1 8 Recollections of the Vine Hunt. 



and horses, to lie in wait near that spot, while he went 

 with another pack to Nutley, where he found his old 

 friend as usual. As soon as the fox showed himself 

 in the well-known field the fresh hounds were laid on ; 

 the men, as they came up, mounted their fresh horses, 

 and by means of this sharp practice the ill-used animal 

 was killed just as he w^as reaching the earths at Peters- 

 field Hanger. This story was told to my father by 

 an old gentleman of the neighbourhood who professed 

 to have been in the run. He was not a person remark- 

 able for veracity, but I think he would hardly have 

 invented the tale, though he may have embellished it. 

 In the days of the last William Lord Craven, a 

 pack of foxhounds was kept at Cruxeaston, as I 

 mentioned in my first letter. Their master was 

 known by the name of ' Dick Smith.' There seems 

 to be something in the name of Smith which ensures 

 superiority in the hunting field. We have known it 

 combined with the names of Assheton and Thomas ; 

 but the popular sportsman of that generation was 

 ' Dick Smith.' It was usual to compare his pack with 

 the more costly establishment of the neighbouring 

 peer, rather to the disparagement of the latter. This 

 feeling seems to have found its expression in the 

 following whimsical story : — 



One day, Lord Craven, being on rather bad terms 

 with his fox in Highclere Park, asked a labourer 

 whether he had seen the fox. The man, being a wag, 

 and sharing the popular opinion as to the superiority 

 of Mr. Smith's hounds, replied, ' O aye, I seen un, and 

 he stopped and had a bit of chat with me.' ' Indeed,' 

 said Lord Craven, * and what did he say to you } ' 

 Why, he axed me if I could tell un, whether it was 



