RECOLLECTIONS 



OF 



THE VINE HUNT. 



LETTER I. 



NOTICES OF HUNTING IN THE LAST CENTURY. 



June 1864. 



Y DEAR FRIEND, — When you met me lately 

 at Hampton Court, and asked me to sup- 

 ply any recollections that I might retain 

 about the early days of the Vine Hunt, and 

 of its popular founder, Mr. Chute, my first impression 

 was that I could produce little or nothing to the pur- 

 pose. But on further consideration I am inclined to 

 believe that, if such particulars are worth recording at 

 all, there is no one now living better qualified for the 

 task than myself: for I was intimate with Mr. Chute 

 from my childhood to the time of his death ; I con- 

 versed much with sportsmen whose recollections went 

 back a generation before my birth; and I lived in 

 familiar intercourse with many masters of hounds. I 

 dare say I am acquainted with some facts, the memory 



B 



