274 mtngs of tbe IfjuntiuG^lFielC) 



The rick-backed church with its crooked wooden belfry, 

 the Foxhounds sign nailed to the elm, and straggling 

 thorn clumps at the edge of the Park, over which, under 

 a cold December sky, the withered clematis was hanging 

 in rich tracery like the veil of a bride, the Nen creeping 

 on its ' lazy Scheldt-like ' course along the broad 

 meadows of Overton, the white sun-dial on the wall of 

 the steward's house, and the quaint intermixture of the 

 martello tower with the thatch and the ivy at the 

 kennels, all blended so thoroughly with him and his 

 honest pride of being part and parcel of an old English 

 home. 



' During the summer he spent nearly all his time 

 among " my lambs," and cared very little to wander 

 afield. The Yarborough, Beaufort, and Belvoir kennels 

 were what he principally used ; but, during his last two 

 seasons, he deeply dipped into Mr Selby Lowndes' Royal, 

 an old-fashioned looking dog, and rather wild in his work. 

 ''^ Ah ! my lad, the dam is the secret I' was his constant 

 remark to young huntsmen. Like most reserved men, 

 he was tough in his opinion, both in the field and the 

 kennel, and no one but the boiler knew what the puppies 

 were by, till they were ready to go out to quarters. He 

 hung much to the notion that two negatives would make 

 a positive both in style of work and make. It was 

 delightful to hear him tell, when you asked after the 

 cream of the entry, that they were " perhaps just the most 

 beautiful I ever had," and believing himself most im- 

 plicitly summer after summer. If he was showing one 

 of his hounds which he thought a little out of the 

 common way, he would indicate his delight by thrusting 

 his hands deep into his breeches pockets and kicking 

 out his right leg. He would then draw his hand over 



