8o FOX-HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS 



Lodge in 1826. It sounds so surprising that any 

 man who had passed most of his hfe in Leicester- 

 shire should have cared to undertake the conver- 

 sion of such a territory into a hunting country. 



His first difficulty was with his father, an 

 irascible old gentleman who immediately warned 

 his son off the Tedworth coverts. He did not, 

 however, live long enough to cause him per- 

 manent annoyance, for on his death in 1828 the 

 M.F.H. removed his establishment to Tedworth 

 House, and took possession of the family estates 

 both in Hampshire and in Wales. 



In the huge woodlands of Doles Faccombe 

 and Wherwell he set to work in earnest by 

 having rides cut through them, so that he and 

 his hunt servants could reach the hounds when 

 drawing those woods. What labour he must 

 have employed and what money he must have 

 spent in carrying through such undertakings ! 



There was also the immense tract named 

 Collingbourn Woods, of at least 1500 acres. A 

 tradition has been handed down that in these 

 woodlands Mr. Smith was in the habit of ordering 

 bonfires to be lit to induce the foxes to fly ; 

 certainly these woods were the key to the whole 

 country, and in my time I used to rent them, 

 as well as Southgrove, entirely for the preserva- 

 tion of foxes. 



