356 fkims of tbe ir3untinci*3fielb 



ever met. He was a fine horseman and a good sports- 

 man, and for two seasons he showed excellent sport in 

 the Wynnstay country. 



In 1842 Sir Watkin bought the Perthshire Hounds 

 from Mr Grant, elder brother of Sir Francis, afterwards 

 President of the Royal Academy. And in 1843 the Lord 

 of Wynnstay at last assumed his true vocation as the 

 head of fox-hunting in North Wales. He sold out of 

 the Life Guards, shaved off his moustache, ' the badge of 

 slavery,' as he called it, for ' the knightly growth that 

 fringed his lip ' was then the prerogative and distinguish- 

 ing mark of a cavalry officer, and settled down to the 

 duties of a Master of Foxhounds and a great territorial 

 magnate. He had toyed a little with the Turf in his 

 soldiering days, and his splendid team of browns, his 

 cabriolet with the best grey stepper in London, his 

 perfect dun-brown Park hack had marked him already 

 in the world of sport and fashion as a man whose taste 

 in horseflesh was unexceptionable. But his heart was 

 in the Chase, and for the rest of his life it was the sport 

 to which he devoted all his energy and attention. With 

 youth, health, enthusiasm, a boundless purse, and the 

 royal gift of spending money lavishly without vulgar 

 ostentation, it was no wonder that Sir Watkin put life 

 and soul into fox-hunting in North Wales. His stables 

 were full of the best horses to be got for money in 

 England or Ireland, his kennels were carefully recruited 

 from the choicest blood in the three kingdoms. It was a 

 pride and pleasure to hunt with such hounds. Of his 

 own qualities as a horseman let one who knew him well, 

 speak. 



'Sir Watkin had a strong seat, a light hand, good 

 nerve, and a quick eye to hounds ; he never pulled his 



