222 fxin^s ot tbe Ibunting^f iel& 



enthusiasm for sport, and his daring horsemanship, made 

 him an immense favourite among his own tenantry and 

 the sporting farmers all round that countryside. And it 

 was with sincere regret that they received the announce- 

 ment that ' the Squire ' and his mother proposed to leave 

 Hutton Bushell and reside at the Palace in Lincoln. 



Soon after his arrival in the ' Shire of Fens,' Osbald- 

 eston purchased Lord Monson's foxhounds and hunted 

 the far-famed Burton country for five years. He always 

 swore by the Monson blood, and it was from this stock 

 that he bred and reared the finest pack of working 

 hounds in the three kingdoms. When he left the 

 Burton to hunt Jack Musters' country in Northampton- 

 shire, the green-coated sportsmen of Lincolnshire 

 presented him with a large silver salver, the handles of 

 which represented two foxes' heads, bearing an inscrip- 

 tion expressive of their admiration of the sport he had 

 given them. 



* The Squire's ' stay in Jack Musters' country was 

 short — it didn't suit him at all — and he next became 

 Master of the Atherstone, to which he united Lord 

 Vernon's Derbyshire country, purchasing the best portion 

 of his lordship's hounds to strengthen his own kennels. 



In the early part of the season of 1815, Osbald- 

 eston hunted with great success in Derbyshire and 

 Staffordshire, but, owing to an unpleasantness with Sir 

 Henry Every, he removed his establishment, consisting 

 of ninety couples of hounds and thirty hunters, into Derby- 

 shire in January 1816. 'The Squire' felt aggrieved at 

 something Sir Henry had said or done, and wrote for 

 an explanation, but, receiving no reply, took the silence 

 as an insult and challenged Sir Henry to a duel. As 

 Osbaldeston was already, though under thirty, renowned 



