LADIES IN THE HUNTING-FIELD 287 



Such hands, such a seat, and always so quiet, he 

 was indeed a model horseman ! Seeing Lord 

 Willoughby de Broke riding the different candi- 

 dates once at a Peterborough Show, it struck me 

 how much his manner and style resembled that 

 of his uncle, such as I remembered as a boy, and, 

 as everyone knows. Lord Willoughby de Broke was 

 a magnificent horseman. Another great parson with 

 hounds was the Rev. Mr. Lanude, the breeder of 

 Apology, said to be perfect on a well-bred one, and 

 the Rev. J. Houson, of Belvoir fame, cannot be for- 

 gotten in a list of this sort, as he was one of the 

 hardest riders ever seen. The Rev. Loraine Smith, 

 of Passenham Rectory, Bucks, was about as bad to 

 beat in his time as anyone, and so was the Rev. 

 Mr. Bullen, of Eastwell. The Pytchley, like the 

 Belvoir, has been well off in seeing the right sort 

 of clergymen always well to the front, and the 

 Rev. Mr. Benu and the Rev. Cecil Legard recur 

 to me, whilst names like the Rev. John Bower, 

 the Rev. Hyde Smith, Vicar of Brewood, in the 

 Albrighton, the Rev. Courtney Bulteel, and several 

 in Yorkshire are scattered about in hunting history 

 as great horsemen." 



Now, I ask my readers whether it is conceivable 

 that the manners and language of the hunting-field 

 could have been coarse when fox-hunting was the 

 favourite recreation of such men whose names I have 

 quoted? Again, if I were asked to specify a date 

 when the presence of ladies in the hunting-field first 



