78 



LEAVES FROM A HUNTING DIARY 



blown Up in the hunting field ; he says that the colour of his 

 horse was always against him, and found him out at once if 

 too near the hounds ; but he further remarks that being blown 

 up by Sir Henry was a good deal better than being spoken 

 to pleasantly by some folks. Mr. Wilson recalls, as one of 

 the best bursts with fox-hounds he ever saw (when he had 

 the good luck to be mounted on a clinker — Mr. Block's 

 " Benicia Boy"), was from Weald Coppice to Brick Kilns 

 pulling the varmint down just short of the covert. That run 

 took place in the time of the grandsire of the present master. 



"Volunteer" 



whom Mr. Wilson looked upon as the most finished horseman 

 he ever knew, taking into consideration the qualities, hands, 

 seat, judgment, and pluck that make for a perfect rider ; he 

 goes on to say that the sight of his grandson the present 

 master, Mr. Loftus Arkwright, coming over the fences in 

 the Point-to-Point races of 1896, reminded him very much 

 of his grandfather's style of riding. 



Romeo : this grey gelding, by " Lamlash," carried Mr. 

 George Bell Gripper, who is here represented with him, for 

 three seasons with the Essex fox and Col. Somerset's stag- 

 hounds. The horse was an undeniable fencer, with a great 

 partiality for timber : on one occasion, when in the present 

 Lord Rook wood's possession, he jumped a high gate in 

 Havering Park as his huntsman was jogging up to open it. 



