146 THE WARWICKSHIRE HUNT. [I8a& 



' have you heard the hounds ? ' He replied, in a very 

 deep, and what 1 term a parsonic voice, ' Kot only have I 

 heard them, but I have seen them.' 'Oh, thanks,' says 

 r ; ' when and where ? ' ' Well, about an hour ago I 

 w^as passing through Kineton, and T saw them all out in a 

 field with two of their keepers, and one or two of them 

 barked.' Then, as the ' Pink 'Un ' says, the band played. 

 I went on to Tysoe, and got my shoe on, but did not find 

 the hounds again." 



The late Captain Benyon, of Banbury, who was 

 mentioned about the year 1880 as one of the good riders 

 in the county, married the beautiful Miss Christina North, 

 the youngest daughter of Lord and Lady Noi-th. He was 

 an universal favourite, a fine sportsman, a most entertaining 

 companion, and at one time he rode as hard as anyone 

 in England. He set his own leg in the Wicklow 

 Mountains, which got broken when in pursuit of Fenians, 

 and made a capital job of it ; and one night he went over 

 the rope at the Alhambra or Crystal Palace on Blondin's 

 back, because a friend had made a large bet that he would. 

 Blondin said to him, " If you sit still you are as safe as in 

 an arm-chair, but if you stir, T will throw you down." 

 Blondin made a great mistake if he thought he had got 

 hold of a coward, for Captain Benyon " knew no fear."' 

 He was a modern Bayard — scdisjjpuf et sans rejjroche. 



From Sir C. Mordaunt's diary : 



There was a very severe siiring aud cold summer, and tlie deer iu conse- 

 quence in Scotland were late iu getting into condition. During twenty-eight 

 days' stalking I killed eighty-five stags. My landlord insisted on having 

 ti-aps of great size set for the foxes, which had killed some lambs, and the 

 consequence was one of the large ospreys was caught. He measured 7ft. Sin- 

 across the outstretched ^vings, and to look across his back when he had 

 lieen stuffed was like looking across the back of a large collie dog. At 

 the same time, during the severe weather, two marten cats Avere alsa 

 unfortunately caught in the traps. These are now very rare animals. One 

 of them was so sliglitly injured that my forester thought that I should like 

 to have him alive in England, so he i)ut him overnight in a box, meaning ta 

 send him to me next day ; but the marten cat scratched his way through the 

 l)ox, and then through the tloor of the room, which was made of wood, and 

 came up all safe on to the gravel walk outside, and got clear away. I was- 

 very glad to hear of this, as there cannot be many of them left. 



