606 ifcinas ot tbe 1Rot>, IRtfle, an& Gun 



with Lord Stamford's written promise to take the 

 Mastership of the Quorn in his pocket. 



With a reputed income of 100,000, though ;6o,coo 

 was probably nearer the mark, Lord Stamford could 

 afford to do the thing handsomely. He took no 

 subscription, and his reign as Master of the Quorn 

 was marked by a magnificence which threw even Sir 

 Richard Sutton's lavish outlay into the shade. Indeed, 

 the annals of the Hunt can show nothing more splendid 

 than the eight years' mastership of Lord Stamford. 

 The horses ridden by himself and his hunt servants 

 were the best ever seen in Leicestershire, and the 

 average of nearly two hundred guineas for seventy-three 

 lots at Lord Stamford's sale, on his retirement in 1863, 

 was an eloquent tribute to his judicious selection in 

 horseflesh. 



But whilst caprice marred and shortened Lord 

 Stamford's enjoyment of racing and hunting, no such 

 feeling ever affected his love of shooting. To that 

 sport he remained constant all his days, and from it 

 he derived the greatest pleasure he had in life. For 

 he came of a race that was never renowned for intellect. 

 Sportsmen and soldiers the Greys always were, but 

 you may search in vain among them for men of brains 

 or learning. And to do Lord Stamford justice, he 

 never pretended to be anything but a sportsman 

 the straightest man to hounds, the master of every 

 fowling-piece he took in hand. In his second marriage 

 Lord Stamford was so far fortunate that he gained 

 a wife who could sympathise with him in his love of 

 sport. The second Countess was a Miss Katherine 



