42 THE WARWICKSHIEE HUNT. [isii 



farmers, and he received the hest assurances on that 

 occasion that foxes would be preserved. Lord Middleton 

 was not so successful as a breeder of hounds as Mr. 

 Corbet, but the pack were always in fine condition. 

 It cannot be said that he enjoyed the same universal 

 popularity as did Mr. Corbet, for various i-easons. 

 In the first place, he declined to support the Club 

 at Stratford, and it was broken up hi consequence. 

 He also refused to allow runs with his hounds to be 

 pul)lished. Thus many of his supporters who could not 

 hunt on each day when the hounds went out lost their 

 interest in hunting, because they could not see the best 

 runs recorded, and such an interdict as this gave grave 

 dissatisfaction to the farmers, one of whom said : " It is too 

 bad, when we take so much care to preserve foxes, and our 

 business will not permit us to go out with the hounds 

 often, to deny us the ])leasure of seeing what they are 

 doing in the newspaper." He also gave up the Meriden 

 AVoodlands, as well as the Combe and Dunchurch country. 

 He thus alienated some of the support which is necessary 

 to the successful hunting of a country. 



W V are not, for the reason above given, in possession of 

 the record of as many good runs in the time of Lord 

 Middleton as could be wished for. Lord Middleton had a 

 s])lendid stud of hunters, and no one could ride better 

 when he chose to ride. He would on some occasions ride 

 at every fence which came in his way, and he got to 

 the end of many fine runs ; at other times he would lead 

 his horse over every fence he met with. 



We found six curious old hunting prints in the library at 

 Walton, published in 181 1, with the accompanying lines : 



INDISPENSABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS. 



Every species of gTuuiid every liorse does uot svut ; 

 Wliat's a good country liunter may liere prove a brute ; 

 And unless for all kinds of strange fences prepar'd, 

 A man and liis horse are sure to he srared. 



As every country gentleman may noi comprehend the force of this 

 expression, he ought to know that the Meltouians hold every horse cheap 



