284 ikinas of tbe ir3untin^*3ficlb 



' Don't tell Mrs Thomson that I am trying to tempt 

 you here or I shall be in disgrace with her ; and of 

 course, if you did come to us, no one in Fife would ever 

 speak to me again. I should much like to see you 

 here, but that, of course, is as much from private and 

 " mahogany " motives as from my good opinion of your 

 " rat-catching " qualities. I should like it if it could 

 come off. 



' Ever, my dear Jack, 



Yours very truly, 



'George Whyte Melville.' 



There was no resisting such an appeal, so to the 

 Pytchley John Anstruther Thomson went, and carried 

 all before him. His bright, winning smile and singular 

 charm of manner won all hearts — his bold and skilful 

 horsemanship fairly ' witched ' the Northampton squires. 

 And, with such a galaxy of hunting talent as Charles 

 Payne, Dick Rooke, and Tom Firr to shed brilliance on 

 his kennels, it is not surprising that the new Master 

 gave them during his five seasons an average of daily 

 sport which has never before or since been equalled. 



The red-letter day of his memorable reign was the 

 never-to-be-forgotten 2nd of February 1866, when the 

 great Waterloo Run, one of the classic events in the 

 annals of the Chase, threw all previous exploits of the 

 Pytchley into the shade. They found at Waterloo Gorse, 

 and ran eighteen miles over the finest part of the Pytchley 

 and Tailby countries in one hour and fifty minutes 

 without a check, crossing only three ploughed fields in 

 all that distance. Then came the first check. Neither 

 of the whips was up with the hounds, for both had been 

 stalled off by the pace. But the Master, with no one 



