41 



and the fields in which he was a protagonist were small 

 indeed as compared with the swarming hosts of well- 

 mounted men who now attend the meets of the Quorn and 

 Cottesmore hounds. As regards hard riding, we do not 

 believe there is much difference between the best perform- 

 ers of forty and fifty years ago and their successors of 

 to-day. \V'e are told by croakers that the days o£ fox- 

 hunting are numbered in these sporting islands ; but so 

 long as Melton and every other hunting centre boasts 

 the presence of riders who are not inferior to Lord 

 Wilton and Lord Gardner when at their best, we do 

 not expect to see any diminution in the number of packs 

 which take the field in each successive November. 

 Lord Grardner died ^November, 1883. 



Erom a newspaper cuttin* 



HAZLEEOED EEERT : 



a tale of disastee. 



Eebruart 5th, 1877. 

 ■ The mirth, and the adventure, and the sport that we have shared.' 



Of those who met at Epperstone on Monday last I tell, 

 The changes and the chances which that motley crew 



befell; 

 Erom the gentlemen in scarlet coats w^ho o'er the fences 



sail 

 To the little boys on ponies and the tagrag and bobtail. 



