DATES OF THE PRINCIPAL HUNTS 21 



pack named the Gillingham had hunted the country for 

 a couple of seasons before that date, and before that, 

 again, the country was occasionally hunted by the 

 Brocklesby. 



Many of the Yorkshire packs are of considerable 

 antiquity, and taking the country from the southern 

 boundaries, and working northwards, the Badsworth 

 Hunt was founded in 1730 by Mr. Bright, of Badsworth, 

 whose hounds — according to tradition — used to meet 

 at 5 a.m. in the regular season, whenever there was 

 enough light, and at other times at daybreak. Another 

 of the very old hunts is the Holderness, which dates 

 from 1726, but what is more remarkable is that there is 

 a complete list of masters from Mr. William Draper, 

 1726, down to the present day, and that since 1765, when 

 Mr. William Bethel of Low Hall took the mastership, 

 there has been no change in the constitution of the 

 country. 



Lord Middleton's Hunt came into existence in 1764, 

 and has had many members of the Willoughby and 

 Sykes families for its masters, and the Bramham Moor 

 hounds have been in the possession of the Lane Fox 

 family for at least one hundred and sixty years, during 

 which time the country has existed in its present form. 

 The York and Ainsty country, which in 1906 was 

 divided into northern and southern divisions — each 

 having its own master while the hunt is still main- 

 tained as one — has a list of masters which begins in 

 1821, and the Sinnington, Bilsdale, Sir William Cooke's 

 are all of great antiquity, as has been explained. 



The Bedale country was originally part of the vast 

 country hunted by Lord Darlington, whose hunt was 

 called the Raby, and which included, at one time, all 

 the country between Boroughbridge on the border of 



