BIOGRAPHIES IN A NUTSHELL loi 



In Mr. Corbet's day Leamington was a mere 

 village. A range of baths erected by a Mr. Matthew 

 Wise alone constituted its pretensions to a spa, and 

 the accommodation provided for visitors, hunting 

 and otherwise, was of the most rural, i.e. uncomfort- 

 able, description. Stratford-on-Avon was therefore 

 chosen as the social centre of the Hunt, and the 

 Hunt Club had its headquarters at the " White Lion " 

 in that town. 



Let me quote Castor's description of the famous 

 club : " The evening uniform of the club was 

 black stockings, breeches, and waistcoat, and a 

 scarlet coat with handsome gilt buttons, with the 

 letters ' S. H.' upon them, and a black velvet collar. 

 This last appendage gained the members of the club 

 the name of ' Black Collars,' and as such they were 

 referred to in the poem of "The Epwell Hunt." It 

 corresponded, in fact, with the white collar badge of 

 the Pytchley Hunt, and seems to have been also a 

 part of the dress in the field, as it figures in a 

 coloured plate by Thomas Weaver of John Corbet 

 and his hounds. And a happy party ' The Black 

 Collars' seem to have been. A quarrel at the club 

 was unheard of, and the good day's sport, which the 

 country provided to such a Master as ' The War- 

 wickshire Squire,' would send them back well pre- 

 pared in mind and body for the substantial fare, 

 which was such an important item in English 

 country life in the good old days. The commence- 

 ment of the season was always ushered in in a 



VJ ^<iUi(XA^ *(3^,(5'uJ,\rAAj\A^ ^^^a/u 



