330 THE RED DEER OF EXMOOR. 



certainly did not receive, much of his attention, but 

 the few old people to whom he is a tradition of iheir 

 youth speak of him as of a kindly disposition, though 

 possessing a somewhat erratic temper. Local 

 tradition is full of tales of Boyse ; all are to his 

 credit as a staghunter, though some are not much 

 to his credit as a parson. He was secretary to the 

 hounds, and one ceremony^ he never omitted was 

 to give out the meets for the ensuing week after the 

 second lesson. He lived in a hard, rough time, 

 in a peculiarly hard, rough place, and did his duty 

 according to his lights. Peace be to his ashes. 



Of a slightly later date were Parson Frowde, of 

 Knowstone, the tales about whom go far to filling 

 several books already, and Parson Jones, of 

 Countisbury ; the latter was a great patron of 

 wrestling, and the straw hat and silver spoons, the 

 prizes at the commg wrestling match, w'ere always 

 hung for inspection in his church the Sunday 

 previous to a contest. It was reported of him that 

 on the first Sunday in the staghunting season, after 

 the congregation had sung with enthusiasm " As 

 pants the hart " he preached an eloquent sermon 

 from the text " Lo, we heard of the same at 

 Ephratha, and found it in the wood." 



It is not many years since " As pants the hart" 

 w^as sung at the beginning of the season at nearly 

 every church in the district, and the writer perfectly 

 well remembers being at Stoke Pero Church one 

 Sunday afternoon when Mr. Basset, then Master 



