FOX-HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS 151 



sure to make a good one some day." The 

 hounds got into Annesley deer park later on, 

 when Kit came to the pales first and cleared 

 them, getting well over before anyone else had a 

 try. 



It was in 1816 (during his Badsworth period) 

 that Sir Bellingham won the St. Leger with a 

 mare called the Duchess, by Cardinal York, 

 and it was in 1817 that he left the Badsworth 

 to commence his Mastership of the Atherstone 

 country, which he held for three years. 



The Atherstone Hunt included a large tract 

 of country which had seen many changes up to 

 1815, when that noted sportsman '' Squire '' 

 Osbaldeston came from Nottinghamshire and 

 brought his own pack to the Atherstone for a 

 couple of seasons. 



Sir Bellingham hunted the Atherstone hounds 

 himself, living most of the time at Lindley 

 Hall, near the town of Atherstone. His estab- 

 lishment enabled him to hunt five days a week, 

 and his management apparently gave satisfac- 

 tion during the three seasons he remained there, 

 as '' Nimrod,'' in his Hunting Reminiscences, 

 writes thus : 



'' It was a pleasure to any real sportsman 

 to hunt with Sir Bellingham Graham, because 



