SEASON 1876-77 91 



This season, in the entry of 16|^ couple was 

 the famous Weathergage by Warrior the son 

 of Wonder, and his dam was Royalty, by 

 Rambler, son of Senator. In Gillard's opinion 

 Weathergage was the best hound in every part of 

 a run he ever saw, and he combined nose, drive, 

 tongue, and devilry in breaking up a fox, which he 

 transmitted to all his get. Weathergage was not 

 a taking-looking hound, being flat-sided and three- 

 cornered in appearance. His ribs were deep and 

 his neck was short ; so mean did he look, that 

 Gillard treated him as the ugly duckling of the pack. 

 "I did not breed from him at first; but when I saw 

 what beautiful stock he got in other kennels for 

 he never sired anything so mean-looking as himself, 

 I started to get a kennel full of the sort." His 

 voice was beautiful he had only to speak and the 

 whole pack would fly to him, trusting it. It is 

 quite different when a bad hound speaks, the rest 

 know ; they only cock one ear as much as to say 

 " You fool and babbler ! " Weathergage always 

 seemed to know which way to cast, and carrying 

 a line down a road he was unsurpassed. He did 

 this on the last time he ever hunted, enabling the 

 pack to kill their fox handsomely. 



The Belvoir always crossed well with the 

 Brocklesby and vice versa; three couple out of 

 seventeen, Lord Yarborough's entry this season, 

 were by Belvoir sires. If all the strains belong- 

 ing to these two great kennels could in any way 

 be summed up, it would be found that a vast 

 amount of hunting in this country is indirectly 



