170 The Chase 



King John was particularly attached to the 

 sports of the field. 



Edward III. took so much delight in hunting, 

 that even at the time he was engaged in war with 

 France, and resident in that country, he had with 

 him sixty couple of stag-hounds, and as many for 

 hunting the hare ; and every day he amused 

 himself with hunting or hawking. 



James I. preferred the amusement of hunting to 

 hawking or shooting, and it is said of this monarch, 

 that he divided his time between his standish, his 

 bottle, and his hunting. That last had his fair 

 weather ; the two former, his dull and cloudy. 



John Mills. 



A Master of Hounds of 1726 e> 



IN the old, but now ruinous mansion of Berwick 

 Hall, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, once 

 lived the well-known William Draper, Esq., who 

 bred, fed, and hunted the staunchest pack of fox- 

 hounds in Europe. Upon an income of only 700/. 

 he brought up creditably eleven sons and daughters ; 

 kept a stable of excellent foxhounds, besides a 

 carriage with horses suitable for the convenience of 

 my lady and her daughters. He lived in the old 

 honest style of his country, killing every month a 

 good ox of his own feeding, and priding himself on 

 maintaining a substantial table, but with no foreign 

 kickshaws. His general apparel was a long, dark 

 drab hunting-coat, a belt round his waist, and a 

 strong velvet cap on his head. In his humour he 

 was very facetious, always having some pleasant 

 story, both in the field and in the hall, so that his 

 company was much sought after by persons of good 

 condition, and which was of great use to him in 



