THE BADMINTON HOUNDS 



smartest of the pack, with neck and shoulders that 

 would have satisfied even Gillard, or of Rufus, 

 whose blood still flows in the veins of the Belvoir, 



When the eighth Duke gave up hunting his own 

 hounds in 1858, Tom Clark from the old Berkshire 

 was engaged to go to Badminton. The famous 

 Tubney pack had been broken up, but Clark 

 brought with him to Badminton a few couples of 

 Mr. Morrell's hounds. The Druid tells how he 

 walked all the way from Chippenham to Bad- 

 minton to see "that first Wonder and Spangle entry 

 which united the scarlet and black collar of Tubney 

 with the green plush of the Duke." This year 

 (i860) was the first of the Tubney cross. Then 

 the visitor records that he saw " thirty-eight couples 

 of dogs, hounds ranging from twenty-three to 

 twenty- four inches." There was Fleecer, with 

 his curious half-face, and a pedigree going right 

 back to Osbaldeston Furrier. Limner was the 

 son of a dam which was the very cast of the famous 

 Potentate's Spangle, the hardy bitch which came 

 to Badminton from Tubney at fifty guineas. She 

 worked on well in her eighth season. 



There were some also of the Warwickshire 

 Saffron sort, which Clark delighted in. They never 

 were known to tire. Many others there were, but 

 possibly Fleecer has left the most enduring name 

 behind him, for he links the kennel to that common 

 stock from which the best of Brocklesby and 

 Belvoir hounds spring. 



81 



