44 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. 



in which it is harder to give satisfaction. That Lord 

 Waterpark should have held that position for nine seasons 

 without giving offence to any one speaks volumes for his 

 tact and discernment. And he was no figure-head master. 

 On the contrary, he had every item and detail at his 

 fingers' ends, and, above all, he showed sport. As he said 

 himself, at the end of his career, he had had (or rather 

 the Hunt had had, for that is how he put it) good 

 seasons and bad seasons, but the former preponderated. 

 Take a few runs, as samples, selected at hap-hazard from 

 the nine years. There was the Loxley run on November 

 30th, 1872. One hour and fifty minutes, fifteen miles, 

 with a kill at Rake Edge, in the North Staflbrdshire 

 country, well to the north-east of Cheadle. Then there 

 was one, two days before, from Hilton Gorse to the 

 Holly Wood, Snelston, about ten miles in fifty-three 

 minutes. On the 4th of January, 1873, they ran from 

 Loxley Park Covert nearly to Moddershall Oaks, thirteen 

 and a half miles, very straight, as were all these runs, and 

 whipped off. It was a pouring wet day. Oddly enough, we 

 ran from the same place (practically) to Moddershall Oaks 

 twenty years afterwards on the wettest day on which the 

 writer ever was out. In the same year, 1873, occurred 

 the great Sudbury run, with a kill at Wootton Lodge, 

 fourteen and three-quarter miles in an hour and three- 

 quarters. That was no bad gallop either, from Barton - 

 Blount (on the day Mr. Broadhurst was brought home to 

 be buried) by Potter's, Longford, Culland, Brailsford, 

 Wild Park, Kedleston, through Meynell-Langley Gorse, 

 to Langley, in fifty minutes. This was on November 

 14th, 1876. There were, no doubt, plenty of others as 

 good, but these seem to be fair samples of the sport he 

 showed — good enough for any one. 



The presentation,* of which an account is given below, 

 and the speeches which accompanied it, make it super- 

 fluous to say more. 



* It has been thought better to insert the account of the presentation in this 

 chapter, although its proper place, chronologically, would have been in Chapter V. 



