Charles^ Third Baron Southampton. 25 



In the spring of 1847 Lord Southampton bought 

 a pack of hounds from Lord Shannon, which 

 were sold from conscientious motives, the famine 

 being at its height in Ireland. Tom Smith was 

 huntsman, and came with the pack, bringing a 

 whipper-in. Smith was a very clever man, and 

 a good sportsman. The old pack had a strong 

 draft made out of them, and the new one was 

 served likewise ; a large number of the new 

 hounds were kept to prove them in cub-hunting. 



By this time I had made the acquaintance of 

 many good sportsmen, and Grafton Fridays 

 were very popular with the Bicester men. That 

 country was justly renowned for hard riders and 

 staunch lovers of the chase. Among them were 

 Mr. Dan Webb and his son "Jack," as he called 

 him; the late Mr. Sclater-Harrison, of Shelswell ; 

 Mr. Tom Drake, Sir Henry Peyton, Mr. Hoffmann, 

 and Mr. Henry Lambton, the latter just from 

 college. It would be hard to find in any country 

 such a party; good riders, and generous supporters 

 of the hunt in a pecuniary sense. 



Mr. Webb, the senior of the party, kept a 

 large stud of first-class hunters, and said that 

 every good run cost him ^100. No man could 

 be more particular than he was in buying. He 

 measured the horse, for that reason the " faculty " 



