old stag-hound blood, they say in the Hunt " that a Beaufort would never be happy 

 withoiit a badger-pied hound on the benches." Will Long succeeded Phillip Payne, and 

 for years carried the IJadmiuton horn, and cheered them on through the Lower Woods 

 or got quickly away after his fox from Newnton Gorse, and, tradition says, put far more 

 fashion on the hounds than they had formerly borne. ^Yhen, in course of time, he 

 resigned his post, an able successor was found in Tom Clarke, who not onlj- came 

 himself, but brought some of his favomite Tubnej' pack, bought at unheard of prices, 

 with him, besides giviug 210 guineas for the lot that contaiiied the famous Fleecer 

 at Quorn. For years Tom contiuued prime minister at Badminton, and still kept up 

 the old love for hounds of large size and plenty of bone ; and while perhaps they are a 

 little flatter in then- sides than some packs, their legs and feet are excellent, and very 

 few can tm-n them out with cleaner necks and shoidders. Though we always himg 

 to the bitches as being nearly the perfection of foxhoimds, Clarke swore by the dog- 

 hounds, and loved to dwell on the style they flew the walls without touching on a 

 good scenting day, when he was trying in vain to catch them on Saifron or Canary. 

 The former, which he considered the best horse in his stable, was very resolute, an 

 undeniable water-jumper, and generally managed to put him down a time or two at 

 small trumperj' fences, but was a perfect glutton at big ones. He came to Badminton 

 as a cub hunter, and looked di-eadfidly worn and shaky about the pins. In the season 

 of 1867-8 Clarke left, when the Duke made him a present of his two old favomites, and 

 the Marquis of Worcester, who is not to be beaten over either vale or walls, took the 

 horn, and we hear has had very good sport, and fully kept— ^ip the Badminton 

 prestige, though report says the horn will be placed in the hands of 'a paid 

 huntsman next season. Few loA'e to see hounds do their own work better than the 

 Duke, and though none get away quicker after a fox, there is no galloping and 

 shouting to get theii" heads up. The consequence is, there are very few days in the 

 season on which they do not get sport. As an instance of the interest he has j^ersonaUy 

 taken in the pack, we remember once seeing the Duke himself pull up and go back 

 after a young bitch that was left running another fox in cover when the hounds went 

 away, and brmguig her up to us at a check long afterwards ; thus for her sake sacrificing 

 a lai'ge portion of a fine hunting run. 



In no country docs a better understanding exist with the farmers than here, and it 

 is so fidl of foxes that they continually find them in pits and under walls in the open 

 fields. In fact, a Master so popular is siu-c to get them well preserved ; and when we 

 state that one year he piu'chased over five huncb'cd brace of pheasants, besides those his 

 own preserves produced, to give away to people over whose lauds he hunted, it will be 

 understood how this good feeling comes about. Though it is in the light of a Master 

 of Hounds we are considering His Grace, not to glance at him on the coach-box would 

 be an unpardonable omission, and indeed few haA^e seen him in the hunting field who 

 have not also seen him on the box. For be the distance far or near, a well-loaded di-ag 

 is the conveyance to cover, and when the distance is over eight or ten miles, as it is 

 three or foiu' days a week, there are two teams to do it. The hounds also on these 

 occasions are vanned both out and homo, and foiu" mules, a large number of which are 

 bred at Badminton for farm work, are the team employed. 



To complete the character of a country gentleman, the Duke is also a large farmer, 

 and in his Clydesdale stallion has one of the handsomest cart sires in England, and 

 the bullocks to be seen in his sheds amply repay the drive from Badminton. But they 

 are so well known at our Smithfield and other shows that comment on them is 

 unnecessary. Thus we have endeavom-ed to sketch the Duke, not as Master of the 

 Horse, or one of the dignitaries of the land, but as a country gentleman living amongst 

 his own pcojile, engaging in country pursuits ; and however highly he maj' bo esteemed 

 elsewhere, you must go to Badminton and its neighboui'hood to know how deeply his 

 name is cherished in the hearts of his people. 



