352 Mms Of tbe 1buntma*^tel& 



not go out with the hounds. But, on telling the circum- 

 stances to a friend, the latter pooh-poohed the dream as 

 the sickly fancy of a woman, and warned Sir Watkin 

 that if he once gave in to his wife, she would make him 

 gradually give up all his amusements. So he 'defied 

 augury,' and went out with his hounds. He got safely 

 through a long run, but on the return home, in crossing a 

 field at Acton, near Wrexham, the seat of his friend Sir 

 Robert Cunliffe, ' his horse making a peck, pitched him 

 on his head, which came in contact with the only stone in 

 the field.' His neck was broken, and he was brought 

 home dead. This happened on the 26th of September 



1749- 

 The son and grandson of this ill-fated sportsman also 



kept hounds at Wynnstay from 1768 to 1788, but they 



appear to have hunted hare only, except when a bag fox 



was turned down. The oldest established Hunt, however, 



in that part of the country was the Tarporley Hunt Club, 



which dates back to 1762, and the rules of which are still 



extant. Among them are these: 'Any member who 



keeps hounds shall be invited to bring them to Tarporley 



for the first week in November ; but, if no member of the 



Club keeps hounds, the Club shall then borrow a pack and 



they shall be kept at the expense of the Club during the 



week.' That fox was not their quarry, I gather from the 



third rule which says, ' The harriers shall not wait for any 



member after eight o'clock in the morning.' 



The fact was that foxes were scarce then, everywhere. 



Even Mr Meynell had to take his hounds out of 



Leicestershire for the greater part of the 1794 season, to 



enable the foxes to breed unmolested. ' Bagmen ' were 



in great request, and Mr Roberts of Wem, who preferred 



fox-hunting to any other form of the Chase, used to get 



