QHAPTER II 

 EARLY DAYS IN LEICESTERSHIRE 



MY earliest recollections of fox-hunting are 

 misty and indistinct. Occasionally as a 

 small boy I was taken in a carriage to see 

 hounds, and perhaps had the pleasure of sitting on 

 the sharp hoop of a crinoline, but I always hated 

 wheels and much preferred wandering across 

 country on foot in the oldest clothes I could find. 

 Then came the thraldom of school, and in the 

 scanty holidays one pony amongst four boys did 

 not mean many days. 



I can, however, remember going out with Mr. 

 Tailby's hounds, whilst Lord Lonsdale's figure and 

 low crowned hat are distinctly imprinted on my 

 memory. I think he had not come in for the title 

 long then, and was better known as Colonel Lowther. 

 Some of the Cottesmore country was at that time 

 lent to Mr. Tailby, but I can't remember how it 

 was divided, though I recollect going to a meet of 

 his hounds at Tilton village. 



Mr. Tailby was one of the pluckiest riders who 

 ever crossed Leicestershire. No man had more 

 bad falls or broke more bones, but none of these 

 mishaps ever weakened his nerve. Though well 

 over eighty he had several bad smashes, and I saw 

 him riding over big fences, a few seasons before his 

 death, that many young men would have turned 



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