134 CENTURY OF ENGLISH FOX-HUNTING 



in the dining-room, the door of which he had to 

 pass during his voyage of discovery. The Squire 

 " twigged " him, and, following him stealthily, 

 turned the key of the larder door when the parson 

 was helping himself to the venison. The parson 

 clamoured to be let out, and the Squire let out a 

 bagged fox while he turned the key. Then the fox 

 hunted the parson through the dining-room, and as 

 pyjamas were not then invented, and the night attire 

 of the period was short and scanty, I shall draw the 

 curtain. But the troubles of the parson did not 

 finish with the hunt, for the Squire compelled him 

 to sing the old song — 



" A parson once had a remarkable foible 

 Of loving good liquor far more than his Bible ; 

 His neighbours all said he was much less perplext 

 In handling a tankard than in handling a text." 



It is difficult, nor is it of material interest after the 

 lapse of close upon a century, to form an estimation 

 of the Squire's riding ability. One thing, however, 

 is certain, viz. that he possessed unusual powers of 

 endurance in the pigskin. Many accounts of the 

 runs with his hounds were published in 1873 by 

 Mr. Randall, F.G.S., who had an exceptional know- 

 ledge of Shropshire and its county history. The 

 time and distance sound miraculous to the ears of 

 modern fox-hunters ; but we must remember that 

 hounds did not run as fast as they do in these days. 

 I have before me a record of a run when hounds 

 found their fox on the Clee Hills, and ran through 



