THE MASTERS. 67 



that if ihc IIuiU were to be carried on, Stevenson was the man to do it. 

 He was an old and intimate frierul and one of the executors of the late 

 Master ; he was popular in tlie district, with the farmers, and with the club; 

 in short, he was the right man for the time and place. The only hesitation 

 he had in accepting tiie post, was his inability to devote the time necessary 

 tor the details of kennel management, but when it was proposed that 

 J. W. Macfie should be created deputy master, and take the kennel work 

 off his hands, he hesitated no longer. 



The next few years found the Hunt as flourishing as ever, and enjoying 

 the appreciation of all concerned. The goodwill of the farmers was well 

 maintained ; an eiitcnie cordialc was established with that bete noir of 

 the late Master, the Wirral Harriers ; the kindly feeling of brotherhood 

 among beaglers was encouraged and developed ; a pleasant interchange of 

 courtesies with other packs was inaugurated, our hounds being taken to 

 Chirk to fraternise with the Llangollen Beagles, and Mr. Johnson's Malpas 

 Beagles invited to give us a meet in our country. Under Stevenson's auspices 

 the sociability of the club was fostered and brought to its present pitch of 

 perfection. He inaugurated the pleasant custom of the annual dinner, at 

 which the members meet to enjoy a festive evening and promote the feeling 

 of fraternity among the Royal Rock beaglers. 



L. R. Stevenson was- born in London on the 15th October, 1840. He 

 was the youngest son of Mr. William Stevenson (senior partner in London 

 of the firm of Charles Tennant, Sons and Co.), who died in 1854. Educated 

 at private schools in Ayrshire and Surrey, till fourteen years of age, Stevenson 

 then went to Germany to acquire languages and prepare for a military career, 

 as he had a strong desire to secure a commission in the Royal Engineers. 

 This ambition was, however, over-ruled by his guardians, and in 1856 he 

 became an articled pupil to Thos. E. Blackwell, CE., and began the practical 

 study of civil engineering at Bristol. Next year, Mr. Blackwell, having ac- 

 cepted the post of managing director of the Grand Trunk Railway, went out 

 to Montreal with a staff of assistants, young Stevenson among the number. 

 There for five years he was actively engaged in preliminary surveys in Upper 

 and Lower Canada, and in the laying out and construction of railway works, 

 including the great Victoria bridge over the St. Lawrence, at Montreal. The 

 old hankering for a military career being revived by association with ofificers 

 of all branches of the regular army then quartered in Canada, Stevenson, 

 having attained his twenty-first year and become his own master, decided, at 

 the expiration of his apprenticeship in 1862, to return home and enter the 

 army. He passed the requisite examination, and was duly gazetted to a 

 commission in the 3rd King's Own Hussars, then quartered in Dublin, serving 

 as cornet and lieutenant with his regiment in various parts of the United 

 Kingdom for the next six years. In 1S6S, his regiment being under orders 



