THE OPPIDAN BEAGLES. 11 



still in existence. A beautiful piece of work it is, with the names 

 of every Master since 1864 inscribed on it. It is now kept on 

 the dining-room table of the house at which the Master of the 

 Beagles boards. , . . 



Kennion was a regular follower in those days. It is surprismg 

 how many churchmen, and eminent churchmen at that, have 

 enjoyed the sport with the Eton Beagles. Three Bishops to-day, 

 the Bishop of St. Albans, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, and 

 the Bishop of Cape Town, were all keen followers at Eton. 

 M. B. Furse, Bishop of St. Albans, was actually first whip in 

 1889, while the late Canon E. K. Douglas was one of the most 

 successful of the early Masters. There is scarcely anything bo 

 pleasing as to see a parson taking his own line over a hunting 

 country. They are few in number these sporting parsons, but 

 very often they are the best sportsmen of all. 



In 1865 C. S. Newton was Master with R. F. Meysey- 

 Thompson as his first whip and E. Royds as the second whip. 

 Royds was a verv good long-distance runner, and won both the 

 Mile and the Steeplechase in 1865, while R. F. Meysey-Thompson 

 was a good all round athlete. 



I have no records of this season at all, and so must pass it 

 over without comment. The only thing we do know is that near 

 the end of the Half the Oppidans ran a drag to Salt Hill and 

 invited the Master and whips of the College Beagles. It was at 

 this drag that the followers were regaled with champagne and 

 sandwiches, a custom w^hich had become a regular one. And 

 here the amalgamation of the two School packs was proposed. 

 But I will leave the account of this for another chapter. 



THE SORT OF DAY V^^E ALL KNOW^. 



