FOX-HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS 67 



Sunday morning he gave us an excellent sermon, 

 when it struck me that he was better in the pulpit 

 that on the flags. Perhaps in Devonshire he 

 may not have been accustomed to foxhounds 

 of very high quality ; anyhow, he did not strike 

 me as exactly a good judge of hounds. All this 

 took place long before the Peterborough Shows 

 were established ; though later on I often judged 

 there for many years. Some of the best judges 

 I met with in those days were the late Lord 

 Willoughby de Broke, Sir Herbert Langham, 

 Rev. Cecil Legard, Mr. Austin Mackenzie, and 

 especially so was Captain Robert Arkwright, 

 who had a successful career as Master and Hunts- 

 man of the Oakley Hounds from 1850 to 1885 ; 

 I think he understood the whole game as well 

 as anyone I ever knew. 



After my first season Jack Goddard left to go 

 to the Blankney, and Charley Hawtin came to me 

 in his place. We began my second season on the 

 3rd September 1875 and finished on the 25th April ; 

 hunted eighty-nine days, and killed forty-seven 

 foxes. All through that winter we had a succession 

 of good sport, and although it was wild, cold 

 weather and stopped twelve days by snow, it was 

 about the best season I had down there. The only 

 sad part of it was the death of my kennelman, 

 William Andrews, a very good fellow. 



