A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



excellent bitch, after her success in the Members' 

 Cup at Altcar was thought to have a great 

 chance, but she was palpably overdone and 

 succumbed in the third round to Miss Glendyne. 

 From the commencement Mr. Hale has rarely 

 been without a good greyhound in his kennel. 

 In 1883 Happy Flight divided the Ashurst 

 Stakes at Plumpton, and in the following year 

 Happy Hampton won the Ashford Stakes at 

 Wye, and Happy Report was successful at 

 Southminster and Cliffe. In the following year 

 Happy Catch won the All-aged Stakes at New- 

 market. In 1887 Happy Isle divided the Hast- 

 ings Stakes at Plumpton, and Happy Omen the 

 December Stakes for sixty-four greyhounds at 

 Kempton Park. During 1888, at Altcar, Happy 

 Knight won the Molyneux Stakes, Happy Omen 

 the Sefton Stakes, and Happy Rondelle, as already 

 stated, the much coveted Members' Cup. In 

 1890 Happy Embrace won the Sudbourne Hall 

 Cup at Orford ; and two years later Happy 

 Alice divided the Produce Stakes at both of the 

 South of England Meetings, and Happy Mac 

 paid two successful visits to Witham. The 

 following year Happy Mac, Happy Relic, Happy 

 Sunshine, all earned winning: brackets, and in 



* O J 



1896 Happy Sammy won the Voloshovo Cup 

 (presented by Count StrogonofF, the owner of 

 Texture when she won the Waterloo Cup) at 



the Eastern Counties Meeting at Witham, 

 Happy Sight dividing the Derby at the same 

 place. Since that time perhaps the kennel has 

 been less successful, but Happy Reflex, Happy 

 Liking, Happy Delay, Happy Fortune, and 

 Happy Heroine, amongst others, have won stakes. 

 Among coursers of a later date mention must be 

 made of Mr. S. Hill Wood, who has done much 

 to foster the sport in the county. He opened 

 his coursing career in a somewhat sensational 

 manner by giving 220 guineas for Garbitas and 

 175 guineas for her sister, Good Form, at the 

 Barbican in 1900. The former bitch gave 

 evidence of her quality by dividing the Brent- 

 wood Cup at Rainham the following year, and 

 later in the season won the Barbican Cup at the 

 same meeting. Since then Militant, Watch Me 

 and her useful son Windrush, and many others 

 have maintained the reputation of the kennel. 

 Mr. Hill Wood is the leading spirit in the Oakley 

 Broome and Eye Club, always ready to add a 

 piece of plate, and under his supervision the 

 meetings there have vastly improved. Another 

 still later coursing recruit is Sir Thomas V. S. 

 Gooch, bart., whose kennel has been recently 

 established. It is chiefly through Sir Thomas's 

 support that the meetings of the Benacre Club, 

 which are held over his estate, have taken such a 

 prominent position. 



SHOOTING 



No counties in the kingdom can compare with 

 Norfolk and Suffolk for pheasant and partridge 

 shooting. Which is the better county of the 

 two is difficult to say, but perhaps the best 

 grounds are found upon the border line. The 

 economic value of shooting is well shown by the 

 past and present conditions of the waste lands in 

 the north-west of Suffolk. Years ago these 

 were used only as sheep walks, and the labour 

 employed upon them did not amount to 2s. 6ct. 

 per acre per annum. At the present day nearly 

 all these lands have been purchased or leased by 

 men of wealth who cultivate the barren flint-be- 

 strewed ' Brecks ' for game, in order to improve 

 their shootings ; game thriving best where culti- 

 vation is carried on. This means payment of 

 wages amounting to i per acre per annum and 

 upwards. Such is one of the results of the intro- 

 duction of the breechloader and the elevation of 

 shooting to a science. Fifty years ago the 

 artificial rearing of game was almost unknown. 

 Now-a-days both landowner and labourer in 

 Suffolk profit by the system of letting the land 

 to a shooting tenant instead of allowing it to lie 

 waste. 



One of the best estates for all-round shooting 

 is Benacre Hall, which lies on the seaboard be- 

 tween Lowestoft and Southwold. The writer 

 is indebted to the courtesy of the present owner, 



364 



Sir Thomas Gooch, for the following particu- 

 lars : From 1811 to 1820,3,401 head of game 

 was bagged ; the best records for one day being 

 20 brace of partridges, 40 pheasants, and 47 hares. 

 No records were kept between 1820 and 1851. 

 From 1851 to 1856 over 4,000 head was killed 

 each year. The best day with partridges was 

 94 brace, this having been made on 25 Septem- 

 ber, 1855. Pheasants were not numerous, but 

 in 1856 the shooting was let for the first time, 

 and the annual bag began to show an increase. 

 In 1858-9 704 partridges were killed in five 

 days. In 1860, 663 hares were shot in five 

 days ; and this is the first evidence that hares 

 had become at all numerous. In 1868-9, 

 3,803 partridges, 149 woodcock, and 1,734 hares 

 were shot. In 1875-6, 3,203 pheasants were 

 reared, and about the same number were killed. 

 The bag in the season 1876-7 was 3,869 phea- 

 sants, the highest number in any year until 

 1895-6, when the total was 5,940. In 1889, 

 184 snipe were bagged ; and 162 the year fol- 

 lowing, 49 being shot in one day. In 1892, 

 960 head of wild fowl were killed, and in 1893, 

 1,001 wild fowl. As regards the largest aggre- 

 gate of game killed in any one year, the season 

 1897-8 produced 16,709 head, made up as 

 follows: Partridges, 3,420; pheasants, 4,981 ; 

 hares, 365 ; rabbits, 6,834 ; woodcock, 31 ; 



