78 HUNTING REMINISCENCES 



to sport than in any other county in England. 

 A large dog-fox he proved to be when pushed out 

 by the terrier, and a stout one too, for hounds had 

 raced from find to finish. Those nearest to the 

 pack were Sir John Thorold and his two brothers, 

 Captain Cecil Thorold and Major Charles Thorold, 

 also Mr. Beaumont of Irnham. Amongst the 

 farmer division, Mr. James Hoyes of Hanby was 

 most prominent, and he was tremendous over a 

 country, though seldom mounted on a second 

 season hunter. 



New Year's Day was spent in the saddle, and 

 the ground was terribly deep after a heavy rain. 

 The scene was in Leicestershire, and hounds 

 whipped off in darkness near Hose with no one 

 left to help Gillard home, till he met his second 

 whipper-in Peck, near Harby. At the end of 

 three seasons' service with the Belvoir, Peck left 

 to become huntsman to Count Larish's pack in 

 Bohemia. An awkward experience once happened 

 to him when riding a hack home from Grantham 

 in the dark after a very long day's hunting. It 

 was in the days of toll-bars, and when stopping to 

 pay at Denton his hack was so fidgety that he got 

 down to count his change by the light of the lamp. 

 An over-officious limb of the law lying in wait for 

 a chance to distinguish himself sprang out of the 

 darkness, seized the hack, and told Peck that he 

 was drunk. The whipper-in was so offended at 

 the base insinuation that, without further ado, he 

 went for the policeman and blacked both his eyes. 

 The end of it was the handcuffs were forced on to 



