12 MR. W. W. TAILBY, FIRST MASTER. 



friends — and to none more than to his Hfe-long and intimate 

 friend the writer's father, who was out hunting with him 

 that very morning — the hounds meeting at Rolleston, when 

 he seemed in his usual health, but was compelled to return 

 to the Hall, which he just managed to reach, but was 

 soon beyond the need of temporal aid or spiritual conso- 

 lation, and expired as the writer's father was assisting to 

 remove his top-boots. The writer, although not six years 

 old, distinctly remembers attending with his father the sale 

 which took place at Rolleston soon after the squire's 

 decease. 



And now to ** hark back " ; it was not until after much 

 hesitation that Mr. Tailby consented to become Master, 

 and although his first meet — at Peatling — was on November 

 17th, 1856, it was not until the following week, on 

 November 24th, that his first fixture was advertised, 

 showing the difficulty under which the country laboured ; 

 Mr. Tailby not commencing regular hunting until nearly a 

 month after the usual time, clearly indicating that he did 

 not agree to accept the Mastership until some considerable 

 period had elapsed after the refusal of Lord Stamford. 



Mr. Tailby soon gained the support of all classes, and 

 the sport which he provided occasioned a considerable 

 influx of strangers into the district, who purchased, built 

 and leased residential property, and by their liberal sub- 

 scriptions and loyal assistance greatly helped in forming a 

 most united hunt. 



Fortunately Mr. Tailby took equal pains in compiling 

 and preserving one of the most complete and beautifully 

 kept Hunting Journals in existence, being a perfect com- 

 pendium contained in five substantial MS. volumes, of 

 every incident in connection with each successive day's 

 hunting throughout a period of half a century, during which 

 for twenty-two years he was at the helm. This diary is not 

 only an exceedingly interesting chronicle of events appeal- 

 ing to men who remember and took part in them, but is 

 also a valuable historical record to which future generations 



