his health, and from the answers it was hoped that we might have him with us for a short time. He had begun to pay his regular visits to the kennel again, and was very keen about the young entry, but Smith thought him feebler, and he never really regained his strength. Towards the end of October it was evident to his anxious friends that the end would not be long, and on the second of November, at four o'clock, he passed quietly away. With the death of Mr. Fox I bring the History of the Bramham Hunt to a close. I have endeavoured to show what his friends and he had made of the country and of the 264 HISTORY OF THE BRAMHAM MOOR HUNT. pack. Difficulties with them only existed to be overcome, and now that they have all gone, — he, the head, the last of all, — the pack remains, as a fitting memento of what can be done by energy, skill, and the true sportsman's spirit. The History of the Bramham Hunt is to a certain extent the Life of Mr. Fox. Whatever he did, he did thoroughly, and his whole energies were devoted to the promotion of the sport he loved so well, and of which he was so distinguished an ornament. Any eulogy would be superfluous. From the extracts from his diary and letters which I have given, those who knew him can learn more about him than from whole pages of eulogy, and those who had not the privilege of his acquaintance may learn in some measure what manner of man he was from the same source. How he was beloved and respected it is needless to tell. The crowds of mourners of every class who filled the pretty little- church at Bramham on that drearv and wet November morning when he was laid to rest, speak more eloquently than any words can do on that point. Never perhaps was there such a representative body of all that was best in English sport assembled. From the Prince of Wales down to the humble follower of hounds on foot, every class was represented.* What better epitaph could a man have than a funeral such as this .'' • One foot hunter walked all the way from Leeds in the pouring rain to pay the last tribute of respect to the typical English gentleman who for eighty years had lived amongst his own people. FINIS. INDEX. Accidents, Chap'er of, 79, 136 Aimwell, 250 Albert, 250 Baronet, 344 Beaufort, Duke of, 2o5 Beckford, Peter, 32 Bilton, 17 B.ngley, Lord, 30 Birkin, 19 Blands of Kippax, The, 227 Blubber Houses, 22 " Bob-tailed George," 137 Bob-tailed Foxes, 171 Boggart House Drain, 16 Bramharn Moor Hunt, Origin of, 30; Subscription to 1852-53, 61 " Brooksby," 24 Brown, Mr. Abraham, 226 Buckingham, The Duke of, 26 Byrani, 19 Catterton Drain, 16 Champagne Gorse, 229 Chanticleer, 246 Cliarlton Hunt, The, 28 • Charon, 244 Chorley, Dr., 229 Coaching Anecdotes, 207 Conway, 207 Cooper, The Brothers of Gledhow, 225 Cotton, Sir St. Vincent, 2o5 Courtier, The, 68, 69 Crowner, 24S Curious Illness of the York and Ainsty Whipper-in, 53 Damper, 246 Dancer, 247 Dayrell, The Rev. Thomas, 235 Deputation to Mr. James Lane Fox, 14 Digging out, 142 Druid, 251 Entry of 1S77, The, 246 Exercise, Necessity of, for young hounds, 257 Fairfax, Mr. Tom, 222 Fairfax, Capt. : his Harriers, 98 Foljambe, Mr., 206 Fox, James Lane, 30, 31 ; His hounds, 35 ; Retirement of, 35 Fox, George Lane, Master, 47 ; visit of to Sir Tatton Sykes, 57 ; laid up with bad knee, 67 ; with harriers on foot, 99 ; hunts his own hounds, 109 ; presentation to, 120 ; foot hunters give new horn to, 125; visit to Lord Galway, 130; last exiract from Diary, 190; letter from, 200; as horseman, 203 ; his good " hands," 203 ; visits to Newcome Mason, 204 ; first ride on a coach, 205 : on coach, 207 ; his management of the countiy, 208 ; letter from, 20S ; death of, 263; funeral, 264 Fox, Mrs. George Lane, Presentation to by tenantry, 69 Fox, Capt., accident to, 64; the serious accident to, 96 Fox in house, 77 Fox-hunting, Early