50 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 



the next occasion of drawing Kilcoran, foot-people 

 should be placed so as to head the fox off certain 

 points. He was duly found and driven off his usual 

 line, going right into the heart of Tipperary, as far as 

 a coal-pit near Coalbrook, Mr. Langley's place, where 

 hounds could make nothing of him. However, he 

 never returned to Kilcoran, and it was conjectured 

 that he fell into the coal-pit. Mr. Harry Baker rode 

 a cob named " Puck," with which he was wont to 

 make matches. The late Earl of Desart was not 

 only a fearless rider, but a most beautiful and finished 

 horseman ; as one who often saw him in the hunting 

 field has said, " It was a treat to see him ride across 

 country." He was a good sportsman as well, and 

 thoroughly appreciated hound work. 



Captain Thomas Ponsonby was another good 

 sportsman, who, on leaving the Carabiniers, settled 

 in Kilkenny, and hunted regularly all his life, and 

 thought nothing of riding a hack twelve or fourteen 

 miles to covert when quite an old man. He was 

 never a very hard rider ; but knowing the country 

 thoroughly, and always galloping hard, he was 

 enabled to make use of gaps, gates, and lanes, 

 and saw every run. He was a most kindly, genial 

 man, beloved by all who knew him ; a good shot, 

 and expert fisherman. 



Mr. James Kearney Aylward of Shankill hunted 

 for a great many years, and, being an excellent man 

 of business, with a clear head, was a most useful 

 member of the Hunt Club Committee. He had' 

 been an excellent cricketer, and was one of the" 

 original Kilkenny Eleven, all of whom have passed 



