A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



several days' hunting in the neighbourhood of 

 Rockingham, the general verdict being that 

 scent was bad and the pace slow. One day 

 they chased what turned out to be a vixen ; 

 she was seen running with her cub in her 

 mouth. 



Mr. Chaworth Musters, who probably again 

 became master in 1824, continued to show 

 excellent sport until 1827. 'The Druid' 

 mentions the following incident during this 

 mastership. Both Mr. Osbaldeston and 

 Mr. Musters were to finish hunting their 

 respective countries on the same day. Mr. 

 Musters therefore backed himself to kill his 

 fox before the squire killed his. Mr. Musters' 

 fox went out up Sulby Gorse at the first crack 

 of the whip, past Bosworth and Thedding- 

 worth to Laughton Hills, where a man stood 

 by the earths. Bending towards Sibbertoft, 

 the fox ran back, and they viewed him in a 

 field near Theddingworth. ' There he goes,' 

 said Mr. Musters. ' They shan't say I killed 

 him unhandsome.' So he would not lift his 

 hounds, and the fox, running through a flock 

 of sheep, escaped. 



Another fox, locally known as ' the Huns- 

 bury Hill devil,' gave Mr. Musters several 

 good runs for three seasons. The last time 

 they ran him Will Derry tried to head him 

 at a gate, but he would not stop, and led them 

 through Brafield Furze and Yardley Chase, 

 nearly to Olney Bridge, where he was lost. 

 They gave him such a dusting that day that 

 he did not come back to Hunsbury Hill, and 

 George Carter thought he was killed next day 

 by the Grafton hounds, travelling towards 

 Newport Pagnel. 



In 1827 Mr. Chaworth Musters threatened 

 to resign unless the members of the hunt sub- 

 scribed 5^2,000 a year towards expenses. Ap- 

 parently the money was not forthcoming, for 

 Mr. Musters then gave up the hounds and 

 returned to his own country. 



In 1827 Mr. George Osbaldeston, usually 

 called ' the squire,' made his entry into the 

 Pytchley country, where he officiated with 

 unparalleled success until the spring of 1834. 

 Like Mr. Musters the squire took up his abode 

 at Pitsford Hall. * Cecil ' says that when he 

 first saw the hounds he found them more per- 

 fect than he had expected. The squire's 

 favourite stud hound was Furrier, by Belvoir 

 Saladin, entered in 1 82 1. There were 

 twenty four and a half couple by this dog in 

 the kennels in 1829, and sometimes the squire 

 would make his draft for the day's hunting 

 entirely of hounds by Furrier. 



Squire Osbaldeston, who (with the excep- 

 tion of Sir Bellingham Graham) was the only 

 man who has hunted the Quorn and also the 



Pytchley hounds, used to declare that the 

 Pytchley country was the finest in the world. 

 He showed excellent sport, and was an inde- 

 fatigable master ; he would stop hounds when 

 wrong, or whip in to his own men if they were 

 forward on the line of their fox. It was said, 

 however, that at that time the hunting was 

 'all hurry, horn, and holloa, quick finds in 

 gorses, short bursts, no perseverance . . . the 

 hounds were all for a race.' In 1834 the 

 squire also determined to give up the hounds 

 unless he could obtain a subscription bearing 

 some proportion to his expenditure. There 

 was again a difficulty in raising the money, 

 and consequently he resigned, and disposed of 

 his celebrated sixty-three and a half couple of 

 hounds to Mr. Harvey Coombe (who hunted 

 the Old Berkeley) for ;^2,000. When Mr. 

 Osbaldeston left the country he received from 

 the members of the hunt a beautiful snuff box 

 with the inscription : ' To the best sportsman 

 of any age or country.' 



Mr. Wilkins, of Radnorshire, who in 1834 

 was living at Pitsford Rectory, then took 

 the country, forming a new pack by purchas- 

 ing nearly all the Hon. Grantley Berkeley's 

 entered hounds, and adding them to the 

 hounds he brought from Wales. In Mr. 

 Wilkins's time Jack Stevens was huntsman. 

 Jack Goddard first, and Webb second whip. 



Mr. Wilkins retained the county one sea- 

 son, and Mr. George Payne, of Sulby Hall, 

 became master for the first time in 1835. He 

 was a native of this county, the owner of a 

 fine estate, and as good a sportsman as ever 

 lived. He was a hard rider, and always rode 

 with a loose rein; he frequently rode too 

 forward. He was fond of lifting his hounds, 

 which he would do with great quickness. The 

 subscriptions were still inadequate, and Mr. 

 Payne had a good deal to pay, although his 

 brother-in-law. Sir Francis Holyoake Good- 

 ricke, contributed a large amount. The 

 kennels at this time contained about fifty 

 couple of working hounds. A list of them 

 for 1835 is printed by Mr. R. T. Vyner in 

 his Notitia Venatica. Mr. Payne retired at 

 the end of his third season, universally re- 

 gretted. 



In 1838 Lord Chesterfield took the hounds, 

 and hunted them for two seasons in magni- 

 ficent style. The huntsman was Will Derry, 

 and both horses and hounds were all that they 

 should be. The fields during this mastership 

 were probably the most brilliant that have ever 

 followed the Pytchley. At this time the 

 hounds only met three times a week, namely, 

 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. 



There were two famous runs at this period; 

 first with a ' Long Ould' fox to Earls Barton, 



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