The Fourth Duke of Grafton. 7 



that side of the country without writing to the 

 Grafton, and the same courtesy was extended by 

 them. 



I must now return to the Grafton Field. It 

 consisted of a large number of farmers, a few 

 resident squires, and a nice sprinkling of parsons, 

 for whom I had the greatest regard, as I think 

 one of their great duties on earth is to counte- 

 nance and encourage good fellowship. 



The Reverend Lorraine Smith hunted in those 

 days, and a finer specimen of an English gentle- 

 man, a better dressed man, or a kinder man to 

 the poor never lived. Mrs. Lorraine Smith and 

 her two daughters, with Miss Stone from Blis- 

 worth, were the only ladies who hunted then. 

 The Misses Lorraine Smith rode in scarlet bodices 

 and grey skirts. The improved side-saddle was 

 not then invented to enable a lady to ride over 

 fences. The farmers rode good horses in those 

 days, and the good mounts they had gave them a 

 great taste for riding over the country, and made 

 many good horsemen. 



By the time I began — as the ladies say of their 

 babies — " to take notice," the Duke of Grafton 

 was in declining years, and I saw very little of 

 his Grace in the field. During the last four or 

 five vears of the Duke's keeping hounds. Colonel 



