20 England's oldest hunt. 



good sportsman, an expert horseman ; they found him a 

 generous landlord, a kindly man, and they came to love him. 

 He brought into the isolation and monotony of their lives 

 some pleasure, some change, and excitement. All this was 

 new to them. Yet there was lying dormant all that love 

 of sport in their breasts which has since gained for them a 

 name and fame, and which must be placed first and foremost 

 amongst their outstanding characteristics — nay, let me say 

 our, for am I not a Tyke, and proud of it ? 



Mr. W. Scarth Dixon, who has done much to preserve 

 the lore and legend of northern sport, says in " The North 



Count ree " : — 



The Duke's memory is kindly cherished among Bilsdale sportsmen, 

 and he must have been a very different man from what Pope's venomous 

 lines would lead one to expect. It is evident from the enthusiastic 

 manner in which he hunted a difficult country that he was a first-rate 

 sportsman, and, as Bobby Dawson remarks, " that hides a lot o' fauts." 



What booted it to the dales folk if he had been a little 

 more open in the rascality of his time than most of his 

 contemporaries in sensuality ? To them he was kind, free, 

 open, and withal had many of the qualities we still admire in 

 the country gentlemen. Thus, they speak of " t'Deeak " 

 to-day with respect and affection in the dales, and, after all, 

 they saw and had the best opportunities for seeing the man 

 when he was his natural self and wearing no ducal coronet. 

 When in Bilsdale, the Duke stayed at Bumper Castle, a better- 

 class farmhouse and the residence of a tenant. The house 

 still stands. The tenant, who had the honour of entertaining 

 His Grace, was named Atkinson, and to him the Duke, on 

 one occasion, gave a pair of solid silver spurs, which are 

 still in existence, being, I believe, in the possession of Mr. 

 John Wood, the treasurer of the hunt. Regarding these 

 spurs, Mr. Robert Garbutt, of Seive Green, Bilsdale, tells 

 me a story which gives one an insight into the value set upon 



them : — 



" Atkinson had some case of litigation with a relative of the same 

 name, and to show his determination of having justice, he threatened 

 to ' leave no stone unturned even though I must sell the silver spurs 

 the Duke gave me, and which I value most of all.' His Grace also 

 gave Forster a pair, which descended to ' Bobbie ' Dawson, and were 

 buried with him.*' 



