54 THE ETON COLLEGE HUNT, 



1892, and that the hunting caps were introduced by Kynaston in 

 1893. 



" The kennels in my year were in a miserable part of the 

 town, kept by old Lock, who also ran a Turkish Bath there, and 

 my recollection of Lock was that he was to be found either up 

 at the kill, wherever this might be, dressed in a brown knicker- 

 bocker suit, or else wandering round his own place dressed only 

 in a very brief pair of scarlet bathing drawers. 



'* I remember that there was an old lady who lived out Horton 

 way who had a strong objection to hounds hunting round her 

 place, as she declared that they disturbed her fowls and ruined 

 the flower-beds in her garden. We were accordingly requested 

 by the Head not to go near the place, and did our best to carry 

 out instructions, but on one occasion, when we met at Datchet, 

 the hare made a bee-line for the place, the hounds in close 

 pursuit. As we drew near we discovered the lady in command of 

 a force consisting of two gardeners armed with pitchforks, who 

 endeavoured to ward off the attack. The hare, however, meant 

 reaching what it evidently considered a sanctuary, and in the 

 end there was a beautiful kill in the middle of the lawn, with the 

 old lady rushing up and down screaming, and the two men 

 brandishing the pitchforks but not knowing what to do with 

 them, as they were evidently as reluctant to provoke bloodshed 

 (except on the hare) as we were. A strategic retreat was then 

 carried out, but our unpopularity became if possible even greater, 

 and I expect that if we had had occasion to visit the lady again 

 we should have found a battery of guns masked behind the laurel 

 bushes. 



" On another occasion I remember a great run we had from 

 Dorney to Taplow, where the beaten hare endeavoured to elude 

 us by getting through a palisade surrounding a private park. 

 One of the whips promptly scaled the paling, another sat astride 

 on the top and the third lifted up the hounds, with the result 

 that in a short time we deposited the whole pack in the grounds. 

 We did not at the time realise that the grounds were really the 

 private pheasant preserve of an eminent J.P., but, as he happened 

 at the moment to be taking a walk round to inspect his birds, he 

 very soon made his presence known by addressing to us a volley 

 of the most abusive language that I think up to then it had ever 

 been our privilege to hear. Meanwhile the hounds were busy 

 coursing the pheasants, and it was only on our pointing out that 

 he was himself causing a prolongation of his troubles that we all 

 were summarily ejected by the gate. A letter of complaint to 

 the Head Master caused our appearance in Chambers a few days 



