BREEDING OF HUNTERS. 319 



stopped till they got back to the cover. Once put right, we went 

 over Renhold parish into Goldington field, and had the town of Bed- 

 ford in front of us. We went down Goldington field, leaving the 

 village on our right, the fox evidently pointing to the river Ouse, but 

 turned to the left, across Hunting Park, over the parish of Great 

 Barford, by Green-end, Birchfield, and Roxton Spinneys ; and when 

 near Chawson the hounds were stopped. The fox was killed by some 

 workpeople with a timber-cart, about a mile from where the hounds 

 where whipped off. We were then forty miles from home, and so 

 much tired that we were obliged to stop at the Cock at Eaton all 

 night, and returned home on Sunday morning through a most vio- 

 lent storm of snow and hail. The distance, as near as could be 

 guessed, was about twenty-five miles, and was done in two hours and 

 forty minutes." 



Lord Exeter's racing blood is to be found not only in 

 Northamptonshire, but in many of the hunting stables 

 in Berwickshire and North Northumberland (which 

 stillrememberthedeadRocket, and boast of the equally 

 famous Charley-boy), as Mr. Robertson of Ladykirk 

 had both his Patron and Dardanelles. Lamplighter 

 was also bought by this gentleman at Lord Berners' 

 sale ; The Colonel too had his turn there ; Rodomeli, 

 who looks up to sixteen- three with hounds, is one of 

 his latest importations, at, we believe, 300 guineas ; 

 and Harkaway, who was bought for 100 guineas 

 less, is now proxy for Little Known, who owns no 

 superior as a hunter-sire. The old " Ferguson ches- 

 nut's" stock are generally chesnuts of fine substance, 

 like himself, and Tom Ball declares that his Hark- 

 over carries him quite as well as even his beloved 

 Grouse or King Pepin. 



Hunter-breeding at Badminton is not now con- 

 ducted on such an extensive scale as formerly. Black 

 Sultan, the pride of Shropshire, came there for two 

 seasons, and was then sold, when he was rising 

 twenty-eight, to a resident in Bristol. He was a 

 fifteen-three horse himself, handsome and stylish- 

 looking, but with thin thighs, and his stock all ran 

 about an inch less. One of them, a fourteen and 

 a-half black hack, especially distinguished himself 

 across country, and earned an honourable mention 



