246 England's oldest hunt. 



Secretary of the Sinnington Hunt, which is cancelled in to-day's issue, 

 will you accord us the hospitality of your columns to inform the numerous 

 persons to whom the proposal commended itself that, to our great 

 regret, Mr. Pearson has so strongly begged us not to proceed further 

 with the matter that we feel that we have no other course than to 

 accede to his express desire. We are, therefore, reluctantly compelled 

 to let the proposal drop, at any rate for the present. — We are, Sir, 

 on behalf of the subscribers, yours faithfully, 



HELMSLEY. 

 September 26/07. THOS. PARRINGTON. 



It has been my lot, as a writer on hunting matters and a 

 compiler of hunting history, to have through my hands not 

 a few diaries of men prominently connected with the chase, 

 either by official position or their deeds and prowess in the 

 field. Perhaps, naturally, these records of days and deeds 

 are more or less of a private, and, consequently, 

 egotistical character, records more of personal experiences 

 than impressions ; of " what I did," rather than what 

 was done. When the diary is that of a master of 

 hounds, and withal a huntsman, such entries are bound to 

 be interesting, if not instructive. Moreover, too, one 

 essentially gets an insight into the sporting and personal 

 character of the diarist, which it would perhaps be impossible 

 to obtain in any other way. Consciously, or unconsciously, 

 the writer of a diary, however prosaic it may be, gives us 

 glimpses of his individuality, which he may never openly 

 display. Again, a consecutive record of runs and incidents 

 provides us with a history of at least the epoch of the diarist. 

 I am indebted then to Mr. Penn Sherbrooke for placing at 

 my disposal his journals for the ten years of his mastership 

 of the Sinnington Hounds. They deal with one of the most 

 interesting periods of the hunt's history — that when it was 

 passing and had passed from a comparatively primitive state 

 to one of status, and, as already mentioned, Peterborough 

 fame. Mr. Sherbrooke did during his mastership what every 

 man who presides over a pack of hounds should do, i.e. 

 systematically kept a daily record of the doings of his pack. 

 We gather from it not only his methods, but also the success 

 or failure of them, and be it said that the diaries before me 



