284 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. 



existence. And such sport as lie liad, with his own 

 hounds too, which is the very acme of enjoyment, was 

 enough to make any one forget the pleasures of London 

 society. When he first began hunting the hare, he 

 carried the horn himself, and his brother Edward, 

 who was in the 10th Eoyal Hussars, and Henry, who 

 afterwards became the admiral, whipped in to him. 

 Capital fun they had. But when fox-hunting became 

 thoroughly established, and he assumed the responsibilities 

 of the master of a subscription pack, as his was at first, 

 he handed over the horn to Tom Leedham the first, his 

 Jidus Achates in all hunting matters. The latter must 

 have imbibed some of the lore venatical of Quarndon 

 from his old master. Thus the relationship of these two 

 was perhaps more that of tutor and pupil than the usual 

 one of man and master. However, to judge from the 

 sport they had, the combination worked very well. As to 

 his riding to hounds, there is no one who can remember 

 him as a young man, but, from the little that can be 

 gleaned from contemporary writers, he was always with 

 his hounds. Of the latter he was a consummate judge, 

 and had every detail of kennel lore at his fingers' ends. 



It must have been a congenial party at Hoar Cross, 

 thoroughly united by a common bond. Another thing 

 which the squire had in common with his eldest daughter 

 was a love of music, for he was a good performer on the 

 fiddle, while she was one of Halle's favourite and most 

 promising pupils. In fact, there was nothing which 

 she attempted which she did not excel in. Not only was 

 she, like her sister (who is now living at Binfield in Berk- 

 shire), a most brilliant horsewoman, but, as has been 

 said, a most accomplished musician, a beautiful dancer and 

 skater, while her conversation was so witty and sparkling 

 that, on one occasion, at least, every one was so taken up 

 with listening to it that they were all left behind in 

 Birchwood. There is a tradition that she skated so grace- 

 fully that the late Queen asked to see her on the ice. In 

 speaking of the Misses Meynell Ingram's horsemanship it 



