AND STIRLINGSHIRE HUNT 



to the Spanish Peninsula. Thither a large number 

 of British troops had been sent in 1808 under the 

 command of Sir Arthur Wellesley for the purpose 

 of thwarting the movements of Napoleon, who had 

 found a pretext for interfering in the affairs of 

 Spain. The battles of Vimiera, Corunna, and 

 Talavera had been fought and won, and now, in 

 the year 1810, came a temporary cessation of 

 hostilities, and the troops were retired within 

 the lines of Torres Vedras. Great matters and 

 small are not infrequently interwoven, and during 

 this period of inactivity, a pack of British fox- 

 hounds, hunted by a British huntsman, pursued 

 its quarry on Spanish soil. Through the sport 

 shown by this pack and its huntsman — the famous 

 Tom Crane, who had been appointed to the post 

 by the "Iron Duke" himself — many days, which 

 would otherwise have proved almost unendurable, 

 were passed pleasantly by the soldiers who joined 

 in the chase, hardships were made to appear less 

 hard, and man and horse were braced and fitted 

 for the important work yet to be accomplished. 



But before the campaign had been brought 

 to a conclusion, before the season of 1813 had 

 drawn to a close at home, it was foreseen that it 

 would be impossible to maintain the old Hunt much 

 longer. Foxes had become scarce, and although 

 this was the only reason assigned for the breaking- 

 up of the establishment, others may be found in 

 the death of Mr Ramsay, with whom, it is stated,^ 

 expired the spirit and the sinews of the Hunt, 



^ 'Sporting Magazine,' May 1825. 



65 E 



