64 iktnas of tbe 1buntina*3Fiel& 



at Great Bowden Inn, a most convenient place for the 

 Langton and Harborough countries. Mr Meynell con- 

 sidered horses merely as vehicles to the hounds — in 

 which his heart and soul were centred — in the field ; 

 but he well knew the necessity of having beneath him 

 the means of being with them on all occasions ; and 

 even in those days, when 300 guineas was considered as 

 an ultra price for a hunter, he did not hesitate to possess 

 himself of South, a little horse barely exceeding fifteen 

 hands in height; but he afterwards sold South to Sir Harry 

 Fetherstonhaugh for 50c guineas. There are different 

 opinions as to Mr Meynell's proficiency as an elegant 

 horseman ; but it was never disputed that his progress 

 over a country was, like the whole course of his life, 

 straightforward. 



'Some of his best horses in 1792 were Miller ; Tom-Tit ; 

 Harry Punt — died after a hard day at Widmerpool, 

 March 21, 1795; Leveller Joe; a chestnut mare; Mr 

 Fitzherbert's horse. He had also a particularly clever 

 hack mare, which he rode to covert, and which was 

 ridden also by the late Marchioness of Salisbury. This 

 mare was the occasion of the invention of the spring-bar. 

 The groom-boy who rode her on one occasion having 

 placed his feet in the stirrup leathers, and been kicked off, 

 was dragged by the leg and killed. Debrew, Mr Meynell's 

 valet and inaitre cVhotel (and probably, as his name 

 would indicate, butler also), a very ingenious and clever 

 man, set his wits to work to prevent the recurrence of a 

 like catastrophe. The spring-bar was the fruit of his in- 

 vention. To him also was to be imputed the merit of a 

 spring in a wooden leg, worn by Tom Jones, the second 

 whipper-in. This Tom Jones, if of less notoriety than 

 his namesake, the hero of Fielding was probably more 



