The Life of a Great Sportsman 



Here I came upon an interesting note as to my brother's 

 ideas on stag-hunting, showing not that he crabbed the twin 

 sport, but how he loved the actual work of the hounds, and 

 what to many seems the dreary part of the performance was 

 to him the greatest pleasure. The italics are his. No date 

 is given. 



" I was hunting with Rothschild's Staghounds. No real 

 lover of fox-hunting can care about stag-hunting. No find, no 

 kill. Hounds carry no head. Two good runs of 35 minutes. 

 Cyril Flower, Leo Rothschild, and Douglas Gordon, were out.' 



"Jan. 20th. Meet: — East Halton. Horses out Maunsell 

 Hero ; Victoria Birthday. Found directly in Bradley wood, 

 run to Scartha and back to Tennyson's Holt and through the 

 Holt to back of Walthan, then through Holton-le-clay to the 

 Gears. (Here a sheep-dog ran the fox.) We had four foxes 

 in the gears, and we ran round for twenty minutes, and then 

 out near Barnoldby to Beelsby, and the scent became so cold 

 we could do no more good, 2 hours 50 minutes, ran fast the 

 first half-hour. We were close to Irby Holm, and directly we 

 put the hounds in, a fox that had done a lot of work crossed 

 the ride, and we ran him hard in a ring to Irby dales, and 

 killed him — 55 minutes. Very hard day and satisfactory 

 killing him. Weathergage, Wonder, Ajax, Acton, Harbinger, 

 Bonny Lass, Leveller did a lot of work." 



From a note of my brother's I find the following : — 



" Meet at Saxby. I was not out. I heard they found 

 some outlying foxes, and as I was not out to look after them, 

 they chopped one and another they murdered in a pit." 



At the end of the year 1881 I find this note : — 



" Very satisfactory season all through. We killed 100 

 foxes in 109 days' hunting. The hounds did well. The 

 youngsters generally entered well." 



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