196 RECORDS OF THE CHASE 



with very inadequate kennel accommodation, never 

 could be in condition; and woeful must have been the 

 plight of those unfortunate creatures which were on 

 ' the loose ' in Freefolk Wood from Monday to Wednes- 

 day. The gun to shoot " at a hare or partridge, or 

 whatever came in his way," savours very much of the 

 French custom ; but I hope for the honour of the 

 ancient order of fox-hunters that he never assisted his 

 hounds unlawfully. It is true Mr. Poyntz did not take 

 any unfair advantage of the vulpine family in the con- 

 dition of his horses, which was, no doubt, on an 

 equality with that of his hounds. 



I am unable to state from what source Mr. Smith's 

 pack was at first formed ; but his very extensive estates 

 in Wales afford facilities for breeding a vast number of 

 hounds annually. Many years since this gentleman 

 gave Sir Richard Sutton one thousand guineas for a 

 pack of hounds ; and when the Duke of Grafton gave 

 up hunting in 1842 his Grace's hounds were introduced 

 into the Tidworth kennel at a similar price. Carter, 

 who had been hunting them, was engaged to succeed 

 Richard Burton. The bone and power they possess are 

 quite extraordinary, and that without any approach to 

 coarseness, constituting the very perfection of 

 symmetry, so difficult to acquire. The usual comple- 

 ment is generally about one hundred couples of hounds 

 in kennel, a very ample number although they do hunt 

 six days in the week ; but Mr. Smith likes a full pack 

 in the field, and five or six and twenty couples are 

 usually taken out — a number equal to what is kept for 

 two days a week in many of the provincial countries. 

 The blood is in great request, especially among the 

 neighbouring hunts. Bangor, Newsman, Bobadil, 

 Nabob, and Nigel, are stallion hounds of great 

 celebrity, particularly so the latter; and I have seen 

 many of his progeny, which are excellent. They are 

 generally of a grey-pie, or light hair-pie colour, and 

 may be distinguished by their symmetrical proportions. 

 They had a hound in the Vine kennels a few years since 



