THE OPPIDAN BEAGLES, 8 



than those kept at the same time by another boy * Edwards,' 

 both packs hunting anything and being taken out just when the 

 whim of their owners seized them. Charrington's, however, 

 were undoubtedly the nucleus of the present hunt. I remember 

 one hound he had that towered over the others, and was so very 

 much faster that he always had a short belt buckled round his 

 neck somewhat to assimilate his pace to that of his comrades, 

 but even then he was usually about a quarter of a mile ahead." 



In another letter he writes : " The fact is that in the early 

 years — certainly up to 1861 — it was a rather scratch aifair. 

 * Joby ' acted very often as huntsman or whip, and those who 

 were so called * whips ' scarcely received a formal appointment 

 at first, but had the whips handed over to them at the meet." 

 W. T. Trench, the Master in 1862, wrote to the late Vice- 

 Provost a letter in which he questions Charrington's position as 

 the first Oppidan Master. I quote from his letter, but I think' 

 his evidence is overborne, and that there is little real doubt that 

 the Eton Beagles owe their existence to the zeal and enthusiasm 

 of Charrington and his College contemporary, R. H. Carter 

 (about whom more anon). He says : 



'' The Eton College Chronicle which you sent me woke up 

 many memories of the good old Eton days. I think the 

 Chronicle is wrong as to Charrington having been the first 

 Oppidan Master. The present Lord Cloncurry (then Valentine 

 Lawless) and Hussey got up Beagles in 1858. I don't think 

 there were more than two or three couples. Charrington's was 

 a rival pack. He and his supporters hunted suh rosa. No one 

 except a few privileged ones knew where the}^ met. Lawless and 

 Hussey were high up in the School then, Charrington and his lot 

 much lower down." 



On more than one occasion Charrington combined forces with 

 Lawless, sometimes with considerable success. The combined 

 meets attracted a big Field, which proved that the interest in 

 the Beagles was rapidly growing. Here is an entry from 

 Charrington's diary : 



"Tuesday, 9th of Feb. 1858. Wh. Hoi. I bought a hare. 

 Got her from Ipswich and joined packs with Hussey. Met at 

 Sanatorium and turned her out ; over a hundred fellows out. 

 Hussey hunted the hounds. Ran her to Chalvey and lost her 

 there." 



But, whatever the footing of Lawless and Hussey, it is to 

 Charrington that we owe the Oppidan Beagles. His was a 

 subscription pack of 8^ couples of hounds. His subscriptions in 

 1858 we do not know, but his 1859 funds amounted to no less 



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