2 THE WAEWICKSHIRE HUNT. [1876 



hunting coniniunity soon appreciated the quick change 

 for the better which was soon brought about by such 

 a thoroughly ardent sportsman as Lord Willoughby 

 de Broke, and w^e shall describe how the change became 

 more remarkable as time went on, until we shall arrive at 

 a long period, the history of which the writers of these 

 annals may indeed feel proud to relate as a unique record 

 of " what hunting should be." The more we have related 

 in these pages of the late Lord Willoughby de Broke, the 

 more w^e believe our readers have seen what a truly great 

 sportsman he was, and what splendid things he did for 

 huntino- in Warwickshire. His son, born as he was during 

 his first mastership, was born and bred to the sport. He 

 had well followed his father's example, and he had now 

 succeeded, just at an opportune time, to the great and real 

 ambition of his life. 



Lord Willoughby de Broke, like his father, w^as a lover 

 of sport of a varied kind from his earliest days. When at 

 Eton he had taken to hunting, and could ride well,* and 

 afterwards when at Oxford he became a straight and 

 determined rider to hounds, and he rode in the last Oxford 

 and Cambridge steeplechase, which was run for many years 

 to come. It is remarkable that wdien it again took j^lace 

 it was a point-to-point race, held under his own auspices at 

 Kineton, and we shall describe it hereafter. He has also 

 been a successful cricketer, and was a prominent member 

 of the I Z. eleven in many matches, both here and in L-eland. 

 He was a keen fisherman, and was attracted at one time 

 to the fjords and rivers of l^orway. He was in former 

 years fond of shooting, and was a first-class shot, particu- 

 larly at driven partridges, the most difficult kind of 

 shooting. He has ridden occasionally in steeplechases, 

 point-to-point races, and on the flat, but it is when riding 

 to hounds, and hunting them himself, that he has been 

 seen to the best advantage. Biding to them with boldness 



* When we were at scliool at Mr. Hunter's, at what is now Diana Lodge, Kineton, 

 we had to ride from Compton Verney every morning and back at night on our ponies. 

 There could be no better training for a boy than this to teach him how to ride, as we 

 did not waste much time on the road, especially when coming home. — W. R. V. 



