368 WARWICKSHIRE HUNT. 



comfortable arrangement of the house. Perhaps the dining 

 room was, for its size, one of the most complete rooms in 

 England, and its furniture of the richest description. 1 



Lord MiDDLETON made a fresh start the season before 

 last, in Nottinghamshii'e, on Mr. Musters resigning that 

 country ; and with his accustomed munificence, was very- 

 soon in possession of one hundred couple of hounds, — 

 having given Mr. Osbaldeston 1000 gs. for ten couple j 

 but his Lordship's health not permitting him to partake 

 largely of his favorite diversion, which out of respect to 

 him as a Sportsman every brother- sportsman must regret, 

 he resigned at the commencement of the present season, and 

 was succeeded by Mr. Dansey, late Master of the Here- 

 fordshire hounds. 



Mr. E. J.Shirley, of Eatington Hall, near Shipston- 

 on-Stour, succeeded Lord Middleton, in the Mastership 

 of the Warwickshire hounds. His highly accomplished 

 manners, added to the great worth of his character, rendered 

 it a highly popular measure in Warwickshire, and, assisted 

 by the celebrated Jack Wood, as his huntsman, the reputa- 

 tion of the pack rather increased, than suffered in his hands. 

 He mounted his men in capital style, and during his time 

 the attendance on his hounds was even larger than that of 

 his predecessor. 2 



1 Now, alas! what a change! It is now the school room of what 

 is called a young ladies' seminaiy ; the paddocks, in which the hounds 

 Avere exercised in the winter and his Lordship's hunters soiled in the 

 summer, are now covered with cottages, presenting a dismal appear- 

 ance to those who remembered this place in its glory. But, — ' Sic 

 transit gloria niundi ! ' 



2 Lord Middleton had a temporajy kennel in the beautiful village 

 of Kenilworth, lying between Warwick and Coventiy. In Mr. Shirley's 

 time, a new one was erected at Butler's Marston, between Welles- 

 bourne and Kineton, a situation which commanded all the covers in 

 the country, excepting some distant woodlands, when the hounds 

 slept at Kenilworth. 



