THE CUSTOMERS IN J 2) 5 1 



" I sold my hunt horses every third year, and was Master of 

 Hounds for twenty years. I give the names of some of his 

 prooeny, many of which were sold for very high prices at 

 FattersalTs. ' Bird Tenter,' who carried l^Irs. Oakley bril- 

 hantly for many seasons, was shot. 'A i.' carried myself and 

 Mrs. Oakley for se\-eral years, was up to 15 stone. He 

 went to the stud. ' Smuggler,' ' Watch-dog,' ' Signalman,' all 

 carried me until their death, and were shot. ' Watcher,' 

 'Charley,' bought by the Duke of Westminster; 'Coastguard,' 

 bought by Chandos Pole and re-bought. ' Protector ' carried 

 Mrs. Oakley ; also ' Watchfire,' who was the dam of ' Cen- 

 turion,' winner of many races. ' Legion,' another winner, and 

 ' Promotion,' now at the stud, and others too numerous to 

 mention (Mr. Oakley had just come to the end of his sheet of 

 note-paper — Ed.) 'Bull's Eye' carried Sam Hayes, my first 

 whip, and was sold at one of my sales. He was a gallant 

 good horse, but no better than any mentioned above." 



I offer no apology for giving the following e.xtracts from 

 Mr. R. Lockwood's Hunting Journal, for they are quite to the 

 point, and very interesting, showing as they do who were the 

 first fiighters in 1873-74. Some of the entries in the Journal 

 signed " Mark Wood," are particularly piquant and pithy. 



vStarting well at Matching Green, on November 3, ''j;^, 

 with a decent run and a kill from Brick-kilns, the Colonel 

 riding "Luck-penny" and his brother "The Erog," we find 

 the following were among those who enjoyed good sport 

 following a Hunt breakfast at Down Hall five days afterwards 

 — Sir H. Selwin Ibbetson, Mr. Hervey Eoster, Colonel 

 Somerset, and Mr. Speed from Blake Hall. 



The Monday country appears to have been well stocked 

 with foxes at this period, and Messrs. Tufnell, Brace and 

 Hervey Eoster well to the fore in the run from Curtis Mill 

 Green on November 10, with the Colonel out of luck, as his 

 horse " Luckpenny " downed him. Colonel Howard's grey, 

 however, gave his brother a pleasant ride. Eour days after, in 

 the Colonel's own country, " Luckpenny " gave him another 

 nasty fall, and in a run from the Osiers his friend Captain Willis 

 appears to have distinguished himself on a horse called " Blue 

 i^osts." Who was the customer who had a neat fall over the 

 double near Parndon W'oods, when Hounds met at Thorn wood 

 Gate on November 17 ? The diary sayeth not, only that Captain 

 Willis came down from town and was mounted again upon 

 "Blue Posts," the Colonel riding "Badger" and his brother 

 " Comical." No great sport recorded, but quite a nice run 



