THE WARWICKSHIRE HOUNDS. 



17 



members of the club the name of *' Black Collars," and 

 as such they are referred to in the poem of *' The Epwell 

 Hunt." It corresponded, in fact, with the white collar 

 badge of the Pytchley Hunt, and seems to have been 

 also a part of the dress in the field, as it figures in a 

 coloured plate by Thomas Weaver of John Corbet 

 and his hounds. And a happy party the "Black 

 Collars " seem to have been. A quarrel at the club 

 was unheard of, and the good day's sport which the 

 country provided to such a master as " the Warwick- 

 shire Squire " would send them back well prepared, in 

 mind and body, for the substantial fare which was such 

 an important item in English country life in the ** good 

 old days. " Old Trojan retained a place in their memory 

 and the toast, "The Blood of the Trojans," always 

 followed that of " The King," at the club. Mr. Corbet 

 was called "TheFather of the Trojans." The "Trojans" 

 of course, were the Warwickshire Hounds. 



A custom existed at the club of buying horses by 

 handicap. A Mr. Best gave 750 guineas for a horse. 

 Confidence, who had run well for an hour and ten 

 minutes in a trying country, and then done a good 

 timber jump. The next morning somej members 

 assembled at covert planned a decoy for the purchaser. 

 Picking out a very high rail in the corner of a field they 

 sent Will Barrow, whose powers I have already referred 

 to, to jump it. When he had done so, they cried out, 

 "Now, Mr. Best," and to their surprise he cleared it 

 with a yard to spare. 



The commencement ot the season was always ushered 

 in in a marked manner. The members of the club con- 

 gregated once more at Stratford, and on the first Mon- 

 day in November, Lord Willoughby de Broke enter- 

 tained the master and a numerous party to dinner. 

 The day which is usually honoured in connection with 

 Guy Faux and his Gunpowder Plot, was also a great 

 day in Warwickshire, and, unless it fell upon a Sunday, 



Mr. John Corbet 

 1791-18U. 



The "Black 

 Collars." 



Toasts 

 Club. 



at the 



Buying horses by 

 handicap. 



The commence- 

 ment of the 

 season. 



