AND STIRLINGSHmE HUNT 



Ramsay's memory. Nor did Rintoul's fondness for 

 hounds leave him sooner than his regard for his 

 master, since even after he had given up hunting, 

 whenever LinHthgow chanced to be the fixture, 

 he was sure to be there ; and when the pack moved 

 off to draw and he was unable to follow, the tears 

 would run down his weather-beaten cheek as they 

 would down that of a child deprived of its favour- 

 ite toy. When the end came, — he died on the 

 20th of July 1875/ — they buried him close by 

 the old church of Linlithgow, and not very far 

 from the spot where rest the remains of George 

 Knight. 



During the two seasons which immediately 

 followed Rintoul's retirement, Captain Fleeming 

 hunted the hounds himself The entry of 1851 

 included a hound named Blossom,^ which had been 

 walked by Mr James Forrester, one of his tenants 

 at Cumbernauld. One night in the spring of 

 that year, Major Orr of Dullater, a neighbouring 

 proprietor, had eighteen sheep destroyed by dogs, 

 and Blossom, then about seven months old, was, 

 it is stated, identified as one of the offenders. 

 Her accredited part in this occurrence gave rise 

 to a lengthy, and probably not very inexpensive, 

 litigation, for, in the first place, Major Orr brought 

 an action before the Sheriff- substitute of Dum- 

 bartonshire against Captain Fleeming and Mr 

 Forrester for the value of the sheep, and tliis 



' Gravestone in Linlithgow old churchyard. 

 2 Blossom by Bedford — Graceful. 



163 



