46 HUNTING REMINISCENCES 



Lord Wilton, who was first from find to finish. 

 Although there was a sharp frost in the morning, 

 scent was very good in spite of the ploughs carry- 

 ing. " I rode Culverthorpe and Black Charley," 

 Gillard records, " and both carried me well, especially 

 the latter, who, when he got to Woodwell Head, 

 had lots of gallop left in him." Black Charley was 

 a very stout horse and great jumper. He was 

 bought for the Duke's own riding from Mr. Chap- 

 man, but was a bit too gay, for which reason he 

 was passed on to me. Culverthorpe was a good- 

 looking chestnut, ridden by Cooper the hunts- 

 man, and in those days when whipper-in to him, I 

 had to hunt the hounds on several occasions when 

 he was laid up, and old Tom Chambers was the only 

 one to turn hounds. It was poor old Tom's fixed 

 rule never to jump a fence under any pretence 

 whatever, so I had pretty well to run the whole 

 show, but was singularly lucky, as it happened to 

 be a very good scenting season. On one of these 

 particular occasions, when I was riding Culver- 

 thorpe, we found a fox in Nightingale Gorse and 

 ran him hard to Burton Plantation, where he had 

 to surrender his brush. Just by the Flowerpot 

 Inn, at the Burton cross-roads, hounds sighted a 

 fresh fox running heel way, and immediately gave 

 chase. We had just jumped into the road, but 

 having no whipper-in, I turned old Culverthorpe 

 short back over the fence, extended him for two 

 fields and got to their heads, lifted them back on 

 the line of the hunted fox, and killed him hand- 

 somely. A great friend of the Duke's, old Mr. 



