LORD MANNERS 67 



while scent was bad or with a sinking fox. The 

 craze for Belvoir tan was then beginning, and 

 masters as well as hunstmen, who were bitten with 

 the colour mania, were ready to sacrifice blood that 

 had proved its worth in the field merely for the 

 sake of pleasing the eye. I had such a profound 

 admiration for Tom Firr that I hesitate to admit 

 that he could have fallen a victim to the fashion 

 for colour, but it appeared to me that the working 

 qualities of the pack steadily degenerated after 

 about 1890. 



From what I can remember of it, the season 

 '84-85 was not very good, but there were occasional 

 bright spots, though few and far between. 



There were many pleasant days I can recall in 

 the season '84-'85, although it was not considered 

 good on the whole. Each of the three packs had 

 their share of what sport there was, but frost inter- 

 fered on several occasions, and for a fortnight in 

 March the ground was covered with a foot of snow. 



Amongst many other good men to hounds at 

 that time I seem to see Messrs. Edmund Leatham, 

 Alfred Brocklehurst, and " Buck " Barclay always 

 in the first flight. Mr. Leatham was one of the 

 hardest and most determined men across a country 

 I ever saw — a great heart and a beautiful seat, but 

 rather heavy hands. 



If I remember aright, the two latter men had by 

 this time joined the order of Benedicts, and had left 

 the " Bell " for hunting-boxes in the neighbourhood. 

 Marriage did not, however, quell their ardour for 

 the chase, and when hounds ran fast, you might be 

 quite certain of finding them amidst the select few. 



The Rector of Waltham, known familiarly as 



