Mr. Tom Hodgson. ^7 



West Riding Regfstrarship of Deeds, after a tre- 

 mendous contest (in which 3393 polled) with one of 

 the Lascelles family. 



It was a lucky day for him when Jack Richards of 

 the Badsworth bethought him of Will Danby as his 

 first lieutenant in Holderness, and Will left his harriers 

 and walked forty-four miles through the night in his 

 top-boots to strike the bargain at a guinea a week. 

 No Crusoe could have had a Man Friday more to his 

 mind. For two seasons there was barely 8oo/. for four 

 days a week, and once only two horses between them. 

 Still with thirty-six couple they killed their thirty- 

 seven brace, and their spirits never flagged. Between 

 them they claimed the honour of having entered Mr. 

 Percy Williams, and it was Mr. Hodgson's boast that 

 he had built six kennels and sold twenty couple of 

 bitches for a thousand guineas. The Meltonians made 

 merry with his plain attire, and his gaunt lath-like 

 figure in the brown coat, leggings, and knee-caps ; as 

 well as his gloveless hands. Still they had no small 

 respect for him as a thorough sportsman rather out 

 of his element on Comical in such a flying country, 

 but possessed of a lady pack whose Billesdon Coplow 

 of Jan. 20, 1840, and Thorp Trussel's run in the 

 same December, were enough to set the seal on any 

 season. 



The West Riding appointment gave him that com- 

 petence which he so well deserved. He married and 

 settled down after his toils at Snydale Hall, and to 

 the last he might be seen occasionally at the cover side 

 on his pony or in a four-wheel. He did not forget the 

 scarlet interest, and many a huntsman's son served a 

 clerkship in the Registrar's office. His friends might 

 well joke him and ask him whether he merely looked 

 to their back ribs and good legs and feet. Woe be to 

 them if they had presented themselves for his inspec- 

 tion with a beard or moustache ! There was much to 

 see at Snydale, both inside and outside of the house. 



