" A FINE OLD ENGLISH GENTLEMAN " 307 



own horses ; the whole to end in a grand breakfast and 

 ball on Saturday at Lord Monson's, four miles off. We 

 should have been glad to have the pleasure of your 

 sister's company to partake of these festivities, which 

 suit the ladies so much better than they do either you 

 or me. Give me a line to tell me whether I can be of any 

 use to you by ordering horses at Boston, or sending my 

 chaise. . . ." 



Among the house amusements at Revesby few were 

 in such favour as Archery. While Banks was vigorous 

 enough to take part in it, he maintained a very high level 

 in the scoring. His sister was not far in arrear as an 

 accomplished toxophilite. Mistress Banks kept the score 

 for a long series of years. The cards, in her beautifully 

 clear handwriting, are now preserved in the British 

 Museum, 1 



Angling was another enjoyment of Banks's leisure, 

 which he had practised from his earliest years. The 

 time came when that leisure was encroached upon ; but 

 he could sometimes snatch a few days for sport. He tells 

 Sir William Hamilton of his doings at home. On one 

 occasion he writes : "I am here buried among sheep, 

 wool, etc. ; so much that my favourite amusements of 

 fishing and shooting surround me and I scarce ever taste 

 them. ..." Again he says : " We drew ten miles of 

 fresh water, and in four days caught seventeen hundred- 

 weight of fish ; dining always from twenty to thirty 

 masters and mistresses, with servants and attendants, 

 on the fish we had caught, dressed at fires made on the 

 bank ; and when we had done we had not ten pound of 

 fish left." 2 



1 Addl. MSS., 34721. 



2 Arthur Young has a note of Banks's piscatorial feats. "... I 

 found these fishing-parties, which lasted over four days, spoken of by 

 many persons with great pleasure. Miss Banks has kept a particular 

 journal of these piscatory excursions, which is decorated with many 



