296 Mr. T. T. Drake, Jun. 



Messrs. Edward and George Drake, were the 

 three hardest men and best horsemen, so related, 

 whom it ever fell to my lot to meet with. They 

 were all of them very nice men ; but they would 

 turn their backs upon people and ride away from 

 them if they did not look sharp when hounds 

 ran, without, however, entertaining the least ill- 

 feeling. 



There were many hard men in the Bicester 

 Hunt in those days, as, for instance. Captain Bill, 

 Mr. William Chamberlyne, Mr. Severn, and others 

 already mentioned. Oxford produced three very 

 famous riders with the Bicester — Mr. Hall, a 

 great supporter of the Heythrop Hounds ; Mr. 

 Thompson, the banker, and " Bill " Holland, an 

 innkeeper there (the Golden Cross) ; no hounds 

 could beat them in a fair country. Mr. John 

 Blake, a sportsman of many years' standing, 

 was another well-known rider. 



I greatly enjoyed hunting with the young 

 Squire, he was so bright and cheerful, with a 

 smile on his face, a flower in his button-hole, and 

 a good tale to tell. He was very fond of relating 

 how he told a farmer to shoot a fox. One of his 

 best supporters, who lived in the Vale, complained 

 of the fox taking his lambs. The man said : " I 

 cannot stand this. Squire ; he has one every night, 



