358 iktiigs ot tbe 1f3untinQ*3flelb 



entrance to Wynnstay, and, with fifty-three couples of 

 hounds there, and sixty horses in his stables, Sir Watkin 

 felt equal to all the requirements even of the big country 

 he had undertaken to hunt four days a week. 



In 1847 Sir Watkin secured a rare acquisition to his 

 establishment in the person of ' Merry John Walker,' 

 who for eighteen seasons had hunted the Fifeshire 

 hounds, with such success that his name was familiar as 

 a household word in the mouths of sportsmen not only 

 north of the Tweed but far south even to the Shires, 

 Lord Suffield, who was then Master of the Cottesmore, 

 offered John 500 guineas a }^ear to come to him, but Sir 

 Watkin was first in the field and had snapped up the 

 famous Scottish huntsman. 



John Walker was a model huntsman, unsurpassed in 

 nerve and judgment. His temper, indeed, \vas none 

 of the sweetest, but he had good sense and tact enough 

 to keep it under control, and his ' Hold hard, gentlemen, 

 I pray you do,' seldom failed to bring even the most in- 

 veterate thrusters to their bearings. And there was 

 something of pawky Scotch humour in the dry stage 

 whisper in which, when hounds had hit off the line and 

 were away, he would add : ' That will do — now^ ride 

 over them.' 



On the 6th of March 1858 a terrible calamity befell 

 Sir Watkin. His splendid seat at Wjmnstay was 

 destroyed by fire. A gale was blowing at the time, 

 and so fast and fiercely did the flames spread that it was 

 found impossible to save the priceless works of art, the 

 cherished family heirlooms, and a vast amount of mis- 

 cellaneous property of great value. The loss was 

 irreparable, and though Sir Watkin and Lady Wynn put 

 a brave face upon it in public, there can be no doubt 



