372 1kin(j9 of tbe UMintiiio^f iel& 



beneath the overhanging bough of a tree, with head 

 bowed downwards, and both legs over his horse's neck. 

 The reason for his appearing in this somewhat unusual 

 attitude, was, that one day at the meet a stranger said 

 to him, " Knight, I've heard a good deal of your riding, 

 but if you beat me to-day I will give you the horse I am 

 on." " All right, sir," said Knight, " we shall see." 



' During the run they came to a fence the only jump- 

 able place in which was under a tree, the branches of which 

 overhung, and scarcely left space sufficient for a man and 

 horse to get through. Bending his head, and throwing 

 his legs over his animal's neck, Dick went through the 

 opening like a clown through a drum. This was too 

 much for the stranger, who preferred losing his horse to 

 breaking his neck by following, and honourably carried 

 out what he had undertaken to do, by sending his steed 

 to the more plucky horseman on the following day. 

 Knight was famous for possessing a voice so powerful 

 that a well-known sportsman used to declare that from 

 his house at Wellingborough he could, on a clear, frosty 

 morning, hear Dick's " holloa " in Sywell Wood, a distance 

 of at least three miles as the crow flies. This speaks well 

 for the acoustic properties of the atmosphere between 

 the respective points spoken of, as well as for the strength 

 of Dick's lungs.' Those were days, by the way, when 

 this strange rule of etiquette prevailed in the Pytchley, 

 that no one except the huntsman might pass the Master 

 when hounds were running. 



The pressure of his official duties as First Lord of 

 the Admiralty, and subsequently as Home Secretary, 

 compelled the second Earl Spencer to give up the 

 Mastership in 1796. He was a man of rare literary 

 as well as sporting tastes. For twelve )'ears he was 



