Ube Buheg of Beaufort iss 



and a well-known sporting writer thus enthusiastically 

 describes it : 



' I can find no better pack to represent the sport that 

 is to be found in this part of the world than the Duke of 

 Beaufort's, and I am sure that if a foreigner wished to 

 see how fox-hunting was carried on to the greatest 

 perfection, there is no place in England that would give 

 him a better idea of it than Badminton, for assuredly 

 everything is done there in the most princely style. It 

 is now some years since I hunted in that country ; but 

 when I did so, the order of the day was something after 

 this fashion : — The first thing to attract a stranger's 

 attention in the morning would be at least a dozen or 

 fifteen hunters going forward to the meet, in the care 

 of second horsemen and grooms, for the use of the duke, 

 his guests, and the hunt servants. Somewhat later, the 

 hound van would come on the scene, drawn by four 

 mules, and driven by Jack West, the then head whip. 

 Perhaps an hour after this the drag came to the door ; 

 either the Duke or the Marquis of Worcester took the 

 ribbons, and the coach was sure to be pretty well filled 

 with such a load from the house as would have glad- 

 dened the heart of any public coachowner, amongst 

 them generally being Tom Clark the huntsman, whom, 

 as he then hunted six days a week (and they never 

 make half days at Badminton), the duke took thus to 

 covert and home again, when the fixture was at any 

 distance, to lighten his arduous labours. That hunting 

 hounds six days in the week is hard work no man knew 

 better than His Grace. The team, when the journey to 

 the meet was a long one (and the fixtures often ran 

 fifteen miles and upwards ; for, where hounds can go 

 six days a week, and be certain of a find, a large extent 



