A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



A feature of the journal, not without sug- 

 gestive bearing on the quantity of game then 

 existing in the Farming Woods Coverts, is the 

 frequent reference to bets. Seldom, apparently, 

 did a day pass without one member of the 

 party laying a wager that another would not 

 kill a bird. For example, on 14 October, 

 1770, we find that 'Lord O. (Ossory) holds 

 Mr. Fitzpatrick guinea he does not kill pheasant 

 to-morrow'; and on the next day, 'Lord Ossory 

 holds Mr. C. Fox guinea he does not kill 

 pheasant to-day.' The journal shows us that 

 Lord Ossory lost his bet, Mr. Fox having 

 killed one pheasant, while his lordship 'had 

 but one shot, owing (he says) to his great 

 politeness,' and missed that. The first men- 

 tion of partridges the writer has been able to 

 find occurs on 16 October, 1770, when there 

 is a record that Lord Ossory killed two brace. 

 The rest of this day's entry deserves repro- 

 duction in full : — 



Mr. C. Fox killed nothing. He wilfully 

 and barbarously slaughtered an old Hen 

 Pheasant in Meadow Lay. Five minutes 

 afterwards Mr. Fitzpatrick, who had particular 

 bad luck and had got but one shot all the 

 day, which was universally judged impractic- 

 able, levelled his piece at a Hen Pheasant, but 

 when he saw her at the muzzle of it gave a 

 noble instance of moderation and forbearance 

 by sparing her life, which it must be confessed 

 put the inhuman and unpardonable behaviour 

 of his friend Mr. Fox in the most odious Light. 

 He (Mr. Fitzpatrick) killed one Rabbit, and 

 Lord Chewton shot at a Woodpecker ! ! ! ! 

 which he informed us he had peppered. 

 N.B. — It flew away. He likewise shot at a 

 Rabbit, which he declared tumbled head over 

 heels several times. Joe Wade was voucher, 

 but as the dogs pursued and could not over- 

 take it, it was thought the said Rabbit had 

 played these Caprioles for his own diversion ! ! 



From this it is obvious that the offence of 

 killing a hen pheasant was almost as grave in 

 1770 as shooting a fox would be at the pre- 

 sent day, and the evident scarcity of pheasants 

 at the time sufficiently explains its enormity. 

 Apparently the Farming Woods party were 

 not exceedingly 'keen,' for it seems that on 

 1 7 October, the day being wet, the sportsmen 

 amused themselves by shooting swallows : — 

 'Lord Chewton and Mr. Fitzpatrick each 

 shot a swallow; Mr. C. Fox a water-wagtail 

 iitting ! ! ' It will not be reckoned to Lord 

 Ossory's discredit, perhaps, that ' he preferred 

 the fireside to this form of sport.' On 1 8 Octo- 

 ber the party went out after partridges, but so 

 poor was their success that they left them and 

 ' attacked the pheasants, found great plenty 

 but performed moderately.' It is sad to find 



that Mr. C. Fox repeated the offence of a 

 previous day by firing at a hen, ' whom nothing 

 but his awkwardness saved from his brutal 

 violence.' 



On 19 October, 1 77 1, the journal briefly 

 records the arrival of a guest who is referred 

 to as ' the Murderer ' ; his advent seems to 

 have been the signal for shooting to be dis- 

 continued, a fact which the new arrival's 

 pseudonym perhaps explains, as * next day all 

 departed for Newmarket,' and there are no 

 more entries in connexion with shooting until 

 the following season. 



Farming Woods is a typical Northampton- 

 shire estate, and we may safely apply the 

 principle 'ex uno disce omnes.' The preser- 

 vation of partridges and other game has been 

 an object of solicitude to the owners of the 

 Lilford estate for very many years. Records 

 exist to show that great attention has been 

 bestowed on game preservation during the last 

 half-century. Partridge shooting was the de- 

 partment of sport on which the late Lord Lilford 

 brought to bear knowledge and experience as 

 wide as they were discerning. His own words 

 with reference to the Lilford estate may be 

 quoted : ' We have been and are more anxious 

 about our breed of partridges than any other 

 game. Partridges are great devourers of insects 

 in all stages of development, and do infinite 

 service to the farmer ; in fact, this bird is 

 desirable from every point of view : beautiful 

 in shape and plumage, superexcellent as food, 

 affording healthy exercise and sport to great 

 numbers of all classes, the partridge is, in our 

 opinion, the most worthy of protection of any 

 of our British birds.' To this may be added 

 the fact that into partridge preservation and 

 shooting the money question, bane of all true 

 sport, enters less than it does into any other 

 form of shooting. 



The best partridge lands in the county are 

 to be found on the Burghley estate, where, 

 thanks to the fostering care bestowed upon 

 preservation by the great-grandfather, grand- 

 father, and father of the present marquis of 

 Exeter, the birds have thriven for a long 

 period. 



The Bulwick estate near Wansford, the 

 property of Mrs. Tryon, is also, or was until 

 recently, an excellent partridge manor. By 

 the kindness of Mrs. Tryon the writer has 

 been furnished with the game books kept at 

 Bulwick since the year 1873. Several good 

 bags are recorded therein ; Mrs. Tryon also 

 refers, in her letter, to the ' big partridge days 

 on the Harringworth fields,' but details of 

 these, unfortunately, are not available. 



Another excellent sporting estate is Ape- 

 thorpe, near Wansford. It was formerly the 



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