214 Ikinss of tbe 1Rot>, IRffle, anb (Bun 



and it will be apparent what tremendous strides have 

 been made in pheasant-shooting and pheasant-pre- 

 serving. 



Lord Albemarle gives a graphic picture of the sport 

 at Holkham in the 'Thirties. He writes : 



" Early in November I accompanied the Duke of 

 Sussex to Holkham. For three successive months Mr. 

 Coke kept open house for his friends. Among his 

 annual guests were Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, 

 afterwards King of the Belgians, and the Duke of 

 Gloucester. These princes desired to be considered 

 as private friends, and dispensed with the attentions 

 that etiquette usually assigns to persons in their station 

 of life. The battues began the first Wednesday of 

 November, and continued twice a week for the rest of 

 the season. The quantity of game killed in the three 

 months was probably not much more than it is now 

 the fashion to slaughter in as many days ; but the flint- 

 and-steel guns were always fully employed, and every- 

 body was satisfied with his day's sport. The non-battue 

 days were passed, either in the turnip fields among the 

 partridges, or in the salt marshes in pursuit of snipes 

 and wild fowl. 



In a shooting establishment like Holkham, game- 

 keepers are persons of importance. Several of these 

 were characters in their way. There was old Joe 

 Hibbert, who had been a prize-fighter in his youth. 

 On one occasion, Sir John Shelley, who was celebrated 

 for his neat sparring, challenged Hibbert to a set-to 

 with the gloves, and some of the young men mis- 

 chievously promised Joe a good tip if he would ad- 



