MR. BOYCOTT 189 



assembling vintil the third, I stopped short at Shiffnal, and hunted 

 with Mr. Boycott's hounds on that day, which met within four miles 

 of the place. 



The following is all I know of Mr. Boycott's present establishment. 

 On Sir Bellingham Graham giving up what is called the Shiffnal 

 country last season, Mr. Boycott took to it with a subscription, and 

 he keeps the hounds at Eudge, his seat on the Bridgenorth side of 

 the country, and hunts three days a week. His pack was purchased 

 from a gentleman by the name of Nunn, in the neighbourhood of 

 Colchester in Essex, and to which he has added some drafts from 

 one or two other kennels. He hunts them himself, assisted by Lord 

 Middleton's late celebrated whipper-in, Zac, and Skinner, late 

 whipper-in to Mr. Hay in the Woore country. 



Our place of meeting was in the Bridgenorth country, whence, 

 after drawing blank one or two small coverts, we proceeded to 

 Apley Castle, the magnificent seat of Mr. Whitmore, M.P. for 

 Bridgenorth, whose extensive woods we drew without a touch. Mr. 

 Whitmore relinquished fox-hunting, of which he was once such an 

 admirer ; but his younger brother still sticks to the brush ; and I 

 hope, for the honour of Shropshire, we shall never be without a 

 descendant of " the mighty Belesme " in the field. AVe got on the 

 stale scent of a fox afterwards — just enough to tantalize us — and 

 thus ended the draw. 



I was given to understand that the hounds Mr. Boycott had out 

 of Essex brought with them a very good character for hunting, but 

 not much else. They are very uneven to the eye, and their condition 

 was wretched. In short they were all but diseased. The uneven- 

 ness to the eye cannot, of course, be remedied in this short time ; 

 but I must give Mr. Boycott and Zac great credit for bringing them 

 to covert in the clean and wholesome state in which I saw them on 

 this day ; and considering the season, I understand they have had 

 quite their share of sport. 



After this day's hunting (if such it could be called) Mr. Boycott 

 drove me in his gig to Shrewsbury, whither he w\as going to attend 

 the Hunt Meeting, and I on a visit to my old friend Sir Bellingham 

 Graham. Sir B. resides in a very commodious house within a mile 



