66 Ikinos of tbe 1bunttnc;«'ificl& 



' Lord Sefton, who succeeded Mr Meynell, is generally 

 credited with having introduced the custom of bringing 

 second horses into the field ; but this seems to be a 

 mistake. We read that Henry VIII once tired out eight 

 horses in a day while hunting ; and in an account of a 

 run with the Charlton (afterwards Goodwood) Hounds, 

 which took place Friday, 26th January 1738 (see paper in 

 Volume XV, Sussex ArcJiccological Collections'^. 74) we 

 learn that ' Lord Harcourt blew his first horse and 

 subsequently his second felt the effects of long legs and 

 a sudden steep.' And ' in Goodwood Park, the Duke of 

 Richmond chose to send three lame horses back to 

 Charlton, and took Saucy Face, and Sir William, 

 which happened to be at Goodwood.' 



It was in Hugo Meynell's day that hard riding to 

 hounds first came into vogue. Mr Childe of Kinlet 

 Hall, Shropshire, a sportsman of the highest order and 

 a great personal friend of Mr Meynell's, is said to have 

 first set the example, and it was quickly followed by the 

 leading members of the Quorn, much to the disgust 

 of sportsmen of the old school, who complained, not 

 without reason, that this dashing style of riding, however 

 agreeable to the well-mounted and daring horseman, 

 was a drawback to the real enjoyment of the sport, and 

 frequently resulted in the loss of foxes. But the hard 

 riders had their way, and unquestionably the fashion 

 gave more zest to the sport if it militated somewhat 

 against the science of hunting. 



The names of all the then noted hard riders with the 

 Quorn have fortunately been preserved to us in the 

 poem which celebrates the greatest event in the annals of 

 that Hunt, the famous Billesdon Coplow run, which took 

 place on the 24th of February 1800, the last season of 



