The Vine Hunt, from 1824/^ 1834. '^'j 



they had become a worse pack of hounds, for of that 

 I had no means of judging ; but that they had become 

 a very different pack. In the February of that year 

 I hunted with them one day, for the last time, not 

 having seen them for several years previously. Two 

 brothers, named Cox, were then the huntsman and 

 whipper-in. Cox told me that the pack then consisted 

 almost entirely of drafts from Mr. Assheton Smith, 

 and that he did not believe there was a drop of the old 

 Vine blood remaining in it. The appearance and the 

 action of the hounds quite confirmed this statement. 

 They did their work that day well, but in a style 

 totally different from that of the old Vine ; and I went 

 away with rather a sad conviction, that my dear old 

 friend's sort of hound was lost to the sporting world. 



When Mr, Fellowes accepted the charge of the 

 pack, he was very little experienced in hunting ; but 

 he was a man of great vigour of mind and earnest- 

 ness of purpose, and possessed remarkable talent for 

 organisation and command. He was fortunate in his 

 huntsman ; and the control which his peculiar position 

 at Hurstbourne Park gave him over a large property 

 was a great advantage to him. He soon learned 

 enough of the business to be a very efficient and 

 successful master of hounds. 



Adamson was, for some years, an excellent hunts- 

 man, till he unhappily impaired his faculties by 

 drinking. He was an admirable rider, always close 

 to his hounds, whether in cover or out, whether on 

 the hills or in the vale, without ever distressing his 

 horse or overriding the hounds. This was the great 

 secret of his success, just as the opposite fault had 

 been the chief cause of George's comparative failure. 



