OJ- 



LEAVES FROM A HUNTING DIARY 



pick of his late pack, and it is to be hoped the seeds of a fresh 

 one. His farm and Shorthorns next occupied our attention 

 and particularly William's, after which the beautiful prospect 

 all round the house delighted us until dinner time, to which we 

 had consented, contrary to our usual rule, to stop, but there was 

 no resisting- the honJioniie of our host, who really deserves 

 the unusually excellent character he bears. 



After a dinner with which no fault could be found, except 

 that it was almost too o-ood, considerino- that we had to ride 



o - o 



twenty miles upon it, our host not only consented to our 

 leaving when we liked (half-past nine) but ordering a beautiful 

 little chestnut hack for himself, accompanied us as far as Copped 

 Hall, to show us a road by which we saved a mile. It was a 

 lovely night, a full moon, and deliciously cool after the heat 

 of the day, and we reached the Priory at half-past eleven, 

 well pleased with the rare event of an holiday and excursion 

 together. 



(Mr. Vickerman purchased " Cognac " after this trial, giving 

 him that name from his pale colour and fiery nature resembling 

 that ardent spirit. I shall now proceed to extract from Mr. 

 Vickerman's voluminous diary, a few of the notable runs 

 through which this remarkable horse carried him, until I come 

 to the day when Mr. Vickerman wanting to sell him got a very 

 bad fall, putting his shoulder out and otherwise hurting himself. 

 Having at the end of the season (1845-46) made arrangements 

 to go down to Melton the following season to have a fling in 

 the grass countries, his hunting journal for the season 1846-47, 

 commenced as follows) : — 



Monday, November 2nd, 1846. Behold me then at Melton, 

 comfortably quartered at the Harboro' Hotel, kept by Mr. 

 Wm. Mason, with five horses yclept " Carlow," "Champagne," 

 "Cognac," "Circe," and "Chancellor," in the stables, under 

 the care of Beckington and Tom, with the aid of a helper for 

 this occasion, and as a climax I must add Frank's little white 

 terrier " Snap," who astonished me when most unexpectedly I 

 found him here yesterday, having come quietly with the horses, 

 for whom he has a particular friendship. Little " Snap " more 

 forcibly reminded me of home, when I first saw him yesterday, 

 than all the others together. I suppose from never before 

 having seen him away from home and not expecting to find 

 him here. I had been amusing myself by wondering what the 

 poor little dog would think of the absence of the horses and 

 their attendants, and the loss of his daily run with them to 

 Brentwood. 



