THE WARRENTON 



There is rarely a meet now-a-days that does not see at least one visitor 

 from some other Hunt out; and a goodly number of northern hunting 

 men and women go there with their horses for some of the winter months, 

 maicing Warrenton one of the hunting centres of the south. One can hunt 

 foxes with Mr. Maddux's pack, or the drag with the Warrenton, while the 

 Orange County, the Middlesex, the Piedmont, and Mr. Okie's, all of them 

 foxhound packs, are within thirty miles, so that by driving or hacking a bit, 

 the best packs of Virginia, — or one might almost say of the United States, 

 — are available. 



The country is peculiarly adapted to the sport, being of a rolling nature 

 v^ath large enclosures, little plough, and firm blue-grass sod, while the fences 

 probably embrace a wider variety than in any other Hunt, being post-and- 

 rail, snake fences, stone walls, plank or slat fences, a few hedges, stake-and- 

 bound rails, with often a gate or bars in a line of wire. It requires a clever 

 and well schooled hunter to follow in the first flight over some of the biggest 

 lines, for many of the fences are in the neighborhood of five feet, often over, 

 and practically unbreakable. The streams and ditches are seldom nego- 

 tiated, as the banks are treacherous as a rule and very dangerous. 



The Club has not a large membership and the resources are small com- 

 pared with other Hunts, so that the office of Master is an arduous one. Of 

 the many good sportsmen who have hunted the hounds, Mr. F. A. B. 

 Portman was undoubtedly the most popular Master, being a man of gentle dis- 

 position, of iron nerve, and a sportsman to the core. His death in 1 907, at the 

 age of forty, was deeply felt by all hunting men of this section and many who 

 had ridden behind him in the field from nearly every Hunt in the country. 



Other gentlemen who have carried the hom for the Warrenton Hunt 

 and their terms in office are Mr. James K. Maddux, 1889 to 1894; Mr. 

 N. B. Bevan, 1895 and '96; Mr. J. D. Hooe and Mr. Bevan again, 1896 

 and '97; Mr. A. B. Dundas, 1897 and '98; Mr. F. L. W. Barker. 1898 

 and '99; Mr. F. A. B. Portman, 1899 to 1903; Mr. U. D. Benner, 1903 

 to 1905; Mr. Maddux again in 1905 and '06; Mr. Portman again until 

 his death, in 1907, and the present Master, Mr. T. Lee Evans, — a hard- 

 riding sportsman, who believes in stiff timber; the higher the better. 



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