292 ikin^s of tbe 1buntina«=fielt) 



legibly stamped upon the character of James John 

 Farquharson. 



Thrice the Master of Langton Hall was the recipient 

 of splendid testimonials. In 1827 his grateful brother 

 sportsmen presented him with a superb vase and shield 

 which cost 1 150 guineas. In his jubilee year as M.F.H., 

 1856, he received a still more magnificent testimonial 

 in the shape of a pair of silver candelabra which cost 

 1800 guineas. And, on his retiring from the Mastership 

 in 1858, his portrait, painted by Sir Francis Grant, was 

 presented to him by Lord Shaftesbury on behalf of 

 hundreds of subscribers. 



His resignation was felt to be a great blow to sport 

 in Dorsetshire, and he was most strenuously urged to 

 reconsider his decision. But this he firmly declined to 

 do. He was deeply hurt at the action of Mr Digby of 

 Sherborne Castle and Sir Henry Hoare in taking away 

 their coverts, and he resented the conduct of Lord 

 Portman in unwarrantably trenching, as he thought, 

 upon his country. It grieved every one to see a man 

 of such kindly, generous nature take umbrage at acts 

 which, in the opinion of many, it would have been 

 more dignified and more in harmony with his known 

 character to have overlooked. I was in Sherborne at 

 the time his resignation was announced, and I remember 

 well the sensation it caused. Hunting society there 

 divided itself into two factions — one warmly supporting 

 the action of Mr Digby and Sir Henry Hoare, the other 

 as hotly taking sides with Mr Farquharson. But the 

 partisans of the ' Old Dorset Squire ' were both the 

 more numerous and the more influential. 



On the 9th of June 1858 the splendid pack at Eastbury 

 was sold by auction and dispersed all over the country, 



