CHAPTER XI 



The Badminton Hunt and its 

 Followers 



THE Badminton, Belvoir, Brocklesby and Fitz- 

 william hounds have the distinction of never 

 having changed hands. They have each been for 

 1 50 years or more the property of one family. Of 

 them the Badminton is the oldest as an estab- 

 lished pack. The link between the staghounds 

 of old and the foxhounds of to-day, is supplied 

 by the Badminton kennel book. The Belvoir 

 pack have no doubt had a greater influence on 

 the modern foxhound than any other ; but so far 

 as I am able to trace their pedigrees, they owe 

 their first start towards excellence to the introduc- 

 tion of Badminton blood. Only the Badminton 

 and the Brocklesby, however, have never had as 

 masters any but members of the family to which 

 they belong. The Dukes of Beaufort have never 

 yielded up even the titular mastership. Relatives, 

 as in the case of Captain Somerset or Sir William 

 Codrington, may have officiated, but the Dukes 

 have always been masters in their own country. 

 This fact has affected considerably the character 



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