THE DUKE'S HUNT. 



13 



Sd I might mention many instances of Yorkshire squires 

 and nobles whose kennels were by no means the least im- 

 portant or the least expensive institutions at their country 

 residences. Thus it is by no means impossible that Bucking- 

 ham had hounds at Helmsley prior to the period when he 

 came there to end his days. Mr. Howard Pease, an authority 

 on the history of this epoch and author of two novels, "Mag- 



frot\r E|t*<tfioT\ o^ ^lnyjUl C^stK . 



nus Sinclair," and " Of Mistress Eve," both rich in the lore 

 of the period, writes : — 



" In 1674, when he was in adversity, much of his time was devoted, 

 in beautifying Clevedon, much also to foxhunting, for he had lost 

 nothing of his early passion for sport. At Empingham, a little hamlet 

 near his splendid mansion at Burley, a humble tavern, the ' White 

 Horse ' Inn, was long pointed out as a resort of His Grace's when 

 thus employed." 



It is more than likely, too, that during the vacations he 

 spent at the castle he had already enjoyed sport on the wild 

 moor and woodland where, according to tradition, he had 

 so many wonderful runs from 1670. Mr. Pease also sends 

 me the following extract : — 



" A few rooms, however, which even now bear on chimney-piece 

 and frieze, the scutcheons of Manners and Villiers, never habitable, there 

 the Duke installed himself. Like his splendid palace of Burley-on-the - 

 Hill, now sold to Lord Nottingham, Castle Helmsley had suffered 



