BEACON LODGE. 235 



de Rothesay conceded to me the shooting and preser- 

 vation of the two farms attached to Highchffe : and, in 

 addition to this, I received the Royal licence to shoot 

 game in the New Forest. I also had unlimited leave from 

 the late Sir George Jervis to shoot when T pleased over 

 Hinton Admiral, and his farms lying at Christchurch 

 Head and Wick ; and Sir George Rose gave me the 

 shooting over his land. I must say, that of all places 

 I ever was in, where all were masters and no men, I 

 never met with anything like the insubordinate state 

 of the vicinity of Beacon Lodge. There was a noto- 

 rious poacher named Clark, who had been for nearly 

 a twelvemonth at large, in defiance of the magistrates' 

 summons and w^arrant, which latter, when the con- 

 stable came to execute, the offender compelled his 

 retreat from the cottage at the muzzle of his 

 poaching gun. The offence he had committed was, 

 in threatening to beat out the brains of one of Sir 

 George Rose's sons, Mr. William Rose, I believe, for 

 interfering with him when poaching in a cover called 

 Chewton Bunney, the property of Sir George Rose. 

 The brother of this man was similarly situated in 

 regard to contempt for all magisterial authority; and 

 he too not only was at large, but openly living in 

 the cottage with his brother, within three miles of the 

 bench whereat the warrants were signed for their ap- 

 prehension. Two kings of Brentford cannot be coeval ; 

 and, according to that adage, this fellow Clark made 

 a boast that he would never be put down by me. He 

 continued to poach, and tried to have it in his power 

 to say he had shot before my face. To gain some found- 

 ation for this boast, he came out on Chewton Common 

 while I was on it, and shot a snipe, taking ver}?- good 

 care to keep half a mile away from me. Having tried 



