208 REMINISCENCES OF 



good many wild deer in Whittlebury Forest, and 

 they were to be exterminated. The keepers had 

 several bloodhounds with which they hunted them, 

 and one foxhound bitch with a short tail, " Damsel," 

 which came from the Holderness kennel, and was 

 steady from foxes. 



There was one black buck left, and I heard that 

 they were to hunt him at the end of the season. I 

 rode over from Stratton Audley. The field con- 

 sisted of several keepers mounted on ponies, and 

 Mr. Robert Oliver in his pony trap. Luke, one of 

 the keepers, acted as huntsman. He was a first-rate 

 hand, but addicted to gin. 



The ground was hard as iron and the dust flying. 

 The bloodhounds hunted every inch, and took their 

 oaths to it, but the foxhound bitch made every hit, 

 and did not say so much about it. After running 

 about two hours all the keepers' ponies got tired, and 

 I and Mr. Oliver were left alone. I was trotting up 

 a road listening to the cry, a thick bullfinch on my 

 right, when the stag jumped at a high gate, did not 

 clear it, and tumbled head over heels on to the road 

 in front of me. I thought he would never get up 

 again, but he got on to his legs, and struggled on 

 very slowly. A few fields further on in jumping a 

 hedge I almost jumped on to him as he was running 

 up the other side quite slowly. He ran on to the 

 road into the ditch, just in front of Bob Oliver's 

 carriage. His servant, a Yorkshire boy, jumped 

 out of the carriage and ran and got hold of the deer. 

 He turned round and said, " Maister, he's kicked me 



