The Merry Past 



Some years after the termination of the English 

 occupation of this part of France several attempts 

 were made to establish regular packs of hounds, 

 the principal movers in the matter being English 

 visitors to Boulogne, many of w^hom had come 

 across the Channel for very pressing reasons. 



Not a few English then appeared to think that 

 everything was to be got for nothing in France, and 

 generally returned home with the idea that they 

 had been most shamefully cheated. Whole families 

 came to Boulogne with little more than what would 

 maintain them a few weeks, after which, of course, 

 they got into debt, and went to the Maison d' Arret. 

 The gaols both at Calais and Boulogne (with the 

 exception of an occasional felon) contained nothing 

 but our countrymen ; and so exclusively were these 

 places considered the property of the English, that the 

 French always called them the " Hotels d^Angleterrey 



Amongst the crowd of visitors there were several 

 sportsmen, who determined to see if they could but 

 manage to indulge in their favourite amusement of 

 hunting. 



After some scratch attempts at hunting, a number 

 of hounds were converted into a subscription pack of 

 twenty couple, twelve of which were foxhounds from 

 the kennel of Mr. Oxenden, the East Sussex and 

 Surrey, the rest harriers. The pack was managed 

 and hunted by Colonel Charritte and Mr. R. S. 

 Surtees. The hunting days averaged five days a 

 fortnight, which were generally market-days, when 

 the peasants were in the town. 



88 



