X CHASE OF THE WILD RED DEER 



That his memory is still green, and that there are 

 still veteran stag-hunters who can tell many a tale 

 in which the kindly doctor figures, need scarcely be 

 said. ' He knew every one, and every one knew 

 him ; and he was on intimate terms with all the red 

 deer,' writes one who remembers him well. ' Upon 

 one occasion a stag had been chased almost to death, 

 but for some reason was not to be killed. Collyns 

 stayed with him for over two hours tending him in 

 hopes of his recovery.' 



In stature Dr. Collyns is described as not above 

 middle height, nor very slim of figure. He had 

 a capital bay horse, on which, being a fairly light 

 weight, he could always hold his own in the most 

 severe runs across the moor. Though he dearly 

 loved a gallop he was most orthodox in his views, 

 and could not bear to see any transgression of the 

 canons of true ' Venerie.' When from 1842- 1847 

 the Hon. Newton Fellowes (whose son, the late 

 Lord Portsmouth, kept up the Eggesford Hunt till 

 1890) hunted the red deer with his fox-hounds, the 

 rule of ' tufting ' for the deer would seem to have 

 been frequently disregarded ; and coverts were 

 drawn with the whole pack as in fox-hunting, amid 

 the protests of the more precise members of the 

 field. 



