MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 15 



were famous for good wine and good fellowship. 

 Sneyd's claret, largely "fortified" with Hermitage, 

 and old port were the liquids. Mr. Power was not 

 himself one of the three-bottle men, but he was a 

 very pleasant companion, clever and well read, and 

 could talk on a variety of subjects besides hunting. 

 Indeed, at his own table, he was singularly adroit in 

 turning the conversation into channels acceptable to 

 his guests, and when he saw that the theme of 

 hunting was pressing unduly on any of them, he 

 would lead the conversation away from it. He was 

 a charming host, and his hospitality at Kilfane was 

 unbounded. His brother Richard, who had a house 

 in Kildare Street, Dublin, lived with him on and off", 

 and though a good rider and pretty regular attendant 

 in the field, did not profess to be an enthusiastic fox- 

 hunter. He was, however, a delightful man, highly 

 cultivated, a collector of pictures and statuary, and 

 an excellent actor ; and to him is due the institution 

 of the Private Theatre of Kilkenny, which as time 

 went on became somewhat famous. 



Some of the members of Mr. Power's field deserve 

 a few words of notice, and the premier place must 

 be given to Sir Wheeler Cuffe, who was one of his 

 earliest supporters, and continued for upwards of fifty 

 years one of the main pillars of the Hunt. He was 

 a shrewd man, with great knowledge of hunting, and 

 a sincere love for it. On occasions when Mr. Power, 

 from indisposition or other cause, was unable to take 

 the field, Sir Wheeler Cuffe acted as Master. A story 

 is related how, on one of these occasions, some 

 member of the field, who considered that he knew 



