1883] MAJOR F. W. PEACOCK. 105 



any member of the field may pass that way and need 

 refreshment. The Hunt has made many a heavy demand 

 on the resources of cellar and kitchen, but has never found 

 the supply unequal to it yet. In all local matters the 

 master of Vernon's Oak takes the keenest interest. He is 

 a J.P. and a County Councillor, besides having been for 

 years in the Derbyshire Yeomanry, in which he is now 

 Major and Adjutant. In the latter capacity, especially, 

 he has proved a great success. He farms about four 

 hundred acres under Lord Vernon, and is a successful 

 breeder of shire horses. He would, probably, like the 

 Hon. George Allsopp, claim the proud title of " the 

 farmers' friend." 



Ever since 1884, he has served the Hunt by paying 

 the poultry claims in a wide district extending from 

 Sudbury to Snelston, while since 1899 he has been 

 a member of the Hunt Committee. He always rides the 

 very best of cattle, and often when some peculiarly 

 blind, forbidding place has set the field gaping and 

 peeping for an egress, he shoots out from the ruck on one 

 of these noted performers, and shows us how to do it. 



Mrs. Peacock, who used to ride so well, has not been 

 on a horse for years now, and only comes out on wheels ; 

 more's the pity, as she is one of those who know all 

 about it, having hunted from her childhood. 



To finish up this season and chapter, " Plantagenet's " 

 account of two or three good days seems to be appro- 

 priate. 



Field, March, 1883:— 



The fixture was Anslow, near Bui'ton-on-Trent ; in fact, so near that the 

 heavy odour of beer and fragrance of hops might have overpowered the more 

 subtle essence emanating from the red rascals, and accounted for the entire 

 absence of anything that hound noses could revel in. Heavy rain up to nearly 

 noon did not prevent a good number of followers from presenting them- 

 selves. . . . 



Henhurst, which has proved one of the best holding coverts on Trent side 

 throughout the season, did not fail this day. Hounds got away quickly, and a 

 little too silently for some followers, at the Burton end, crossed into a narrow belt 



