118 RECORDS OF THE CHASE 



and ability were manifest, his successor entered into 

 the spirit of the chase con amore. Mr. Hellier had 

 kept a pack of harriers at his seat in Staffordshire, and 

 for several years had made Leamington his winter 

 residence for the purpose of hunting. He was, there- 

 fore, no novice in the management of hounds or 

 acquaintance with the country; and having a purse 

 sufficiently weighty to withstand any disappointments 

 which might arise from inadequate or unpaid subscrip- 

 tions, entered upon his duties with most flattering 

 prospects of success ; nor were they disappointed. The 

 large fields attendant upon these hounds whenever they 

 met at any of the favourite fixtures in the Dunchurch 

 country afforded ample proofs of the estimation in which 

 they were held. Although a heavy weight, Mr. Hellier 

 hunted his own hounds, and he was superlatively well 

 mounted. Nothing puts the perseverance of hounds 

 and the patience of huntsmen to a stronger test than 

 short-running, dodging foxes which appear to have no 

 point to make for; in hunting them Mr. Hellier ex- 

 celled. 



Leamington had by this time become a gigantic town, 

 and many excellent sportsmen made it their place of 

 abode during the winter season ; but if there were many 

 good sportsmen there were a great many more who 

 only hunted for the purpose of sporting their pink and 

 leathers on parade. That they are great obstacles to 

 sport cannot be denied ; when hounds cannot run they 

 are perpetually pressing upon them ; when they can run 

 these gentlemen generally go home, and if they are 

 asked what sport they have seen, answer 'None.' In 

 that they speak the truth, having either gone home 

 before the run commenced or been left behind ; but it 

 is not very satisfactory to a master of hounds who 

 exerts himself to the utmost to afford sport to hear such 

 reports have been circulated, when in point of fact an 

 excellent run had been shown to those who remained 

 out and rode to the end. 



The South Wold countr\^ becoming vacant in 1843, 



