/roasters of tbe Wcvon an& Somerset 449 



The existence of the Hunt, nay, the very existence of 

 the wild deer in England, is his monument ; but he left 

 one more imperishable in the country of his adoption. 

 ' Mention his name,' says Mr Fortescue, ' to any of the 

 yeomen or farmers who knew him in the stag-hunting 

 district, and they will say, " Mr Bisset — ah! he was a good 

 gentleman." A good gentleman ! Take the words as they 

 are spoken in their fullest sense, and you can add nothing 

 to give higher praise. Such Mr Bisset was, and as such 

 he is, and will be, remembered by high and low in North 

 Devon and West Somerset.' 



Lord Ebrington accepted the Mastership of the Devon 

 and Somerset on Mr Bisset's resignation, and thus once 

 more the hounds went back to the ancient Devonshire 

 house of Fortescue. Lord Ebrington had been entered 

 to stag by the immortal ' Jack ' Russell, and proud his 

 lordship was of the fact, while it is certain that the prince 

 of sporting parsons was equally proud of his pupil, who 

 hunted Exmoor for seven years with credit to himself 

 and satisfaction to his followers. And, considering that 

 most of them were keen critics, who swore by Mr Bisset 

 as the greatest Master that ever was, I think this must 

 be admitted to be high praise. 



On resigning the Mastership in 1888, Lord Ebring- 

 ton found a worthy successor in a notable west 

 country sportsman, Mr Charles Henry Basset, of 

 Umberleigh, Watermouth, and Pilton House, North 

 Devon. Born in 1834, Mr Basset comes of a good old 

 Cornish family and is the fifth son of Sir William 

 Williams, Bart, of Tregullow, Cornwall. His father was 

 a Master of Fox-hounds, and the son inherited the paternal 

 tastes, but had little chance of gratifying them in his youth ; 

 for, at the age of thirteen, he entered the Royal Navy as 



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