120 HUNTING REMINISCENCES 



in the staff this season brought Will Wells 

 and George Cottrell to Belvoir, as first and 

 second whipper-in. For smartness and fine 

 horsemanship it is generally agreed that Will 

 Wells heads the list of the many who turned 

 hounds during the last quarter of a century, and 

 he came from the Quorn, where he acted in the 

 capacity of second whipper-in to Tom Firr, with 

 George Gillson, the present Cottesmore huntsman, 

 first whipper-in. Will Wells was the beau-ideal 

 of a hunt servant, and quickly established himself 

 as every one's favourite, the bruisers delighting 

 in galloping Will, whose seat over a fence was the 

 envy and admiration of all who beheld him flitting 

 about a strongly-fenced country like a swallow on 

 the wing. He possessed in a remarkable degree 

 the rare knack of making all horses go alike, good, 

 bad, or indifferent, such as we venture to think has 

 only been equalled by Captain "Doggy" Smith, 

 when he was the pride of a Leicestershire field. 

 Both these fine horsemen and we make no apology 

 when we link together the names of the gentleman 

 and the professional were wonderfully strong in 

 the saddle, and could see their way through a fence 

 where there did not appear a place fit for a pigeon 

 to fly. 



We mentioned the name of George Gillson, the 

 first whip to the Quorn this season, and promotion 

 came to him with the offer to carry the horn for 

 Lord Ferrers, who kept a pack of hounds to hunt 

 the Donnington side of the Quorn country. The 

 pack was a very good one, for Lord Ferrers began 



