SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



joined by Mr. Paiiton. Mr. John Calvert 

 succeeded to the hounds, keeping them till 

 about 1794, when they became a subscription 

 pack. Mr. Calvert and his fellow committee- 

 men however appear to have borne most of 

 the expenses themselves, for I find in a news- 

 paper of 1795 that "the subscription list 

 does not fill, as the country does not attract 

 strangers." ' 



This outline is tolerably correct, for we 

 have clear evidence that the pack, which for 

 many years was called the Hertfordshire or 

 Mr. Calvert's Hounds, is one of the oldest in 

 England. Mr. Hanbury had in his possession 

 in 1827 an earth-stopper's card 100 years 

 old ; and at that period it was the recog- 

 nized thing after dinner to propose the toast 

 of 'The Puckeridge Hounds, 100 years 

 old.' 



Further details of the early years of this 

 pack are as follows: About 1725 a few 

 gentlemen on the eastern side of the county 

 joined together and formed a pack of fox- 

 hounds. It is quite likely they were at first 

 a trencher-fed pack, as the first kennels at 

 Cheshunt are not mentioned until some years 

 later. Mr. John Calvert of Furneaux Pelham 

 was ' put at the head ' of the pack. He is 

 described as ' one of the finest sportsmen that 

 ever rode after a pack or ever cast his eye over 

 a country, or ever devoted a mind to the per- 

 plexities of scent and the characteristics of 

 hounds.' 



A short time after the hounds were ken- 

 nelled at Cheshunt we hear of hounds being 

 kept at Redbourn, where the Duke of Cum- 

 berland, of Culloden notoriety, had a hunting 

 establishment in 1751. It is probable that 

 hounds were kept at Cheshunt for hunting 

 the eastern side of the country, and at Red- 

 bourn for hunting the western side, as it 

 would have been quite impossible for one 

 pack to have hunted all the country from 

 either place. The hounds kept at Redbourn 

 probably hunted the same country which 

 was afterwards hunted by Lady Salisbury who 

 maintained the 'Hatfield Hounds' from about 

 1793 to 1828. 



Mr. Calvert was master for many years, 

 and had Crane as his huntsman. During 

 that time a curious instance of the well 

 known homing instinct of foxhounds occurred. 

 A relation of one of the subscribers was 

 master of the Cumberland Foxhounds, and he 

 sent two dogs and a bitch into Hertfordshire. 

 One day, after a good run, one dog and the 

 bitch disappeared, and shortly afterwards they 

 turned up at their old kennels in Cumber- 

 land. 



Crane was succeeded by his whip Tom 



Hubbard, who remained huntsman for twenty- 

 two years (from 1780 to 1802), and showed 

 excellent sport. During his time the hounds 

 had many good runs, one great one being 

 from Clavering : time, four hours ; distance, 

 thirty-five miles. 



Tom Hubbard was an excellent huntsman, 

 and does not seem to have lacked a hunts- 

 man's characteristics, obstinacy and self-will, 

 for we read of a scene between him and Mr. 

 Pan ton, at that time (1796) joint master with 

 Mr. Calvert, which might certainly rival, if 

 it is not indeed the origin of, the well known 

 incident in Jorroch that took place between 

 James Pigg and his employer. 



It was after a fine run that Mr. Panton 

 observed Tom to be making what seemed to 

 him a wrong cast. He shouted out, ' You 

 fool, Tom, hold the hounds round that head- 

 land.' Tom, with the usual and indeed 

 necessary independence of his class, quietly 

 blew his horn and cast his hounds in quite 

 another direction. 



' If you don't turn back, I'll discharge you 

 to-morrow.' ' Discharge be blowed ! ' was 

 the calm rejoinder. ' Before that I'll kill 

 this fox my own way.' 



Needless to say the fox was killed, and the 

 huntsman kept his situation. 



In 1799 Mr. Sampson Hanbury of Poles 

 became associated in the management of these 

 hounds, and a couple of years later, on becom- 

 ing sole master, he bought the hounds of Mr. 

 Cox Pigott, who had hunted a portion of the 

 East Essex and Essex Union countries. He 

 had kennels at Standon for a short time, and 

 in 1802 (as stated above) built the new ken- 

 nels at Puckeridge. 



Mr. Hanbury was a popular master and a 

 fine judge of hounds. He hunted the coun- 

 try for more than thirty years, and during his 

 mastership strangers were attracted to the 

 country, and many of the best known sports- 

 men of the day came from London to hunt 

 with his hounds ; Mr. Richard Gurney, one 

 of the best known men of the shires, often 

 said that a fourteen mile run with the Puck- 

 eridge was the best run he had ever seen. 

 Mr. Gurney on one occasion refused an offer 

 of 1,000 for one of the horses (by name 

 'Sober Robin') he rode with these hounds. 



Mr. Hanbury was absolutely devoted to 

 fox hunting, and took the greatest possible 

 interest in hound breeding. The story goes 

 that he refused Sir Richard Button's offer of 

 i oo guineas for Columbine, one of the Puck- 

 eridge hounds. His retirement in 1828 was 

 much regretted, particularly as the last season 

 of his mastership (1827-8) was productive of 

 extraordinarily good sport. 



353 



A A 



