8i 



CHAPTER VIII, 



THE MEMBERS. 



" Come, I'll question you 

 Of my lord's tricks, .ind yours, when you were boys. 

 You were pretty lordlings then." 



Jl^in/er's Tale, act i, scene 2. 



Looking over the names of those who have joined the Royal Rock 

 Beagles during the fifty years from the inauguration of the club to this year 

 of Jubilee, many familiar names of local repute will be noticed. There is 

 some occasion for surprise that a score or more of names of beaglers can be 

 picked out from among the earlier members, whose sons at the present day 

 know nothing of beagling, and have even forgotten that their fathers were 

 ever members of the Hunt. On the other hand, as many names can be 

 found of men whose sons either have been or are now members of the 

 R.R.B., and in at least one case a grandson of an old member is now " one 

 " of us.'" A feeling of good fellowship has always existed among the mem- 

 bers of the R.R.B. No sooner is a man admitted to the club as a member, 

 than he is welcomed by all. During the hunting season they are all brother 

 beaglers wherever they may meet, and in the off time they may still be found 

 together at golf, tennis, rowing, or other athletic pursuits. Taken altogether, 

 the R.R.B. are, and always have been, a body to be proud of in any com- 

 munity. The severity of the work connected with the sport demands that 

 no delicate or infirm person should take part in it, and although advancing 

 years are no bar to the true enjoyment of the sport, they must be accom- 

 panied with good health and a fair amount of activity. 



Since the formation of the Hunt, over 500 men have joined the club, 

 and, without being invidious, it is possible to select a certain number who, 

 with one accord, would be dubbed the celebrities of "the Hunt. A short 

 account of some of these will be of interest to present and future beaglers. 

 They may be classed as ancient, mediaeval, and modern celebrities ; the first 

 class being taken from the members who joined before i860, the second from 

 those between i860 and 1S75, and the third from later members. 



.M 



