MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 79 



very popular in the field, and turned out his men and 

 hounds well. He died in 1878. 



After his retirement in the spring of 1870 there 

 was a considerable difficulty in providing a Master, 

 partly owing to the differences which had arisen. 

 This difficulty, however, was happily overcome by the 

 offer of Mr. Henry Briscoe of Tinvane (at the instance 

 of Mr. Poe) to take the Hounds, and it is probable 

 that, under the circumstances, no better selection 

 could have been found. Mr. Briscoe, who, it will be 

 remembered, had a pack of his own, and hunted the 

 Bessborough country, had taken the Curraghmore 

 Hounds on the death in the hunting field of Henry 

 Lord Waterford in 1859, and had kept them till 

 1870, when the late Lord Waterford took them up 

 again. It will be apparent that Mr. Briscoe, from his 

 long experience, possessed many qualifications for the 

 mastership of any pack, but in the present case he 

 was especially fitted for the post. He knew the 

 country and the people in it ; he was very popular 

 with all classes ; and he brought a ripe experience to 

 bear in the matter of hounds, horses, and hunting, 

 having carried the horn so many years. Few men 

 have understood better the breeding of horses ; pro- 

 bably none the breeding of hounds. With regard to 

 the former, he, perhaps, imported more good sires 

 than most men of his day. Red Heart, Glenmasson 

 (sire of Emigrant), Legatee (sire of Pale Star), all 

 made their mark, and proved a great benefit to a 

 wide district ; but still better than any of these was 

 Great Heart, sire of Ace of Hearts and other good 

 horses. Mr. Briscoe had himself been a good man 



