A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



BEAGLES 



The Stoke Place Beagles, owned by Mr. Howard 

 Vyse, of Stoke Place, near Slough, were esta- 

 blished in 1891. The pack, which consists of 

 about twenty couples of 1 4-inch hounds, is 

 kennelled at the master's residence ; it hunts over 

 the Old Berkeley (West) country, meeting twice 

 a week. It is a private pack ; Mr. Howard Vyse 

 carries the horn himself. 



OTTERHOUNDS 



The Bucks Otterhounds were established in 1890 

 by the Messrs. Utthwatt, of Ivy House, Great 

 Linford, to hunt the streams of Bucks and 

 neighbouring counties, but they extend operations 

 as far as Warwickshire and Lincolnshire. Mr. W. 



Utthwatt became master in 1891, Mr. G. Ut- 

 thwatt filling the offices of field-master and hon. 

 secretary. The pack as originally formed consisted 

 of otterhounds and foxhounds, but the latter were 

 drafted out, and for some years past only pure 

 otterhounds bred from the West Cumberland 

 and the Hon. E. Hill's hounds have been used. 

 In 1899 the rivers of Buckinghamshire were 

 hunted by Sir H. Hoare, who got together a pack 

 for the purpose ; he gave up after one season, and 

 the Messrs. Utthwatt resumed. At an earlier 

 period the Rev. C. Selby Lowndes hunted the 

 otter in the streams of the county. The Bucks 

 otterhounds, which are maintained by subscription, 

 number about eighteen couples ; they are ken- 

 nelled at Great Linford, and hunt three days a 

 week. 



COURSING 



Buckinghamshire has never been celebrated as 

 a coursing county, and very few public meetings 

 have been held at any time within its borders. 

 Mr. N. K. Wentworth, of Great Bedwyn, Wilt- 

 shire, the retired coursing judge, says : 



The only meeting I ever judged in Bucks was at 

 Maidenhead, under the management of the East Berks 

 Club, and was, I believe, held by permission of a 

 Mr. Grenfield. It was a very pleasant meeting ; 

 there were plenty of hares and the ground was open 

 enough to test the merits of the dogs without punish- 

 ing them. Tiie Bear Hotel was head quarters, and the 

 secretary of the East Berks Club was Mr. C. Philbrick, 

 of Reading. 



The meeting to which Mr. Wentworth refers 

 would have taken place in the 'sixties ; and since 

 that time small meetings have been held in the same 

 neighbourhood under the management of Mr. F. 

 Cleare, of Burnham, Buckinghamshire, the secre- 



tary ; these have now ceased to exist. Mr. R. 

 Harvey, of Chadlington, Charlbury, another old 

 coursing man in the district, says : 



I do not remember any public meeting in Bucks 

 except that at Long Crendon, held by the East Berks 

 Club. The head quarters were at Tharr.e, about two 

 miles away from the ground coursed over by permission 

 of Messrs. Crook, Colman, and Reynolds ; hares were 

 fairly plentiful and heavy fallows more so. There 

 used to be some good private coursing over Lord 

 Clifden's estate at Worminghall, good ground, plenty 

 of hares, and a keeper who took a delight in the sport ; 

 he and several local farmers kept a brace or two of 

 greyhounds and enjoyed some fine sport. 



There are now very few hares in this district; 

 their dearth is very largely a consequence of the 

 Ground Game Act. There may be some private 

 sport occasionally, but most of the old school of 

 coursers have passed away. 



RACING 



FLAT RACING 



Racing was never very prominent among the 

 sports of the county. When John Cheny, or 

 Cheney, issued his Historical List of all Horse 

 Matches for the first time, in 1728, he obtained 

 only one subscriber in Buckinghamshire, namely, 

 Mr. Richard Lowndes. Nevertheless the meet- 

 ings were fairly well supported during the first 

 half of the eighteenth century. The Dukes of 

 Grafton and Hamilton, the Earls of Essex, Hali- 

 fax, Jersey, and Viscount Howe ran horses at 

 Newport Pagnel, Aylesbury, and Great Marlow, 

 content to race for pure sport. Indeed the value 

 of the stakes offered in those days was not calcu- 



lated to tempt anyone to run horses for profit 

 other than might accrue from betting. 



The Newport Pagnel meeting is one of the 

 first of which record exists, and the programme 

 for 1728 was very modest ; one race for a plate 

 of ^15 value, winner to be sold for 30 guineas; 

 and one for a purse of 30 guineas on the follow- 

 ing day, for which only two horses started, these 

 having already met in the ji5 race. These 

 two races made up the programme until 1733, 

 when a third event, a jCio plate for galloways, 

 give and take, was added. This addition was 

 repeated in 1734, but Lord Weymouth's All-of- 

 a-piece was the only bona fide starter for it, two 

 hacks being entered to make a race. The fields 



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