

THE SHIRES. 221 



The hounds then were kept at Great Bowden Inn, which is on 

 the borders of Northamptonshire ; the master, or masters for 

 Mr. Boothby bore half the burden of the expenses living at 

 Langton Hall. A little later Mr. Meynell removed to Quorn- 

 don Hall, where the kennels now are, and thence the pack took 

 its famous name. In those days there were no woodlands 

 within the limits of the country, and so Meynell used to stoop 

 his hounds to hare in the spring, so as to get them handy when 

 the real business began. This did not, as may be imagined, 

 result in universal steadiness. ' The Druid ' tells a story of a 

 brilliant burst of twenty minutes after a hare ending with a 

 kill in the turnpike road : ' Ah ! ' observed the philosophical 

 master, ' there are days when they will hunt anything.' Lord 

 Sefton followed Meynell, and did things in an imperial manner, 

 with two packs and two huntsmen, and everything * in con- 

 catenation accordingly.' His lordship was the first to introduce 

 the custom of second horses. He was a very heavy man, and 

 stopped for nothing, so that no horse could live under him for 

 more than ten minutes if hounds ran hard. But he had a 

 grand stud, nearly all thoroughbred and as large as dray- 

 horses ; and with three or even four out at a time, he managed 

 to hold his own with the light-weights. 1 Then arose the star of 

 Melton, which still shines, if not with quite such supreme lustre. 

 From 1805 to 1807 Lord Foley was king, and then came the 

 great Assheton Smith, who ruled for ten years, and was suc- 

 ceeded by the universal Osbaldeston. In 1821 Osbaldeston 

 went into Hampshire, changing quarters with Sir Bellingham 

 Graham ; but the change did not last long, and in 1823 'the 

 Squire ' was back at Quorndon, Sir Bellingham going into the 

 Albrighton country. Both Assheton. Smith and Osbaldeston 

 hunted their own hounds, and in that capacity Dick Christian, 

 who, thanks to * The Druid,' is our main authority for those 

 golden days, did not think very nobly of either of them. The 

 former drew his coverts too quickly, and so ' drew over his fox 

 scores of times.' Also, 'he was very uncertain : sometimes he 

 would not lift his hounds at all,' and, adds the veteran, l you 



1 The Post and Paddock, ch. xiii. ; Records of the Chase, ch. vi. 



