SPORT ANCIENT AND 



MODERN 



HUNTING 



I 



FOXHOUNDS 



record of Nottinghamshire as a 

 foxhunting county is one of the 

 most ancient in the kingdom, and 

 its popularity in this respect is as 

 great to-day as at any period of its 

 past history. If a good deal of it would not 

 satisfy the expectations of the Leicestershire 

 man, its sporting possibilities are great, and in 

 the way of variety it has almost everything 

 to offer. In its time the county has produced 

 many whose names in the hunting world are 

 as household words, and among the masters 

 of its packs may be found some of the greatest 

 of those whose names are inscribed upon the 

 scroll of hunting fame. Xo mention only a few 

 of them there are the Musters, who between 

 them father, son, and great-grandson hunted 

 the South Nottinghamshire country for the greater 

 part of a century ; the Foljambes, whose history 

 is so closely connected with the early fortunes of 

 the RufFord and Grove countries ; the Earls of 

 Scarbrough, famous for their associations with 

 the same packs ; the Viscounts Galway, who 

 presided over the destinies of the pack so long, 

 and until quite lately, known by their name ; 

 Lord Henry Bentinck, Mr. Lancelot Rolleston, 

 Mr. Osbaldeston, and many more. In their 

 early days the history of the three great Not- 

 tinghamshire packs is much the same, and in 

 later times they have perpetually been connected 

 by family ties and associations. 



THE RUFFORD 



The early history of the Rufford country is 

 concerned as much, or more, with the chase of 

 the deer as with foxhunting, and it is very cer- 

 tain that this part of Nottinghamshire has been 

 the home of hounds of one sort and another 

 for at least two and a half centuries past. Theo- 

 philus, fourth Earl of Lincoln, is credited with 



having hunted here in the middle of the 1 7th 

 century, and fifty years later Lord Castleton had 

 hounds of some description, which probably 

 divided their attention between fox and deer. 

 At a later date, up to about 1790, the RufFord 

 country was included in the territory of the Earls 

 of Scarbrough, and Mr. Francis Foljambe seems 

 to have had a share in it, as well as in what was 

 subsequently known as Viscount Galway's country. 

 Lord Castleton appears to have hunted the country 

 for about fifteen seasons, till his death in 1723, 

 and it was then that the Earls of Scarbrough 

 came on the scene. 



Mr. Francis Foljambe is said to have taken 

 over the Grove (afterwards Viscount Galway's) 

 country in 1788, and it is certain that before 

 this date he had a controlling interest in the 

 Rufford country. His was a long reign, at any 

 rate, and he no doubt had a share in any and 

 every pack that hunted within reach, for he was 

 by all accounts an indefatigable sportsman. This 

 Mr. Francis Foljambe was the grandfather of 

 Mr. George Savile Foljambe, who guided the 

 destinies of the Grove pack from 1822 to 1845. 



It is not till we come to the year 1834 that 

 any precise information as to the RufFord country 

 is forthcoming, the dates mentioned above being 

 all more or less approximate. The three divisions 

 of country now known respectively as Earl Fitz- 

 william's (Grove), Lord Harrington's (South 

 Nottinghamshire), and the RufFord, were doubtless 

 all regarded as one in earlier days, and possibly 

 other countries, since divided, were included as 

 well. Lord Harrington's territory is mentioned 

 as having been hunted by the fourth Earl of Lin- 

 coln in conjunction with the RufFord country, 

 and this state of things must have prevailed till 

 an effort was made early in the last century by 

 Lord Henry Bentinck to mark out a country for 

 himself. During this period he formed a pack 

 of hounds and began to hunt fox in the forest 

 district. After two seasons he gave it up, how- 

 ever, and was succeeded by the sixth Viscount 



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