THE MEMBERS. gg 



Mknry Hassalt. has not left a record of his doings with the R.R.B., 

 liut lie has left sons well-known in the hunting fields of ^\'irral ; his youngest 

 son, Alfred, being one of the chief supporters and managers of the Wirral 

 Harriers. 



The same may be said of Henry Royds and John Ravenscroft, 

 both of whom have left sons, now distinguished members of the R.R.B. 

 Joe Ravenscroft has been a very useful member, having been an active and 

 painstaking whip from the time he joined in 1883; and he is now an 

 efficient coadjutor to the present Master in the management of the kennels. 

 In the field he is a noted hare-finder, almost rivalling in that respect our old 

 friend, W. E. Hall. C. V>. Royds has not yet proved himself a working 

 member, as he has never filled any official position ; but he is a great 

 favourite with the members, and at the annual dinners of the club he does 

 his part in contributing to the general harmony of the evening. 



Our old friends J. A. Smith and James Fairrie come into the category 

 of ancient celebrities, having joined the R.R.B. in 1853. They must have 

 been much younger men than their immediate contemporaries; the former, 

 T. A. Smith, being still on our books as an honorary life member, and Fairrie 

 having only a year or two ago left us. after having rejoined in 1883 as an 

 active member. Fairrie in his younger days was a famous all-round athlete. 

 He was a first-rate amateur boxer, an accomplished figure skater, a brilliant 

 oarsman, and a prominent gymnast. If lawn tennis had been introduced in 

 his day, we should have heard of him in the forefront. With all his pro- 

 ficiency in athletics, Fairrie did not neglect field sports ; he thoroughly 

 enjoyed fox-hunting, beagling, fishing, steeple-chasing, and other sports, and 

 what he undertook he entered into heartily, making himself master of the 

 various details. He studied the literature of hunting, and is now an 

 acknowledged authority on the subject. 



/llbcC)ia:val Celebrities. 



" Now, by two-headed Janus, 

 Nature hath framed strange fellows in her lime." 



lilerchani of Venice, act i, scene i. 



Most of these beaglers are familiar to us all at the present day, and 

 some of them are still the senior members of the Hunt. With the exception 

 of, perhaps, Morgan, Semple, and Joynson, none of them took any promi- 

 nent part in the affairs of the Hunt, but they are chiefiy celebrated for the 

 length of time during which they have been connected with the club, and 

 for the intelligent interest they have displayed in the sport and in the social 

 functions connected therewith. They were a jovial lot of fellows, and even 

 now that they have mostly severed their connection with us, they are always 



