MR. TAILBY RESIGNS THE MASTERSHIP. I37 



Resignation of Mr. Tailby, 



and Resum^ of his Mastership. 



In the spring of 1878, Mr. Tailby finally, although 

 reluctantly, decided to give up the Mastership of the 

 Billesdon Hunt, which he had held for a period of twenty- 

 two years. The passage quoted from his diary on page 47, 

 — " I felt that I had done my best for the country, and they 

 were not satisfied, so I sent in my resignation," — may be 

 disregarded by the reader, and might well have been 

 eliminated altogether, but for the fact that it was obviously 

 written under a very natural sense of irritation and 

 despondency upon his taking a step which, although it did 

 not sever him from his old associations, put a period to the 

 predominate part which he had so long played, with 

 credit and distinction. Moreover, the context clearly shows 

 that in tendering his resignation, Mr. Tailby did not act 

 from any feeHng of resentment, or that he had any real 

 cause to feel aggrieved, for he immediately proceeds to 

 express his "grateful thanks to covert owners, farmers, 

 subscribers and peasants for their support and interest, for 

 the last twenty-two years," which he describes as "the 

 happiest period of my career." 



Truly, it may be said of him that he had striven hard to 

 give, and had succeeded abundantly in giving, universal 

 satisfaction, and certainly had earned a reputation for 

 providing sport, the equal of which had never been seen, 

 even in High Leicestershire, before. 



In estimating that which Mr. Tailby accomplished 

 during his tenure of office as Master, it should be borne in 

 mind that he had not the advantage of inheriting, or even 

 of acquiring, a pack of hounds with perfect organisation 

 ready to hand, for the hounds taken over from Mr. Richard 