mention of, 27; in the days of William lil. and Oueen Anne, 29; Literature of, 29 Friday Country, The, 17 Gallant, 246 Gambler, 246 Gamester, 245 Gascoigne, Sir Thomas, 30 Gascoigne, R. & T. , 226 Gaylad, 245 Gayman, 250 266 INDEX. Gleaner, 249 Grappler, 244 Grasper, 247 Guider, 245 Gunter, Co]., nurses Grappler, 174 Harbinger, 246 Harcourt, Archbishop, 235 Harewootl, The second Earl of, assumes Mastership, 35 : dealh of, 44 HarewooJ, The third Earl of, succeeds to the Mastership, 44 ; succeeded by Mr. G. Lane Fox, 45 ; presentation to, 45 ; accident to, 71; dealh of, 71 Harper, 251 Hastings, Roger, 27 Hawke, The Hon. Martin, 227, 228 Hawke, The Hon. S'anhope, 227 Helen, 245 Herald, 250 Hospodar, 249 Hound Shows, 251; at Yarm, 252; at York, 252 ; at Beverley, 252; at York ill 1871, 252; at Mallon, 253; Sheffield, 253 : last in Yorkshire, 253 Hounds poisoned, 74; killed by train, 174 Huntsmen: Payne, Geo., 41, 214 Treadwell, Charles, 41, 44 ; take, hounds to Bramham, 47; accident to, 64; persever- ance of, 77 ; death of, 8S ; with the South \Vdts., 215 ; with Mr. Horlock, 216; with Lord Suffield, 216; with Mr. Robertson, 216; goes to Harewood, 216 ; to Bram- ham Park, 216 Bamford, Will., 43, 21, 214; his bet, 215 Goodall, S., 90; leaves Bram- ham, 99, 217 ; Mr. Fo.\ on, 218 Turpin, Fred, 99; 106, 21S Morgan, Goddard, dents to, 107; again, no, 218 Kingsbury, George, 115, 219 Smith, Tom, 147; patience of, 148; first good run, 149; off work, 154; breaks his shoulder, 159; has bad fall, 1S5, 219 Walkerley, Martin, 213 freeman, Luke, 213 Ibbotson, Sir Charles, 206 Ingmanlhorpe, 15 death of, 106; acci- at work Johnstone, Sir John T. B., 224 Kennedy, Mr. Tom, 231 Knightley, Sir Charles, on lluntins, 211 Lascelles, Hon. G. E., 44, 225 Lascelles, Hon. Egremont, 224 Leeds and Manchester Mail, 207 Lowther, Mr. G., assists to stop Hounds, 157, 230; and the Parson, 231 Mange, 74 Markham, Mr. E., 224 Marston, 17 Maxwell, Mr. J., 224 Maxwell, Mr. H., 224. Meynell, Mr. Hugo, 31 Monarch, 246 Monday Country, The, 18 Monmouth, The Duke of, 28 Mountebank, 245 Musket, 246 Nicholson, Brady, 237 Nichokon, Field, with Lord Htnry I'entinck's Hounds, 237 Nimrod, 41, 44 "Offender, The Old," 222 Olivers of Lotherton, The, 227 Otley side. The, 22 Palmerslon, Viscount, Visit of to Bramham, 76 Payne, Mr., 229 Pickering disafforested, 28 Puppy- Walkers' Luncheon at P.iamliam Park, 258; Mr. Fox's speeches at, 259, 260; Letter from Mr. Fox read at, 261 Ranger, 248 Render, Litters by Duke of Beaufort, 249 Richardson, Mr. J. Maunsell, visits Bram- ham, 170 Ringwood, 243 Road, The Glories of the, 205 Romnn, 244 Roper, Mr., 28 Runs, Great, 84, 93, 105, 114, 115, 116, 127, 131, 132, 139, 140, 171. 179, iSo, 187, 192, 196, 199, 20I Saturday Country, The, 19 Scott, Mr. Fenton, 223 INDEX. 267 Selliy Country, The, 53 Sheep dog, fox killed by, 83; does good for once, 171 Sinnington Hunt, 26 Skipwovlh, Capt., 237 Smith, Rev. S)(lney, on riding, 236 Smoker, 247 Southern part of the Country, Tlie, 24 Sparkler, 248 Standing oats, hunting in, 76 Streamer, 244 Sutton, Sir Richard, visit to Bramliam, 55 Sykes, Sir Tatton, 57 Thomson, Mr. J. Anstruther, visit of, 74 Thornton, Colonel, 39 ; His Hunting Matches, 37, 38 Thorp Arch Woods, 15 Tockwith, 17 Towton, 20 Unruly field, 171, 187 \'avasour, Sir William, 30 Walking a fox to death, 50 Walking puppies, 254 Warde, John, The blood of, 48 Wednesday Country, The Wetherhy, Grand Naliiin.Tl Hunt Meeting at, SS Whippers-in : Shepherd, 43 Scott, Will., 43 Johnson, Ned, 93; Imnts hounds, 100 Bartlett, Frank, hunts hounds for first time, 154; shows good sport, 159 Hawkes, Charles, hunts hounds, iS6j has bad fall, 1 86 Wickham, Mr. Lamplugh, 228 Williams, Capt. Percy, 74 Wilstrop, 17 Wyndham, Mr., purchase of hounds from, 48 Wynn, Sir Watkin and Miss, Visit of, 181 York, Mr. E., 226 -ri>